The Language of Cities

by Deyan Sudjic

We live in a world that is now predominantly urban. So how do we define the city as it evolves in the 21st century? Drawing examples from across the globe, Deyan Sudjic decodes the underlying forces that shape our cities, such as resources and land, to the ideas that shape conscious elements of design, whether of buildings or of space. Erudite and entertaining, he considers the differences between capital cities and the rest to understand why it is that we often feel more comfortable in our identities as Londoners, Muscovites, or Mumbaikars than in our national identities.

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture, Urbanism, Cities, Design, Urban Planning, Art

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2016

About the author

Deyan Sudjic is Director of the Design Museum. He was born in London, and studied architecture in Edinburgh. He has worked as a critic for The Observer and The Sunday Times, as the editor of Domus in Milan, as the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and as a curator in Glasgow, Istanbul and Copenhagen. He is the author of B is for Bauhaus, The Language of Things and The Edifice Complex.

Reviews

[Aziff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Language of Cities is a study into what defines a city, and the forces behind it that both limit and sustain it. Deyan describes the city as an organic state of being, something we're quickly losing in the face of rapid development and sterilization of urban life. On second reading, the layers of The Language of Cities, despite its small volume, gives us a lot to think about. Across the different chapters, his focus is mainly on London, Silicon Valley and Celebration, Florida - but the key principles behind these somewhat case studies stand. A few takeaways:

1. Cities are defined and shaped by many forces, but none stronger than the people who inhabit it. And they're in a constant dynamic relationship with both the government and developers who have their own vision of how and what hey want the city to be.

2. When developing a city, the sociology of the community cannot be ignored. The city is made of stratums of society; many of those in the lower-class economic spectrum that are usually overlooked by developers in favor for modern and sterile strips of urban environment. This inflation in living cost pushes them out of the city, the place where they make a living from.

3. While it is tempting to hand over urban development to developers, what that also means is a lack of a system of check and balances (accountability); a very important component of a democratic society. Privately-owned property and ownership to not afford the same liberties and rights to an individual.

4. It's not enough to set up the infrastructure for a city and expect it to flourish. It needs to serve an economic and social purpose, one that's driven mainly by those who inhabit it. A city grows with its people, and their relationship to the nation and the world beyond their borders. This also means accepting its organic nature and desire for history, identity and meaning that can adapt through the ages.

It's a short book and one that can be quickly finished. But one that leaves good enough questions to ponder on the next time you're on the subway, passing underneath the mountains of skyscrapers above you.

Here's an interview with Deyan Sudjic about The Language of Cities on Second Home.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another book I picked up while browsing in the library - visually appealing covers strike again. ‘The Language of Cities’ was a good book to pack for the train, as this edition is compact and very prettily presented. I also found it involving enough, just not hugely insightful. I guess I’ve studied and read about urban issues quite a bit, so it seemed a bit superficial and anecdotal. Given the length of the book and the breadth it tried to cover, that’s perhaps inevitable. In any event, the anecdotes included were interesting and often amusing. Perhaps a little too much time was devoted to explaining Canary Wharf in London, however the material on Robert Moses was fascinating (I should read his biography) and I liked the parallel that Sudjic drew with Walt Disney. There are also some disquieting statistics about the number of tourists visiting London and Paris’ historic landmarks, which certainly explain why I find the crowds around Parliament Square so overwhelming when commuting through there. Perhaps my favourite new factoid is that Rem Koolhaas claims to have been writing a book about Lagos for twenty years. On the strength of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan, I’d love to read it! Overall, I liked the writing style, juxtapositions, and use of pictures in ‘The Language of Cities’, but didn’t feel like I learned much about the nature and meaning of cities as such.

