The Forgotten City

A vital needed corrective to so much of the unthinking smart cityism out there promising the taming of wicked urban planning problems. Be distracted by this engaging book instead of your mobile phone or laptop. Nicholas A. Phelps, The University of Melbourne Not only does this book make the important connection between resilience and digital technologies, but it does what very few have done: it places people at the centre of smart cities. Nancy Odendaal, University of Cape Town This book reminds anyone practising or interested in the urban environment that hope is not a management tool. Hope in smart cities is dangerously misplaced. A vital and critical read. Jeremy Smalley, Royal Borough of Greenwich Phil Allmendinger is arguably the leading planning theorist of his generation. When he now takes on some of the most burning questions in urban planning and development in a highly accessibly format, this promises to become a book that will be at the centre of international debates on possible responses to the threats and promises of 'the smart city'. Jonathan Metzger, KTH Royal Institute of Technology This highly readable, informative and timely book takes a scalpel to contemporary narratives of the smart city and Big Tech, urging planners to rethink their policies and practices. Yvonne Rydin, University College London A timely intervention that calls for a progressive re-imagining of the relationship between technology and the city and argues for the potential for planning to help put technology in the service of cities and the communities that make them, rather than the other way around. Edward Shepherd, University of Reading A solid foundation on which to build the next chapter of the love affair between the city and technology - the Smart City post COVID-19. Irena Bauman, Bauman Lyons Architects