The Experimental City (Routledge Research in Sustainable Urbanism)

Book Details

• Author: James Evans

• Brand: Routledge

• Edition: 1

• Binding: Paperback

• ISBN: 9781138299672

• Number of Pages: 280

• Release Date: 21-06-2017

• Languages: English

• Package Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.0 x 0.4 inches

About the Book

"Urban Experiments: A New Political Geography" by James Evans, Andrew Karvonen, and Rob Raven explores the concept of urban experimentation, examining how it is reshaping knowledge production and influencing urban debates on resilience, climate change governance, and socio-technical transitions. The book offers contributions from leading scholars and case studies drawn from cities across the Global North and South, from small towns to large metropolises.

The book is structured around three central themes:

• Part I: Investigates the logic behind urban experimentation, exploring different approaches, how, and why they are being deployed in urban contexts.

• Part II: Focuses on how urban experiments are staged within cities, who is behind them, and the effects these experiments have on local governance and society.

• Part III: Examines how entire cities, or groups of cities, are being constructed as living experiments and the wider implications of this phenomenon.

The authors develop a nuanced understanding of how urban experiments are not only shaping cities but also driving broader social and political changes. These experiments offer new modes of engagement, governance, and politics that challenge conventional strategies, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in urban transformation. This book provides a conceptual and empirical framework to analyze urban experimentation in greater detail.

Review

Professor Mark Swilling, Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Development, asserts that this book is a timely and persuasive argument for urban experiments as a potential future mode of governance. He highlights the possibility that these experiments could replace bureaucratic managerialism and the business-led partnerships that characterized neoliberal corporatism.

Robert Shaw from Newcastle University emphasizes that the book offers inspiration through clear and succinct theorizations, practical case studies, and insightful reflections that will be valuable to students, researchers, and practitioners alike.

About the Authors

• James Evans is a Professor of Geography at the School of Environment, Education, and Development, University of Manchester, UK.

• Andrew Karvonen is Assistant Professor in Urban and Regional Studies at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.

• Rob Raven is Professor of Institutions and Transitions at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.