The Urban Revolution [Paperback]

One of Lefebvre’s early points is the idea that an “urban society” is the finished result of a transition of stages, beginning with an agrarian and more primitive society, which is in turn superseded by a political, then mercantile and then an industrial stage, with society becoming more and more complex. The culmination of all this is the “urban society”, whose characteristics depend upon the characteristics as they existed during the course of industrialisation. Interestingly, Lefebvre didn’t regard this culmination as being the peak of accomplishment or sophistication for an urban environment but more as a ‘possibility, defined by a direction’ and to reach it, obstacles that make it ‘impossible’ have to be overcome.

The style in which Lefebvre writes all of this is what helps the book flow. He is always questioning the reader for one, which forces us to think about what he is saying. Although many of his ideas can be difficult to grasp immediately, his interesting writing style, which is vivid and suggestive, makes up for it, which is why the book is exciting to read. What is lacking within the text, however, is much visual stimuli to make the reading more comprehensible, and Lefebvre relies for much of the work on our imagination to understand his ideas, which can be a bit limiting. The diagrams he does use, however, are fairly clear and aid in our understanding of his writing. Also, perhaps what is lacking as well in the book, despite it being a mainly theoretical work, is the use of case studies or examples of urban environments (although he does use Paris in some of his explanations) to strengthen his ideas which sometimes seem to float about within the writing as opposed to being rooted to a particular example.

The target market of “The Urban Revolution” is certainly for those who take an interest in urban studies such as students and teachers and those with an interest in a more advanced outlook on the urban environment. I think this is reflected in the content of Lefebvre’s work as well as his style and level of illustration.

The writing of this book was shortly after the revolution in France of 1968, which almost saw the overthrowing of capitalism by a socialist regime and a growing anger at very low pay in industry. The fact that Lefebvre saw society then as being in a “critical phase” (in the process of moving from an industrial to an urban society) reflects the influence of these events on his writing. Lefebvre stresses, as the book progresses, how the ‘urban phenomenon’, a term which investigates the links between city-dwellers and a site, cannot be explained by any ‘specialised science’ or description alone, but a convergence of all the sciences, thus emphasing the complexties existing between people and their urban environment. Interestingly, Lefebvre even brings in ideas of myth and ideology in explaining how the image of a city tended in the past towards a concept or understanding. I also found interesting the anecdote he used about the fact that ‘in science fiction, optimistic predictions of the urban phenomenon are rare; pessimism is more common’, reflecting what a large number of people think about the dangers of the urban environment. This is what is so fascinating about the book: the way in which Lefebvre generally often portrays urban society as being a more dark and sinister place. Of course, Lefebvre is still fascinated by the urban, for example, because centrality is always possible in an urban space, despite all its ‘voids and neutralities’.

In the time the book was written (1970), writing which concentrated on urban issues and research was very under-theorized and as such, “The Urban Revolution” was a novelty for the time. In fact, the originality of the book still essentially allows the book to remain a novelty even today. Because of this and the high quality of Lefebvre’s writing, this book is of good value and is an essential read for those who share an interest in the complexities of what is urban.