Book launch: Cities Rethought – A New Urban Disposition

The African Centre for Cities and the Book Lounge invite you to the launch of Cities Rethought: A New Urban Disposition. Co-authors Edgar Pieterse and Sue Parnell will be in conversation with Divine Fuh.

Details:

WHEN | Tuesday, 13 May 2025

TIME | 17h30 for 18h00

VENUE | The Book Lounge, 71 Roeland Street, Cape Town

Please RSVP here

In a world of disruptions and seemingly endless complexity, cities have become – perhaps more than ever – central to thinking about the future of humanity. Yet rarely has the study of cities been more fragmented among different silos of expertise, diverse genres of scholarship, and widening chasms between theory and practice. How can we do better?

Cities Rethought suggests that we need to remake the way we see and know cities in order to rethink how we act and intervene within them. To this end, it offers the contours of a new urban disposition. This disposition, articulated through its normative, analytical, and operational elements, offers an opportunity for scholars, practitioners, and citizens alike to approach the complexity of cities anew, and find ways to rethink both scholarly analyses as well as modes of practice.

Written collectively for a wide audience, the text draws from cities across the global north and south, speaks across diverse genres of ideas, and reflects on the lived experience of the authors as both researchers and practitioners. It is an essential text for anyone committed to knowing their own cities as well as finding ways to meaningfully intervene in them.

The book is co-authored by Gautam Bhan, Michael Keith, Susan Parnell and Edgar Pieterse.