Book release - Chuck Wolfe: Sustaining a City's Culture and Character

Somewhere, between character and caricature, there exists an authentic—a truly unique—urban place, that blends global and local, old and new. Yet, in a dramatically changing world dominated by crises of climate change, maintaining public health, and social justice, finding such places—and explaining their relevance—may be easier said than done.

Sustaining a City’s Culture and Character accepts that challenge, and provides a comprehensive method for assessing how and why successful places come to be, with an explicit emphasis on context: Authenticity, culture, character, and uniqueness are words with meanings that depend on who is using them and in what contexts.

This book, with collaborator Tigran Haas and the KTH Centre for the Future of Places, focuses on one city's culture and character compared to another, how we distinguish and change urban places, and the actors involved, and illustrates, with 160 full-color illustrations, how we can understand—or unlock— a public place, neighborhood, or city.

Read more about the book and the authors