The Paradoxes of Planning

Zusatztext As the gifted geographer she is! Sara Westin knows where power is hiding its secrets and revealing its truths: in the gap between good intentions and the world as it is. Set on understanding what is happening in this no-mans land she puts the planning profession on the couch! the tragic structure of thought-and-action laid bare in the process. Quite an achievement! Nietzsche and Freud nodding their heads in recognition. Gunnar Olsson! Uppsala University! Sweden Throughout the book Westin continually confronts inconvenient truths in the application of Freudian reason. As an articulation of therapeutic thought! this book is an account of Sara's attempt to seek out a (repressed) truth. Whether interested in psychoanalytical readings of the urban or not! this is a book that should be read by todays doctoral students. It is a lesson on what scholarship can look like Environment and PlanningSociety and Space Informationen zum Autor Sara Westin is a Researcher in Human Geography at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University, Sweden. Klappentext Using a philosophical and psychoanalytical approach, this book critically examines expert knowledge within architecture and urban planning. Its point of departure is the 'gap' between visions and realities, intentions and outcomes in planning, with particular focus on projects in Sweden that try to create an 'urban atmosphere'. Finding insights from the work of Sigmund Freud and his followers, the book argues that urban planning during the 20th century is a neurotic activity prone to produce a type of alienation. Zusammenfassung Using a philosophical and psychoanalytical approach, this book critically examines expert knowledge within architecture and urban planning. Its point of departure is the 'the gap' between visions and realities, intentions and outcomes in planning, with particular focus on projects in Sweden that try to create an 'urban atmosphere'. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface; Introduction: the gap; Perspectivism; The eye of the architect - the body of the flaneur; Planning as a neurosis; The impossible profession; Urbanity; The theory of space syntax; Logic - dialectics; Conclusion: planned, all too planned; References; Index....

As the gifted geographer she is, Sara Westin knows where power is hiding its secrets and revealing its truths: in the gap between good intentions and the world as it is. Set on understanding what is happening in this no-mans land she puts the planning profession on the couch, the tragic structure of thought-and-action laid bare in the process. Quite an achievement, Nietzsche and Freud nodding their heads in recognition. Gunnar Olsson, Uppsala University, Sweden Throughout the book Westin continually confronts inconvenient truths in the application of Freudian reason. As an articulation of therapeutic thought, this book is an account of Sara's attempt to seek out a (repressed) truth. Whether interested in psychoanalytical readings of the urban or not, this is a book that should be read by todays doctoral students. It is a lesson on what scholarship can look like Environment and Planning Society and Space

Autorentext

Sara Westin is a Researcher in Human Geography at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Klappentext

Using a philosophical and psychoanalytical approach, this book critically examines expert knowledge within architecture and urban planning. Its point of departure is the 'gap' between visions and realities, intentions and outcomes in planning, with particular focus on projects in Sweden that try to create an 'urban atmosphere'. Finding insights from the work of Sigmund Freud and his followers, the book argues that urban planning during the 20th century is a neurotic activity prone to produce a type of alienation.

Inhalt

Preface; Introduction: the gap; Perspectivism; The eye of the architect - the body of the flaneur; Planning as a neurosis; The impossible profession; Urbanity; The theory of space syntax; Logic - dialectics; Conclusion: planned, all too planned; References; Index.