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Lewis Mumford<\/b>, (1895 \u2013 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer. Mumford was influenced by the work of Scottish theorist Sir Patrick Geddes and worked closely with his associate the British sociologist Victor Branford.\u00a0 Mumford was also a contemporary and friend of Frank Lloyd Wright, Clarence Stein, Frederic Osborn, Edmund N. Bacon, and Vannevar Bush.<\/p>\n
Date:\u00a0<\/strong>1937 Period:<\/strong>\u00a0Modern movement (1900-1950)<\/p>\n Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n In \u201cWhat is a City?\u201d Lewis Mumford, one of the most preeminent urban historians descries what he sees as the chief handicap to modern city planning, the failure to understand and embrace the social function of the city. Rather than view the city as a \u201cpurely physical fact\u201d Mumford suggests a broader view and asks \u201cwhat is the city as a social institution?\u201d and offers the following answer; \u201cThe city in its complete sense, then is a geographic plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theater of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity.\u201d Mumford\u2019s focus is not on \u201cthe built environment\u201d as such but rather the city as locus of social networks and a theater in which \u201cman\u2019s more purposive activities are focused and work out, through conflicting and cooperating personalities, events, groups, into more significant culminations.\u201d While the nature of the built environment no doubt influence this social drama, Mumford sees its role as primarily that of a well designed stage set, to facilitate and intensify the performance of the actors upon it. Mumford asserts that the quintessential character of the city is to \u201ccreate drama,\u201d for although all of the necessary physical structures of cities may exist elsewhere, namely in the suburbs, it is this \u201copportunity for social disharmony and conflict\u201d that only urban densities and proximities provide. A city may be viewed according to Mumford as \u201ca special framework directed toward the creation of differentiated opportunities for a common life and a significant social drama.\u201d<\/p>\n Mumford argues that it is this consideration that ultimately should determine such limiting factors as size, density, area and layout of a city, rather than topographical or technological concerns. Since it is most important to express \u201csize as a function of the social relationships to be served\u201d it is natural that Mumford should advocate for small scale clusters of communities \u201cadequately spaced and bounded\u201d known as the \u201cpolynucleated city\u201d as opposed to the monopolistic, hypertrophied and aggrandizing \u201cmononucleated city\u201d with its single focal point. Dubbing it the Highwayless Town, Mumford sees an eventual trend toward this form of limited, decentralized and dissociated urban development through the effective zoning of functions in which \u201cthe various functional parts of the structure are isolated topographically as urban islands appropriately designed for their specific use.\u201d It is through this deliberate design and articulation that the necessary social concentration for social drama may be best achieved.<\/p>\n References:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Legates, R., & Frederic, S.\u00a0The city reader<\/i>. (5th ed.).<\/p>\n Mumford, L. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:\/\/www.contemporaryurbananthropology.com\/pdfs\/Mumford, What is a City_.pdf<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing Cities.\u201d\u00a0: Notes on Lewis Mumford\u2019s \u201cWhat is a City?\u201d<\/i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. <http:\/\/knowingcities2011.blogspot.com\/2011\/08\/notes-on-lewis-mumfords-what-is-city.html>.<\/p>\n \u201cLewis Mumford.\u201d\u00a0Wikipedia<\/i>. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lewis_Mumford>.<\/p>\n \u00a0Published By: Moza AlMarri<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Lewis Mumford About the Author: Lewis Mumford, (1895 \u2013 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer. … Continue reading
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