In Urban Re-Industrialization, editor Krzysztof Nawratek brings together scholars to discuss the constitutive elements of the image of the creative city and explore ways of moving beyond it towards what Nawratek calls the 'Industrial City 2.0'. While the nature and contribution of the individual essays are at times uneven, this is a kaleidoscopic work which weaves together diverse and intriguing lines of worthwhile ..

Weissenborn, Frederik

LSE Research Online

Book	Review:	Urban	Re-Industrialization	edited	byKrzysztof	NawratekIn	Urban	Re-Industrialization,	editor	Krzysztof	Nawratek	brings	together	scholars	to	discuss	the	constitutiveelements	of	the	image	of	the	creative	city	and	explore	ways	of	moving	beyond	it	towards	what	Nawratek	calls	the‘Industrial	City	2.0’.	While	the	nature	and	contribution	of	the	individual	essays	are	at	times	uneven,	this	is	akaleidoscopic	work	which	weaves	together	diverse	and	intriguing	lines	of	worthwhile	investigation,	finds	FrederikWeissenborn.Urban	Re-Industrialization.	Krzysztof	Nawratek	(ed.).	Punctum	Books.	2017.Find	this	book:	Cities	are	sometimes	considered	agents	of	social	innovation	and	politicalemancipation:	machines	for	the	production	of	the	new.	In	The	Division	of	Labour	inSociety	(1893),	Emile	Durkheim	thus	posited	urbanisation	as	an	efficient	cause	in	thetransition	from	societies	based	on	‘mechanical	solidarity’	(where	labour	is	notsubdivided,	and	where	social	codes	are	strong)	to	those	based	on	‘organic	solidarity’(where	the	division	of	labour	is	more	complex,	and	social	codes	looser);	similar	ideaswere	subsequently	put	forward	by	V.	Gordon	Childe	and	Jane	Jacobs.	Given	thisassociation	with	the	new,	it	is	perhaps	not	surprising	that	the	city	has	been	the	sourceof	powerful	social	imaginary,	a	catalyst	for	utopian	dreams	about	the	good	life	as	wellas	social	and	spatial	justice.	Several	such	‘images’	have	been	developed	over	theyears	–	including	Ebenezer	Howard’s	‘garden	city’	and	Le	Corbusier’s	model	of	the‘Ville	Contemporaine’	–	and	these	have	informed	the	discussion	of	what	constitutesgood	design	as	well	as	the	production	of	actual	urban	formations.In	more	recent	years,	the	defining	image	of	the	city	arguably	has	been	that	of	‘the	creative	city’.	This	image	buildson	the	idea	that	urban	settlements	constitute	engines	of	productivity,	rarefication	and	value	addition	–	a	theoryalready	explored	in	Jane	Jacobs’s	The	Economy	of	Cities	(1969)	–	but	adds	the	more	specific	narrative	that	post-industrial	cities	are	places	of	a	particular	kind	of	productivity	associated	with	the	tertiary	sector	and	informed	by‘creative’	agency.	The	image	of	the	creative	city	imagines	the	city	as	a	container	of	fluid	forms	of	culturalproduction	and	consumption,	and	it	evokes	a	place	of	knowledge-based	labour	and	‘innovation’	which	is	definedin	more	or	less	direct	opposition	to	industrial	production	and	its	more	hierarchical	forms	of	organisation.	RichardFlorida’s	2002	book,	The	Rise	of	the	Creative	Class,	arguably	constitutes	the	high-water	mark	of	this	paradigm	–synthesising	ideas	about	twenty-first-century	urban	existence	with	a	post-industrial	and	eerily	post-politicalworldview	–	but	aspects	of	it	are	found	in	the	work	of	other	authors	too,	and	are	espoused	by	think	tanks	like	theMcKinsey	Global	Institute	and	the	Brookings	Institute	as	well	as,	closer	to	home,	the	LSE	Cities	research	centre.The	image	of	the	creative	city	has,	however,	become	increasingly	difficult	to	sustain	after	the	2008	financial	crisis(in	some	ways,	the	ultimate	artefact	of	its	time:	a	catastrophic,	cascading	phenomenon	produced	at	theintersection	of	complex	financial	products	and	the	deregulation	of	housing	markets).	This	has	caused	some	–including	Florida	–	to	call	for	a	review	of	the	neoliberal	urban	agenda.	