More than half of the world’s population now live in cities – but how has this transformation in how we live occurred? Urban Revolution Now: Henri Lefebvre in Social Research and Architecture uses the work of Lefebvre to critically understand the process of urbanisation and to offer practical answers to the problems facing urbanised society. Do Young Oh praises the book’s collection of case studies as being useful for showing how Lefebvrian ideas can be used for research and practice across the disciplines of the social sciences.

‘Urban’ is being celebrated everywhere. Cities are perceived as a powerhouse of global economy among academics, professionals, and international organisations. On the other hand, others are arguing that we are entering the age of urban: that more than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas and this population trend has accelerated. We see an increasing general interest in urban nowadays. However, such a widespread interest in urban can be problematic because it lacks an understanding of urbanisation as a process explaining how and why such a transformation has occurred. Moreover, such arguments cannot offer a more integrated view about the general transformation of society, covering both urban and rural living; which is closely related with urbanisation processes.......Continue Reading

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