Cities and powerful knowledge: An editorial essay on accepted wisdom and global urban theory [Part I

Abstract

This editorial essay is the first of two designed to lay out a firm intellectual foundation for the material that will be published in future editions of CRoC. This first part is necessarily critical, pointing out that there is a stifling discourse of normative thinking that imposes a rigid framework of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘evil’ in our cities, to use Schorske’s terms. Lacking in understanding of context and place, attempting to impose a rigid template of density and planning practice, this critical framework inhibits our ability to think coherently and creatively about the future—which is what Angel describes as a “planet of cities”.