[ola ✶ cosmicreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

po 1: 280 stron to zdecydowanie za mało żeby przedstawić i pogłębić jakikolwiek temat, a tu jest ich naprawdę wiele
po 2: dzięki moim studiom wiedziałam już dosłownie wszystko
po 3: dla kogo jest ta książka? urbaniści i architekci prawdopodobnie nie znajdą nic nowego, a osoby „z przypadku” porzucą ten tytuł ze względu na mnogość pobieżnie rzucanych informacji

[Ryan Croke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be so good! When the author talks about the broader ideas of cities, their development, and their meaning, his writing is beautiful and his arguments are concise and convincing. For example, the last chapter, Crowds and Their Discontents, is a wonderful take on why people are drawn to crowds in spite of the fear they invoke. It is full of interesting yet brief anecdotes that get the point across beautifully. Where this book is good it's great.

I did find, however, that the author let his opinion cloud what could have been an extraordinarily compelling read. There are many sentences that are pure opinion, written so condescendingly, that is takes away from, I think, what may be a good point.

Moreover, there are two main criticisms I have; why is there a 30 page deep dive into Canary Wharf? Do we really need to know in detail how the developer's deals fell through and which firms were involved and why? And, the author contradicts himself and seems confused as to whether there should be strong regulation and urban planning or not. He is stubborningly critical of both sides.

In all I still think it's worth a go. My lukewarm review is based mostly on that it could have been a great read.

[can y · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book which is very easy to read, mainly because it's primarily anecdotal, concerning cities from across the world. Perhaps a bit too much attention is given to the author's home city of London, but many people think understanding London's neoliberal turn is very important to understand the trajectory of cities in the West. What I particularly enjoyed about the book were points in which the author explored the dynamics of non-traditional urban settlements (like Silicon Valley corporation towns). It is idea based but not too densely theoretical, all in all a descent introduction to the field.

[Aleksandra Pasek · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Uczyć się od istniejącego krajobrazu - oto jak architekt może być rewolucyjny. Nie jest to działanie oczywiste, jak burzenie Paryża i zaczynanie wszystkiego od nowa, co proponował Le Corbusier w latach dwudziestych XX wieku. Jest to inne, bardziej tolerancyjne podejście: kwestionuje nasze spojrzenie na rzeczywistość. [...]
A wstrzymywanie się z osądem może być wykorzystane jak narzędzie, dzięki któremu nasze późniejsze sądy będą bardziej wyrozumiałe. Tym sposobem można się uczyć od wszystkiego."

R.Venturi, D. Scott Brown, "Uczyć się od Las Vegas", Karakter, 2013


Bardzo to była inspirująca do dalszych poszukiwań lektura.

[Tuncer Şengöz · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very interesting ideas in this book about what cities are, how they are named, how to navigate a city, how to build a new city, how to govern a city and crowds and discontent in a city. However, the chapters that focus on specific cities and provide detailed histories and assessments are not easy to read, especially if you have not visited them.

[Ekaterina Ulitina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Читабельно, но неловко скроено, получается разнобой скоростей: первая глава — россыпь коротких (и интересных!) городских и архитектурных фактов и анекдотов, другая глава — длинная история одного-единственного проекта, и так далее. Я не знаю, что именно я пытаюсь найти в книгах по урбанистике, но я этого ещё не нашла.

[Barrowsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

See your city ftom a different perspective.. thought provoking read

[Will Dorrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

A discursive little book about cities and urban design.

2 stars is probably a bit harsh, because I actually enjoyed reading it. I thought the writing was nice, and there were endless little stories about how this building or that development came about. The author seems to know London well, and uses it as an example a lot, and I liked learning about how parts of the city I live in came about.

But I just thought there was no coherent argument despite occasionally feeling like the author was trying to make one. And whenever an opinion was expressed it felt so weakly argued or backed up; it was just stated that x, y, or z was bad or good under the assumption that the reader, presumably like the author, is a correct-thinking Guardian reader. I didn't disagree with a lot of his opinions (though some of the points of view seemed very one dimensional), but I thought that was what a book about city design was going to do: convince or argue for the good or bad effects of certain design choices. Instead it assumed the correct answer, told you it, and gave you some (enjoyable) anecdotes about it.

