The intelligent woman's guide to the urban question

Abstract

The ‘urban question’ isn't a question with an answer—not like the ‘housing question’, which is in essence, ‘Is the private market model of housing provision separable from capitalist social relations?’ and to which Engels replied categorically ‘No’ (though it took a book to say it). But, like the housing question, the urban question is an invitation to deeper analysis of a superficially straightforward matter, with its roots, as is the case with so many concepts in critical social theory, planted firmly in Marx. This paper situates the urban question in history, tracing its lineage from Marx to Lefebvre to Castells to its recent iterations via Lefebvre's concept of planetary urbanisation. In the course of this journey the paper considers the meanings and usefulness of the question to critical urban research and action. The paper concludes that the underlying concepts of the evolving urban question do meaningfully engage with age-old and contemporary questions of how to bring about social change, and that their utility lies in the capacity of those asking the question to crystallise the possibilities of such change.

Key words:

• urban question
• Marx
• Castells
• Lefebvre
• planetary urbanisation
• revolution
• reformism
• radical alternatives

Acknowledgements

Thanks for the constructive comments and support from Ruth Fincher, Libby Porter, Leonie Sandercock, Keith Jacobs, Kurt Iveson, Allan Cochrane and Bob Catterall.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kate Shaw

Kate Shaw is a Future Fellow, School of Geography, University of Melbourne. Email: [email protected]