But	with	what	should	it	be	replaced?Krzysztof	Nawratek’s	new	edited	collection,	Urban	Re-Industrialization,	offers	an	answer	to	this	question.	Partzeitgeist	diagnosis,	part	utopian	reverie,	it	discusses	the	constitutive	elements	of	the	image	of	the	creative	cityand	explores	ways	of	moving	beyond	it,	towards	what	Nawratek	calls	the	‘Industrial	City	2.0’.	(The	anthology	maybe	read	as	a	companion	piece	to	Nawratek’s	previous	book,	Holes	in	the	Whole:	Introduction	to	the	UrbanRevolutions,	which	explored	contemporary	cities	as	sites	of	economical	stasis	and	social	crisis	rather	thanprogress.)USApp – American Politics and Policy Blog: Book Review: Urban Re-Industrialization edited by Krzysztof Nawratek Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-10-29Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2017/10/29/book-review-urban-re-industrialization-edited-by-krzysztof-nawratek/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/Image	Credit:	(mjaysplanet	CC	BY	SA	2.0)Urban	Re-Industrialization	is	divided	into	three	main	parts:	‘Why	should	we	do	it?’;	‘Political	considerations	andimplications’;	and	‘How	should	we	do	it?’.	This	structure	is	logical,	but	the	contributions	do	not	always	fit	into	thepredefined	categories.	It	is,	for	instance,	not	obvious	why	Jonathan	Vickery’s	excellent	text	on	the	evolution	ofpolicies	in	the	European	Union	is	located	in	the	first	part	(why	should	we	do	it?)	rather	than	the	second	(politicalconsiderations	and	implications),	and	the	selection	and	order	of	texts	sometimes	seem	haphazard.This	notwithstanding,	the	book	offers	an	intriguing	panorama	of	theories	and	practices	aimed	at	questioning	andsublating	the	image	of	the	creative	city.	Apart	from	a	couple	of	largely	apolitical	texts	on	3D	printing,	this,	then,	isa	book	with	a	revolutionary	aim	–		a	collection	of	essays	which	probe	for	lacunae	in	the	neoliberal	truth	of	thecreative	city	–	and	one	finds	multiple	references	to	the	utopian	Marxist	geographer,	Henri	Lefebvre,	in	thedifferent	contributions.	It	is	in	this	utopian	light	that	the	call	for	urban	‘re-industrialisation’	should	be	seen:	not	as	anostalgic	clamour	for	a	return	of	heavy	industry,	but	as	a	vehicle	for	bringing	about	new	forms	of	urbancoexistence	involving	communitarian	and	sustainable	forms	of	production.	As	Nawratek	argues,	‘progressive	re-industrialization	could	be	a	way	towards	an	alternative,	effective	economic	model’.Not	all	the	book’s	contributions	are	equally	engaging.	Tatjana	Schneider’s	text	on	what	she	calls	‘small	scale’	and‘big	scale’	political	programmes	asks	an	important	question	–	do	we	lose	sight	of	larger	political	battles	by	buyinginto	the	(Latourian)	assertion	that	everything	is	political?	–	but	the	text	never	manages	to	mount	a	sustainedcritique	of	this	tendency.	Similarly,	Karol	Kurnicki’s	discussion	of	‘loss’	as	a	kind	of	extra-being	through	which	anew	economic	agenda	can	be	hatched	never	really	hits	its	stride	and	remains	embryonic	as	a	theory.	Bothinvestigations	would	have	benefitted	from	further	unpacking.	There	are,	however,	also	important	and	genuinelyengaging	contributions.	The	aforementioned	text	by	Vickery	is	one	example.	It	traces	the	evolution	of	EU	policiesdesigned	to	further	creative	industries	and	to	promote	urban	and	interurban	integration	in	the	EU.	What	makesthis	investigation	particularly	satisfactory	is	its	refusal	to	offer	up	simple	truths.	Vickery	expertly	demonstrates	thecontradictory	forces	at	work	in	the	complex	machinery	of	the	political	juggernaut	and	the	market	forces	that	it	atonce	influences	and	is	suffused	by.	