Ecologies of Prosperity

‘Ecologies of Prosperity for the Living City’ is a collection of writings, interviews, and projects exploring themes introduced during the 2016 Woltz Symposium: Novel Synergies, the Instrumental Commons, and Dispersed Concentrations. With new material from speakers Philippe Rahm, Nina-Marie Lister, Marina Alberti, Paola Viganò, Niek Hazendonk, Albert Cuchí, and Jedediah Purdy, the dialogue is framed by a series of seminal texts from the 20th century and reimagines existing urban challenges through exemplary design projects of today. Structured as a reader for students and design practitioners, it promotes urban design as a catalyst for cultural, social, and environmental transformation within cities, towns, communities, institutions, and individuals faced with today’s most pressing urban challenges.

This publication puts forward the idea that urbanization is the result of a certain relationship between the territory and the society who inhabits it. Thus, without transforming the way societies inhabit the territory and its intrinsic motivations another type of city-territory cannot be built. The publication collects these motivations that could fuel this transformation and classifies them into three categories: Novel Synergies, Instrumental Commons, and Dispersed Concentrations.