Urban Commons: Rethinking the City

by Christian Borch (Editor), Martin Kornberger (editor)

This book rethinks the city by examining its various forms of collectivity – their atmospheres, modes of exclusion and self-organization, as well as how they are governed – on the basis of a critical discussion of the notion of urban commons. The idea of the commons has received surprisingly little attention in urban theory, although the city may well be conceived as a shared resource. Urban Rethinking the City offers an attempt to reconsider what a city might be by studying how the notion of the commons opens up new understandings of urban collectivities, addressing a range of questions about urban diversity, urban governance, urban belonging, urban sexuality, urban subcultures, and urban poverty; but also by discussing in more methodological terms how one might study the urban commons. In these respects, the rethinking of the city undertaken in this book has a critical dimension, as the notion of the commons delivers new insights about how collective urban life is formed and governed.

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2015

About the author

Christian Borch is a Danish sociologist whose research explores how new technologies, especially machine learning and algorithmic trading, are reshaping financial markets and urban life. His work blends social theory with fieldwork among traders, developers and regulators in global finance hubs.

For the Norwegian journalist see Christian Borch