Reconstructing Modernity: Space, Power and Governance in Mid-twentieth Century British Cities

Reconstructing modernity assesses the character of approaches to rebuilding British cities during the decades after the Second World War. It explores the strategies of spatial governance that sought to restructure society and looks at the cast of characters who shaped these processes. It challenges traditional views of urban modernism and sheds new light on the importance of the immediate post-war for the trajectory of planned urban renewal in 20th century. It examines plans and policies designed to produce and govern lived spaces - shopping centres, housing estates, parks, schools and homes - and shows how and why they succeeded or failed.