In this review, I will outline the ways in which Lefebvre’s (2003) classic text, The Urban Revolution, can help us to understand what I call the global urban problematic – or the dialectical relationship between space and spatial arrangements and human society and social relations on a global scale – and how an understanding of this global urban problematic is important for those engaged in revolutionary politics and full-fledged revolutionary movements in the 21st century.

In the last two decades, cities have received a wealth of scholarly attention. Geographers,2 urban planners,3 sociologists,4 philosophers,5 economists,6 and political scientists7 have viewed subjects such as economic competition,8 citizenship,9 social cohesion10 and regulation and governance11 through the lens of cities’ lived and built environments. Many contemporary scholars view the urban as a key site for the negotiation, propagation, and contestation of various globalized phenomena.

From the City of Toronto Website:

“City of Toronto is proud to present the annual Doors Open Toronto — one weekend, once a year — when close to 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a city-wide celebration.

The program allows visitors free access to properties that are either not usually open to the public, or would normally charge an entrance fee. Many locations have organized guided tours, displays and activities to enrich the visitor experience.”

In the fourth edition of a Cities of Opportunity study conducted by PWC (Price Waterhouse Cooper) Toronto ranked number two with New York City as the top contender.

In Toronto, public housing is getting a massive do-over. Well, at least in part. Witness the Regent Park revitalization: Within the last year, vertically dense, glass and concrete structures with the look and basic amenities of the better condos that line the Gardiner Expressway rose up near Dundas and Parliament. The buildings reflect light, unlike [...]

Every iPhoneur (the post-post-modern flaneur) operates in a state of flow when they are perambulating around the city with their camera poised: walking, observing, discerning. Every picture (“capture” in the iPhoneur’s lingo) represents a unique, timeless and irreproducible moment of truth. Each pathway to that enlightened photo is unique….. Is it? As much as I [...]