Creating Future Cities: Technology, Ethics, and the Fight for the Good Life

This book fleshes out the idea that everything about the city involves a fight for the good life. From how we conceptualize it to its streets and the fiber-optic cables beneath them, nothing is excluded from creating the cities we want to call home. In turn, this book continues Shane Epting’s ideas developed in Urban Enlightenment and Meaning in the Metropolis. It begins with an examination of how scholars define the term “city.” He argues that while cities are often described as ecosystems or technologies, these views should be abandoned in most cases. Instead, Epting maintains that cities are groups of people capable of shaping the built environment and its supporting technologies, united by the goal of creating places where people can live their best lives. This is the fight for the city. That fight involves many elements vital to city living, such as streets, land use, historic preservation, and preparation for extreme weather. He argues that fighting for the city is not merely about control. Rather, its purpose is to create environments that foster human flourishing while safeguarding communities against disaster. Creating Future Cities will be essential reading for scholars and advanced students in philosophy, urban studies, and architecture.