Urban Histories in Practice Book Release Event

Urban Histories in Practice: Morphologies and Memory brings together ideas about the material and social transformation of cities by asking, “what is the relationship between history, memory, and the contemporary city?” The urgency of this question grows in the contexts of rapid urbanization in the Global South and urban decline in the deindustrializing areas of the Global North. Within these spaces, multiple disciplines shape our capacity to know the contemporary city. The work presented here invites the reader to undertake critical and creative approaches regarding how these disciplines might shape this process, ultimately making it more equitable and just. Using various methods, the contributors engage in critical readings of specific built and discursive legacies in numerous global contexts. Differing forms of a social agenda permeate each piece, but none is utopian or totalizing. Rather, the emphasis is on various forms of close reading. The authors begin with the city as found and address each context in specific and precise terms. The contributions here bring together histories in critical and creative ways, while also catalyzing future possibilities. In this way, these writings frame urban history and morphology discourse not only as arenas for theoretical posturing, but also as calls for action.

Panel discussion with editors Steven Rugare and Jeffrey Kruth, along with contributors Stephanie Ryberg-Webster and Gary Sampson.

Steven Rugare teaches architectural and urban history and theory at Kent State University, where he is also a part of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. His research focuses on World’s Fairs and expositions in relation to histories of modern urbanism and design.

Jeffrey Kruth is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His research interests include the social and material legacies of the industrial city and how these histories shape notions of power and expertise in the contemporary city. Currently, he is researching housing and infrastructure programs associated with the US New Deal. At Miami, he works closely with the Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio.