Elective Affinities. The Recovery of Historic Seminal Ideas of European Urbanism for a Sustainable Urban Design in the Late 20th Century

Abstract

The rise and institutional promotion of sustainable development as the new paradigm for guiding the future society have introduced, in urban planning, a collateral recovery of some of the finest old ideas. The criticism about growth and destruction mechanisms in the capitalist city have forced urbanism to be more attentive to social progress and the environment. Thus, a rediscovery of Planning History takes place to the extent that sustainability favors a reinvention of contemporary urban culture. This also permits an elective affinity, resolved by a personal chemistry in the review of these classic figures. Along 20 years, from the emergence of the Brundtland Report (1987) to the Leipzig Charter (2007), urban sustainability is consolidated as the hegemonic program. However, urban designers need to concrete approaches in their task of giving form to this program. Some classic planning figures offer continuity to the meaning of sustainability, with ideas that could be present in the new urban agenda. Briefly, I propose a selective approach to urban sustainability precedents and three historic episodes useful for working today.