In the last decade a new wave of urban research has emerged, putting comparative perspectives back on the urban studies agenda. However, this research is frequently based on similar case studies, on a few selected cities in America and Europe, and all too often focus on the abstract city level with marginal attention given to particular local contexts.

Moving away from loosely defined urban theories and contexts, this book argues that it is timely to start learning from, and compare across different "contested cities." It questions urban studies and planning research long standing...

The Ethics of a Potential Urbanism explores the possible and potential relevance of Giorgio Agamben s political thoughts and writings for the theory and the practice of architecture and urban design. It sketches out the potentiality of Agamben s politics, which can affect change in current architectural and design discourses. The book investigates the possibility of an inoperative architecture, as an ethical shift for a different practice, just a little bit different, but able to deactivate the sociospatial dispositive and mobilize a new theory and a new project for the...