For example, one thing I found weird was at one moment he was heartedly attacking anything but completely random and organic city development (which seems like a myth to some extent) vs. things he thought were well designed. He's an urban designer, he cares about urban design presumably, yet at times he advocates abdicating all responsibility? At other times he advocates good design? I wish he's analysed that contradiction and come to some conclusions, or at least acknowledged it! Instead he enjoyably waffles this way and that, having his cake and eating it too, without making useful discussion of difficult issues.

Finally, and appropriately, it was just a very well designed book. Fit perfectly in my pocket :)

[Sachi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Language of Cities, Sudjic investigates what ingredients make a city. He delves into developments within cities that have succeeded and failed, how cities are built, what makes a city enjoyable, how governments effect the flavour of cities with examples of cities all over the world. Cities run with an indescribable efficiency that its inhabitants always seem to take for granted. Sudjic brings your attention to the delight of inhabiting a city. He adds theories of various planners over time and how they are/ aren’t relevant to cities today. Some cities have a history and others don’t. Developments like Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley challenge long held beliefs of what a city can be.

I relished this book like a juicy mango. I LOVE reading about cities and planning. I thoroughly enjoyed Sudjic’s writing.

[Anna Gunstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny little book. Ultimately very interesting but:
- strange politics at times
- suffers a little from a lack of focus/central thesis which makes it a bit meandering and difficult to follow
- had interesting observations about transport which I would have liked to see more of!

[Mohamedabdellatif · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't recommend it, you would get disappointed

[Madhumitha Raghuraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store, or some other sign that people do not totally regret life. " ~ Frank O' Hara

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 vielleicht? Der Titel ist ein bisschen Etikettenschwindel und die riesige Abhandlung zu Canary Wharf hat mich leider nicht so krass interessiert, das Architekten-Namedropping kann man glaube ich verzeihen. Trotzdem ganz cool.

[Dosia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short to give any deep insight. There were some strong passages, but most of the time I found myself drifting.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Rome was the first city in history with a population of more than one million. It took another 1,800 years for London to eclipse its size and become a city of two million. At the start of the twentieth century, there were only 16 cities with more than one million people. Now it’s more than 400, but it’s unlikely that all but a few of them have the clout of their predecessors.”

Like many books on this subject this is really well presented and nicely set out. Sudjic has a style which presents a clear, clean and concise approach to urban planning and architecture which makes this a real pleasure to engage with.

Sudjic makes the point of showing how vital a role water plays in any city and how it put paid to the likes of Fatehpur Sikhri in India, which was abandoned as a capital city back in 1610 in favour of Lahore. and he states how easy it would be for the Gulf states to meet such a fate in the future. He insists that a good city relies on a healthy balance of racial tolerance, a civilised public transport system, making public spaces wish to dwell in and ultimately a successful city is one which makes room for surprises and keeps its options open that allow for change.

Elsewhere he gets into the pros and problems presented by the likes of Brasilia, Los Angeles, Moscow, Manchester and Beijing, allowing us to see these cities in new and opposing ways and how a number of varying factors can contribute to bringing out the best or the worst in them. He is rightly critical of what has happened in London “Few people I London knew that in electing Livingstone and Johnson that they had voted for a skyscraper city. Nobody voted to have a housing stock that was priced grotesquely beyond the means of the majority of its citizens.”

Aside from the underground stations and a few fragments of river front Canary Wharf is private property, “Its owners demand that anybody who wants to take photographs on their land apply and pay for a permit in advance. The rights that come with ownership allow them to prevent a political demonstration, stop strikers picketing and bar charities from collecting.”

Now if this doesn’t perfectly capture the cold hearted essence of Thatcherism and the financial culture of London then I don’t know what does.

