Beyond Urbanism

Landscape Urbanism emerged in the late 1990s, as a critique of urban design's inability to deal wtih the expanded character of urbanization. Intended as a medium through which to interpret the contemporary city, Landscape Urbanism hopes to develop a more ecologically informed mode of living.

In the last fifteen years, several books, academic programs, and design projects have emerged under the Landscape Urbanism banner, blurring the boundaries between the spatial disciplines and multiplying and enhancing urban strategies. The main advocates of this school are recognizable academics whose intellectual history can be traced. Beyond Urbanism reassembles the story of the movement, starting from these central figures who first developed the discourse. It explores the cultural and academic contexts from which the field of Landscape Urbanism emerged, all the way up to its commitment as 'ecological urbanism' at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

This book investigates the spatial implications of the innovation economy. The reflections and materials presented in the book build upon considerations that stemmed from the design workshop "innovative regions" and creative cities organised in Hsinchu in April 2010 by The Housing & Urbanism "Ma" Programme of the Architectural Association and the Graduate Institute of Architecture of The National Chiao Tung University.