Now available

These four key Planning, History and Environment titles are now available in paperback at £24.99

Planning Europe’s Capital Cities: Aspects of Nineteenth Century Development

By Thomas Hall, University of Stockholm

During the nineteenth century many of Europe’s capital cities were subject to major expansion and improvement schemes. From Vienna’s Ringstrasse to the boulevards of Paris, the townscapes which emerged still shape today’s cities and are an inalienable part of European cultural heritage.

Thomas Hall examines the planning process in fifteen of those cities and addresses the following questions: when and why did planning begin, and what problems was it meant to solve? who developed the projects, and how, and who made the decisions? what urban ideas are expressed in the projects? what were the legal consequences of the plans, and how did they actually affect subsequent urban development in the individual cities? what similarities or differences can be identified between the various schemes? how have such schemes affected the development of urban planning in general?

Detailed analysis in this text shows us that the capital city projects of the nineteenth century were central to the evolution of modern planning and of far greater impact and importance than the urban theories and experiments of the Utopians.

‘... a work of comparative history at its best. There are no false comparisons or wide-ranging generalisations. Instead there is a meticulous review ... magnificently produced… Nothing but praise and thanks to the author for a work which will give so much pleasure and instruction.’Peter Hall

Planning Latin America’s Capital Cities, 1850–1950

Edited by Arturo Almandoz, Universidad Simón Bolivar, Caracas

The capital cities of Latin America were, and are, unique. Largely shaped by European culture, architecture and planning, the cities reflected key features of Paris and other European cities. European experts shared in their building and planning, while many Latin American architects and planners trained in Europe. France and the Beaux Arts movement were the main source of inspiration until the United States began to play a part in the 1930s.

Planning Latin American Capital Cities is the first comprehensive work in English to describe the building of these capital cities in the post-colonial period.

In his introductory chapters Arturo Almandoz provides a historical survey of Latin American urban development and reviews the period most influenced by European ideas – from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, after which American influence led to a very different, technically-based approach to planning.

There follows a series of case studies devoted to individual cities, each extensively illustrated and written by authorities on the city concerned. The cities are Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Santiago de Chile, Mexico City, Lima, Havana, Caracas, San José.

A final chapter by the editor unites the conclusions of these case studies.

‘A masterful ensemble of compatible essays detailing the post-colonial, and pre-Americanisation urban period when European ideas found fertile soil in Latin America. The structure, citation, illustration and coherence of each [chapter], set within a clear editorial frame are a healthy reminder of the exceptional qualities, which were once much more common in edited volumes… This book has been a learning pleasure.’ www.rudi.net

Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a Globalizing World

Edited by Yasser Elsheshtawy, UAE University, Al Ain

This is a book about what may be loosely referred to as ‘Middle Eastern’ or ‘Moslem/Arab’ cities. Cities in the Arab world are too diverse and hybrid to be lumped together as a single, arbitrary group. Rather they make up the urban kaleidoscope of the title, and the diversity of the six cities included here supports that contention. They range from cities rich in tradition, the ones one would immediately conjure up on hearing the phrase ‘Middle Eastern’ (Cairo, Tunis, and Baghdad), to cities that have not been explored sufficiently, or ‘forgotten’ cities (Algiers and Sana’a), to the newly emerging Gulf cities (Dubai).

The authors are all Arab scholars and architects educated either in Britain or the United States, but most importantly all belong to, were raised in, or are a citizen of the city they describe and so they provide a ‘local voice’ not previously heard, and an understanding which no outsider can achieve.

Yasser Elsheshtawy and his contributors move away from the exclusively ‘Islamic’ reading of Arab cities – an approach they regard as outdated and counterproductive. Instead, they explore issues of identity, globalization, hybridity, colonization and the struggles, strategies and solutions offered by each city from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Their focus is on the built environment and its change over time and under different influences and their discussions are supported by extensive illustration.

‘… this book is a very informative and lively read that certainly adds fresh perspectives to the study of Arab cities… This collection could be an interesting text for undergraduate and graduate courses in Middle East and urban/cultural studies.’ International Journal of Middle East Studies

Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities

Edited by David Gordon, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario

The twentieth century witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of capital cities worldwide – in 1900 there were only about forty, but by 2000 there were more than two hundred. And this, surely, is reason enough for a book devoted to the planning and development of capital cities in the twentieth century.

However, the focus here is not only on recently created capitals. Indeed, the case studies which make up the core of the book show that, while very different, the development of London or Rome presents as great a challenge to planners and politicians as the design and building of Brasília or Chandigarh. Put simply, this book sets out to explore what makes capital cities different from other cities, why their planning is unique, and why there is such variety from one city to another.

Sir Peter Hall’s ‘Seven Types of Capital City’ and Lawrence Vale’s ‘The Urban Design of Twentieth Century Capital Cities’ provide the setting for the fifteen case studies which follow – Paris, Moscow and St Petersburg, Helsinki, London, Tokyo, Washington, Canberra, Ottawa-Hull, Brasília, New Delhi, Berlin, Rome, Chandigarh, Brussels, New York. To bring the book to a close Peter Hall looks to the future of capital cities in the twenty-first century.

For anyone with an interest in urban planning and design, architectural, planning and urban history, urban geography, or simply capital cities and why they are what they are, Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities will be the key source book for a long time to come.