We learn how “the conventional rules of local government planning were suspended within the LDDC’s (London Docklands Development Corporation’s) boundaries-north and south of the Thames.”, where anyone prepared to set up a business in the docks were offered a 100% tax write-off on the capital costs of building and 10 year tax holiday…ah to those who have more shall be given.

Elsewhere we learn about Robert Moses who wished to transform New York City by what he called “urban renewal” which included more highways, including a ten lane expressway through Lower Manhattan. New Yorkers and many others have journalist turned activist Jane Jacobs to thank, who played a significant role in stopping Moses’s bulldozers. He also touches on the French architect and urban planner, Henri Prost, and the ground breaking work he did in the likes of Morocco and Turkey.

We also get into President Erdogan and his vast investment in infrastructure throughout Turkey, as well as highways, high speed rail systems and bridges he plans to build the world’s largest airport in Istanbul with six runways and an eventual capacity of 150 million a year and naming it after himself, closing Ataturk airport when its ready. We also learn about his bizarre expansionist policies of funding mosques in former Ottoman territories like Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom as we hear of the encouraging emergence of the reforming Latin American mayors like Enrique Penalosa in Bogota who cleared the city centre of cars and invented in public services in deprived suburbs and Jaime Lerner in Curitiba in Brazil who created cheap and efficient bus lanes. These men put to shame the likes of Johnson and Livingstone in London who appeared to use their positions to enrich themselves and their cronies no matter the cost to the greater population.

This book has some echoes of Rowan Moore, particular during the third chapter, which focuses on Canary Wharf in London and overall Sudjic approaches his subject with a rational and balanced humanity that draws you in and this was a well-written and at times deeply absorbing overview and this is a book that I would highly recommend.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like an amalgamation of Wikipedia entries. Who would’ve thought that the most interesting part of a book on cities would be forty pages on the development of Canary Wharf?

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das Buch ist keine umfassende Darstellung des Wesens der Stadt. Vielmehr greift es einzelne Aspekte punktuell heraus. Diese sind durchaus bemerkenswert aber sehr subjektiv beschrieben und erscheinen willkürlich ausgewählt. Für subjektiv und einseitig ist auch die starke Orientierung an London und einzelnen Entwicklungen dort. Im übrigen werden ohnehin nur Großstädte und mega cities beleuchtet, ohne den Phänomen Stadt auch in mittlerer und kleinerer Ausprägung gerecht zu werden.
In Erinnerung geblieben sind mir folgende Gedankengänge:
> Stadt ist ein soziales und bauliches Umfeld, dass vieles ermöglicht. Diese "Ermöglichungs- Erwartung zieht wiederum die Menschen in die Stadt. Dieses Klima der Chancen entsteht dadurch, dass sich die Stadt laufend verändert. Also zum Beispiel Objekt, die leer stehen, in denen Neues entsteht, soziale Strukturen von Quartieren sich ändern oder sich neues Business entwickelt. (Anmerkung von mir: werden diese Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten zu sehr eingeschränkt -Denkmalschutz, Quartiersschutz, Veränderungssperren etc. - dann erlischt diese Dynamik)
> eine Stadt lebt davon, dass ich in ihr ständig Massen befinden und bewegen. Aber nicht so, dass dies im Chaos endet, auf wie bei einer Panik oder einem ständigen Stau, sondern in so weit geordneter Form, dass alle Anwesenden noch einem Ziel nachkommen können.
> alte Städte sind in ihrer Struktur auf bestimmte Größenordnungen von Massen gar nicht ausgelegt. Das Beispiel ist, wie ein Flughafen für einen täglichen Millionen-Durchsatz besser organisiert ist als z.B der Louvre oder eine von Touristen überschwemmte Altstadt (Venedig), bei der sich die Massen an Engstellen ballen. Allerdings bleibt die Antwort dazu offen, wie darauf zu der reagieren sei.

