What could be the « imaginary institution » of the City?

Abstract

In his book “The imaginary institution of Society” the French philosopher Castoriadis wanted to explain the radical change of societies and their diversity. The social imaginary matters, and explains social change. But what is it today? The Castoriadis’s answer is mainly a criticism of the imaginary of the bureaucratic society (perfect anticipations). He hoped more autonomy. We propose this interpretation of the imaginary of the City: the main myths are personal strength, chance (here the reference is the Ulrich Beck’s book “The risk society”) and individual happiness (the reference being the works of the French philosopher Lipotevsky). We are able to explain the discrepancy between public policies (including city planning) and the real social needs. It exists because the doctrines used lag behind the “social imaginary significations”. The concerned fields are the beauty of cities, spatial segregation, women in the city, environment and drugs