Defining the Universal City

Twentieth century town planning is often labeled as international town planning. Planning pioneers, ideas and practices circulated in an international network society, composed of international societies, institutions and philanthropic foundations. Although this Urban Internationale has received substantial academic interest the past decade, we still know relatively little about its individual constituents. This dissertation reconstructs the history of the International Federation for Housing and Town Planning (IFTHP) in the period 1913-1945. This association started out as an international extension of the British garden city movement, but it matured into one of the foremost international rostrums for planners and urban designers in the interwar period. The IFHTP is used as a case study to analyze how the Urban Internationale performed at the micro level of the single network organization. The research demonstrates that the Urban Internationale was not a neutral stage; its nature effected and affected international town planning discourse in several ways.

Autorentext

Michel Geertse studied art history and Dutch law at VU University Amsterdam. He works as independent researcher and project manager at Architectuur Lokaal, national knowledge center for building culture. His academic and professional interests focus on the role of institutional frames in the production, performance and reception of architecture.