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Based on years of research, interviews and workshops I wrote a book about the urban condition I refer to as the 'smooth city'. It departs from the observation that in cities around the world this urban condition, characterised by ever-increasing levels of ‘perfection’, efficiency and control and the active eradication of any aberration or alternative, is spreading rapidly. In the smooth city, urban space is sanitised and urban life compressed into a seamless experience. While the need for safe, clean, and well-functioning urban environments is clear, the rise of the smooth city undermines the democratic nature and emancipatory potential of cities while leaving almost no space for anything that is experimental or incompatible with dominant norms. This publication offers a critical analysis of the origins, characteristics and consequences of the smooth city, while also offering a starting point to challenge the obsession with perfection and instead collectively work towards porosity in the urban realm. The book has been designed by Kees de Klein, who also contributed with a visual essay. Order a copy directly from the publisher.
Nowadays, it seems to be everywhere – the urban environment that feels smooth, polished and perfect. All buildings seem either new or renovated, and are generally in an excellent condition. Its public spaces are well-designed, well-maintained, clean and safe, if you conform to the rules. All spaces seem to be scripted according to the dominant norms and the needs of capital, and are populated by a socially, culturally and aesthetically homogenous crowd. New technologies offer seamless, on-demand services for almost everything.
A closer look does not reveal any aberrations or abnormalities. There don’t seem to be any abandoned properties, undefined elements or forgotten corners. No alternative narratives, ideas or (sub)cultures have been allowed to make a claim on, intervene in or transform urban spaces, unless they have been neatly encapsulated and made servient to the dominant script. While tensions and confrontations are only allowed to surface beyond its immediate boundaries, it is represented to the outside world as a wealthy, successful, consumable and predominantly white environment.
Welcome to the Smooth City. The urban condition that has become increasingly common over the last decade, to the extent that it suddenly seems to be the dominant state of affairs in many cities around the world. The Smooth City can occur in different intensities, such as the rather extreme variety described above, or in an urban environment that rapidly starts to look like something along those lines. It can emerge in the form of an ‘upgraded’ existing urban area, but also originate as a newly built neighbourhood or comprehensive redevelopment scheme.
A closer look does not reveal any aberrations or abnormalities. There don’t seem to be any abandoned properties, undefined elements or forgotten corners. No alternative narratives, ideas or (sub)cultures have been allowed to make a claim on, intervene in or transform urban spaces, unless they have been neatly encapsulated and made servient to the dominant script. While tensions and confrontations are only allowed to surface beyond its immediate boundaries, it is represented to the outside world as a wealthy, successful, consumable and predominantly white environment.
Welcome to the Smooth City. The urban condition that has become increasingly common over the last decade, to the extent that it suddenly seems to be the dominant state of affairs in many cities around the world. The Smooth City can occur in different intensities, such as the rather extreme variety described above, or in an urban environment that rapidly starts to look like something along those lines. It can emerge in the form of an ‘upgraded’ existing urban area, but also originate as a newly built neighbourhood or comprehensive redevelopment scheme.