This	makes	for	compelling	reading	and	leaves	the	reader	enlightened.USApp – American Politics and Policy Blog: Book Review: Urban Re-Industrialization edited by Krzysztof Nawratek Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-10-29Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2017/10/29/book-review-urban-re-industrialization-edited-by-krzysztof-nawratek/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/Also	of	note	is	Alison	Hume’s	discussion	of	different	industrial	models	in	China	and	their	relationship	to	urbanpolicy	and	political	ideology.	With	reference	to	Beijing’s	hip	798	Art	District,	Hume	demonstrates	howneoliberalism	uses	art	districts	as	a	mechanism	to	gentrify	run-down	areas,	making	it	possible	‘to	re-appropriatean	often	alternative	space	into	something	that	fits	[the	neoliberal]	agenda	whilst	maintaining	the	outwardappearance	of	being	different	and	independent’.	But	she	goes	deeper	than	this,	working	backwards	in	time	from798	to	present	an	archaeology	of	Chinese	economic	models	over	the	past	100	years,	showing	how	these	draw	onand	are	refracted	through	different	ideological	prisms	including	early	Confucianism,	Maoism	and	the	neo-Confucianism	of	Deng	Xiaoping.	This	is	a	fascinating	read:	an	illuminating	example	of	the	nonlinear	ways	thatwhat	Marxists	call	‘structure’	(economic	production	and	consumption)	and	‘superstructure’	(ideologicalinstitutions)	commingle	in,	and	transform,	forms	of	industry	and	spatial	practice	(which	itself	influences	thedialectical	process).	The	text	will	delight	anyone	with	an	interest	in	urban	policy	and	historical	materialism.Urban	Re-Industrialization	is	a	kaleidoscopic	work	which	weaves	together	diverse	lines	of	investigation.	At	times,these	coalesce	to	suggest	the	outline	of	a	bigger	picture,	a	new	urban	image	at	the	edge	of	the	horizon,	but	in	theend	this	is	not	delivered	on.	There	is,	for	instance,	quite	a	jump	from	some	of	the	book’s	more	philosophicalinvestigations	to	the	praxis-driven	discussions	on	3D	printing	and	the	so-called	‘maker	movement’.	This	chasmremains	throughout	the	book	and	no	real	attempt	is	made	to	bridge	it.	To	adherents	of	Lefebvre	–	for	whomtheory	and	practice	must	be	dosed	in	equal	measures	–	this	may	not	represent	a	huge	problem.	Completetheoretical	integration	furthermore	comes	with	its	own	inherent	dangers:	the	ossification	of	truth,	the	closing	off	ofenquiries.	Yet,	at	least	this	reader	was	left	with	a	desire	for	a	more	sustained	enquiry:	the	affirmation	of	a	deepertruth,	the	full-toned	commitment	to	a	particular	urban	vision.	That	may	well	come	in	a	later	book	(perhaps	pennedby	Nawratek).	Until	this	is	written,	Urban	Re-Industrialization	represents	a	useful	and	worthwhile	–	if	nottriumphant	–	investigation.This	review	originally	appeared	at	the	LSE	Review	of	Books.Please	read	our	comments	policy	before	commenting.Note:	This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	authors,	and	not	the	position	of	USAPP–	American	Politics	and	Policy,nor	of	the	London	School	of	Economics.Shortened	URL	for	this	post:	http://bit.ly/2zTJ45k——————————————–About	the	reviewerFrederik	WeissenbornFrederik	Weissenborn	is	an	independent	researcher.	He	holds	a	PhD	in	Architecture	and	an	MSc	in	AdvancedArchitectural	Studies,	both	from	the	Bartlett	School	of	Architecture,	UCL.	Frederik	is	currently	working	on	a	bookwhich	explores	the	different	conceptions	of	the	city	in	Marxist	Geography	and	the	‘artefactual’	accounts	of	urbanform	found	in	the	writings	of	Bill	Hillier	and	Yuval	Portugali.USApp – American Politics and Policy Blog: Book Review: Urban Re-Industrialization edited by Krzysztof Nawratek Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-10-29Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2017/10/29/book-review-urban-re-industrialization-edited-by-krzysztof-nawratek/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/

Book review: urban re-industrialization edited by Krzysztof Nawratek

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