{"product_id":"paradoxical-urbanism-9789811563416","title":"Paradoxical Urbanism","description":"\u003cp\u003eModernist urbanism seems progressive, even Utopian: design for a better world through a democratic and humane built environment. But two currents undermine this vision from within: an Arcadianism which turns to a rural idyll as retreat from change and the effects of industrialization; and an instrumentalism by which the humane vision becomes prescriptive and anti-democratic. Malcolm Miles argues that these two currents undermine modernism’s progressive vision. This book examines the roots of modernist urbanism in the seamless, self-contained systems of Cartesian space; and identifies contradictions within modernist urbanism in its instrumentalism and reliance on de-politicised professional expertise. Miles adroitly reviews the postmodern culture of industrial ruinscapes; and posits that if cities are to be places of proximity, diversity, mobility and agency, this will require a move from modernist instrumentalism to a creative and radically democratic co-production of the built environment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53643696406807,"sku":null,"price":5629.15,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0679\/6918\/8119\/files\/9789811563416.jpg?v=1783495991","url":"https:\/\/payment.letskitaboo.com\/products\/paradoxical-urbanism-9789811563416","provider":"Kitaboo One eStore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}