Urban imaginaries and authoritarian urbanism

Urban imaginaries and authoritarian urbanism

Looking at three different areas of research that I have undertaken in recent years - the commodified skyline in London, Fritsch's racist and anti-Semitic garden city, and revolutionary antifascism in 1990s Berlin, in this talk I explore relations between urban imaginaries and authoritarian urbanism. To this end I develop a conceptual framework that helps examing the intersection of conservatism (as an action by those who are in power and who see their power threatened to win it back) and liberalism (and its rational dimension that neglects desires, passions and emotions, as well as its individualist nature that neglects collective action and solidarity across different struggles).

Date

08 February 2023

Language

English

Author

Günter Gassner

Keywords

Skyline

Commodification

Antifacism

Spatial imaginaries

Aesthetics

© 2026 Günter Gassner
© 2026 Günter Gassner