Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything - Zahra Ebrahim

\nCan messiness make our cities more livable, lively, and inclusive?\n \nCrowded streets, sidewalk vendors, jumbled architecture, constant clamour, graffitied walls, parks gone wild: are these signs of a poorly managed city or indicators of urban vitality?\n \nMessy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything argues that spontaneity and urban work-around are not liabilities but essential elements in all thriving cities. Forty essays by a range of writers from around the world illuminate the role of messy urbanism in enabling creativity, enterprise, and grassroots initiatives to flourish within dense modern cities.\n \nWith pieces on guerrilla beaches, desire lines, urban interruptions, and the inner lives of unlovely buildings written by experts from all walks of life, Messy Cities makes the case for embracing disorder while not shying away from confronting its challenges.\n