Urban Planning and the Pursuit of Happiness: European Variations on a Universal Theme (18th-21st centuries)

Urban planning is not just about the shaping of floor spaces or building complexes. It also implies promises for a better life. The technological, artistic, political and social visions of planners and their patrons are related, explicitly or otherwise, to the universal idea of a pursuit of happiness. This does not mean they always match the needs of the people concerned; the inhabitants’ actual usages and appropriations of urban spaces may even undermine their original conceptions. Both ‘pursuits’ - by those in charge and by the users of urban planning projects - are tackled in this volume, which assembles a dozen case studies from various European countries from the Enlightenment to the present.