Walter Benjamin's Urban Thought

A Critical Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID4476752
AuthorsM Savage (0000-0003-4563-9564, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3210, USA; and Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Keele, Keele ST5 5BG, England, corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume13
Issue2
Pages201-216
Publication date1995-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/d130201
OpenAlexW2073347107
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited29

In this paper I offer an introductory survey of Walter Benjamin's writings on cities and urbanism in order to explore the potential value of his insights for urban studies, I address the following issues: the complexity and variety of Benjamin's urban writings; the status of Benjamin's theory of modern urban experience in his thought; the distinct textual strategics developed in his urban writings; and the relationship between memory, the built environment, and historical processes. I argue that Benjamin's concept of 'aura' can be used to place his interest in cities and urbanisim in context, I conclude with the suggestion that these notions can usefully inform current writings in urban studies

Archaeology · Civil engineering · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Order (exchange · Political science · Sociology · Urban theory · Urbanism · Value (mathematics · Variety (cybernetics · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Computer Science · History · Law · Philosophy · Public Spaces through Art · Urban Studies · Walter Benjamin Studies Compilation · Architecture