Überhaupt werden eher Phänomene nur beschrieben als handlungsanleitende Hinweise und Tipps gegeben, wie man es denn bei Städtebau, Verwaltung und Planung besser machen könnte ( außer dem Credo, dass die richtigen Investoren bei genug Freiheit es schon richten werden).

[Ela Głogowska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trochę jakby ekspresowe repetytorium z urbanistyki, ze zdawałoby się, jednym celem: maximum informacji, minimum pogłębionej refleksji. Trudno powiedzieć dla kogo jest ta książka, przywołując komentarze poniżej: architekci i urbaniści prawdopodobnie nie znajdą w niej nic nowego, a jeśli już, to nadal są to informacje anegdotyczne - my chcemy faktów i ich źródeł. Osoby z poza dziedziny bardzo szybko mogą się zgubić w strumieniu świadomości autora, która, by za nią nadążyć, wymaga sporej wiedzy z zakresu planowania, projektowania i ekonomii miast, jak i tej interdyscyplinarnej pomiędzy urbanistyką a naukami społecznymi i kulturoznawstwem.

Mimo wszytko jednak, całość składa się w miarę spójną opowieść, i warto dla easy and refreshing read.

[Virga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iš pradžių buvo įdomu (pirmi du-trys skyriai), paskui pasidarė kažkaip vienoda. Autorius žavisi didmiesčiais, jam įdomus jų augimas ir klestėjimas, ir visiškai nesidomi jokiais kitais procesais - nei socialiniais skirtumais mieste, nei miestų nuskurdimu, nunykimu, ištuštėjimu, kas būna per karus miestuose etc. Bet perskaičius iki galo paaiškėja, kodėl: jam miestas yra sinonimas sėkmingumo, šiuolaikiškumo, greitos kaitos (į gera), etc, etc. Nykoka ir vienapusiška miesto sąvoka, todėl greit nusibosta. Bet urbanistika ir miesto sociumu besidomintiems - visai gera knyga, yra daug gerai atrinktų pavyzdžių, tai vien dėl jų.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but more geared towards a general audience. I enjoyed the sort of simplified approach to talking about urbanism while advocating against simplified cities. Did think it was interesting that the author got his degree in architecture from the university of Edinburgh but doesn’t really mention Edinburgh’s new town in his discussion of cities. It has all the important things mentioned for a modern city, and it was started in 1767. But, alas.

[Hrafnkell Úlfur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nánast algjörlega innihaldslaus bók að einum kafla frátöldum. Hefði átt að taka eftir því að jákvætt blörb frá Alain de Botton á bakhliðinni væri vísbending um að í þessari bók væri nánast ekkert að finna.

[Wiktoria Papaj · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spodziewałam się czegoś lepszego i niepotrzebnie się na to nastawiłam. Oczekiwałam analiz miast po paroma względami. Niestety zaskoczyłam się ilością informacji (nazwisk, nazw miast, ulic) w których można sie pogubić. Zaraz po przeczytaniu nie pamiętam conajmniej połowy książki.. Nie polecam, niestety.

[Eleonora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chyba zbyt chaotyczna dla mnie, ale z pewnością zawiera bardzo dużo informacji, o wielu kwestiach poruszonych w książce wcześniej w ogóle nie pomyślałam. Na pewno przeczytam jeszcze więcej książek o podobnej tematyce

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

truly just need to get round to reading Robert Caro but this was a nice prequel

[Julia Kazubowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a informative and analytical account of how cities can be made, can be failed and can be successful. I think it had a interesting stance on the importance of factors that are many times overlooked in large scale development of cities. Loved! it!

[Max Doerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

feels like concatenation of fun facts. don’t get me wrong I learned a lot and it’s nice to read, but the strong London focus and extensive chapter on canary wharf was just a bit too much.

[ashi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise but vast subject matter constrained in this tiny book. Could've done without the extensive section detour devoted to Canary Wharf.

[Lily Weissgold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only vaguely compelling, clearly just wanted to write about London ..?