Planning the Productive City

“Planning the Productive City: Rethinking Urban Industrial Spaces asks how after decades of being ignored manufacturing can be reintegrated into urban economic development strategies. The rich European and U.S. cases presented in this edited volume examine how cities deemphasized manufacturing—mostly to their peril—and how many are prioritizing industry and industrial land to create new economic activity. The book is a hopeful examination of how manufacturing still matters.”

Joan Fitzgerald, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University

“Cities once produced things, which helped to grow ideas and the economy. Great cities now live off an economy of ideas and don’t know how or where things are produced. Without spaces for production, cities cannot eat, be sanitised, build, move or grow. Through making things, materials have knowledge, ideas are grounded and waste is just a resource. This book brings together an excellent collection of insights from across the world, on how cities can make place for production.”

Adrian Hill, Director, Osmos Network and Cities of Making

"This book debuts with a relevance that the editors and contributors could not have foreseen. Well over half of the world’s population (4.4 billion) lives in urban areas. The global economy’s ability to meet this population’s needs requires high functioning international supply chains. In turn, urban industrial spaces are essential inputs to these supply chains. This is especially the case when global politics are disrupting supply chains. The authors' contributions to this book give us greater and much needed understanding for creating productive industrial spaces that support and improve urban global population conditions."

Nancey Green Leigh, Professor Emerita, School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology