The Athena Series is one of the most powerful ideas I've heard about. I would encourage everyone to read the book when published, particularly if they are interested in women's perspective on cities.
— Hillary Rodham Clinton, American politician, diplomat, lawyer, writer, and public speaker
One of the great things about the Athena Talks in Stockholm is that it is such an intensely organized event with an impressive diversity of ideas and an amazing efflorescence of urban approaches and perspectives. This lively assemblage of leading female urban scholars will have long-term consequences in regard to future debates on architecture and urban design, surely providing a vigorous discussion at the present.
— Michael Sorkin, late distinguished professor of architecture of the City University of New York, architectural critic, writer, urbanist and president of Terreform
This volume brings together an incredible collection of essays by leading female urbanists. Based on their Athena Lectures at Sweden's KTH University, its chapters provide tremendous insight into the organization and challenges of contemporary cities, charting the way forward to a more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable urbanism for the 21st century.
— Richard Florida, professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, Who’s Your City? and The New Urban Crisis.
How can we know the contemporary city? Let us count the ways…
This anthology is a comprehensive introduction to contemporary urban theories and perspectives, from politicized social concerns, to evidence-based conceptions of human and ecosystem health, to historical and evolving cultures, to physical and digital forms. Presented by a unique assembly of powerful scholars, a myriad of topics will enrich the reader’s knowledge of contemporary urbanism and the interaction of humans and nature in built form.
And what better way to learn about so many urban aspects than by reading and listening to women scholars!
— Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, professor at the University of Miami's School of Architecture, co-founder of Congress for New Urbanism, architect, planner, and co-author of Suburban Nation and The New Civic Art
Only Tigran Haas could have put together such an astonishing book by some of the greatest female contemporary urban scholars in the world. And in our collapsing world, it is precisely the urban question - and what kind of cities and forms of living-together do we build - that might as well determine our future.
— Srećko Horvat, philosopher, political activist, and author of After the Apocalypse and the Signs of the Postmodern City
Women Reclaiming the City is an important compilation of female contemporary urban scholars filling a real knowledge gap: this is a unique anthology that has emerged from a series of lectures presented at KTH in Stockholm, illuminating the relevant role these distinguished scholars are playing in urban studies today.
— Dr. Steffan Lehmann, author of The Principles of Green Urbanism and Urban Regeneration, professor of architecture and urbanism at the University of Nevada, director of Urban Futures Lab
I had the honor of attending five of the Athena Lectures and feared that these fantastic presentations would be lost to obscurity. Tigran Haas's stellar compendium assures access to diverse audiences everywhere.
— Charles R. Wolfe, author of Sustaining a City's Culture and Character and Seeing the Better City, observational urbanist, and photographer
The importance of this extraordinary volume, first of all, is that it encompasses an impressive and well-curated range of contemporary explorations of urbanism, architecture and planning by some of the most prominent and ground-breaking researchers. The scope of its coverage of contemporary issues and the quality of the research represented provide an excellent introduction to the field for students and a resource for serious scholars. The fact that the researchers included in the volume are women highlights the uniquely significant contributions to the field made by women since Jane Jacobs.
— David Brain, director, urban studies, professor of sociology and environmental studies, New College of Florida, author of The Intentional City: Public Space and the Civic Commons
For too long we have largely understood the world through the male voice. Women Reclaiming the City changes that. With this anthology, Tigran Haas brings to us the voices of the foremost female contemporary urban scholars that present diverse perspectives on architecture, urban design, and planning for a more humane, inclusive, and resilient urban future.
— Vikas Mehta, professor, Fruth/Gemini chair, Ohio eminent scholar, University of Cincinnati, and author of Public Space: Notes on Why It Matters, What Should We Know, and How to Realize Its Potential
This outstanding anthology reflects Tigran Haas' unparalleled ability to assemble many of the top minds in urbanism from around the world and to share their insights with a larger audience. During his Athena Talks series at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, he took on one of the most egregious gaps in urban research: the historic lack of balance in covering women's urban issues, from the perspective of women urban scholars. Now, with this publication, the combined insights of twenty-five global leaders offer a timely rebalance and an essential addition to the urban literature.
— Michael Mehaffy, philosopher, urbanist, and executive director of The Lennard Institute for Livable Cities, author of Cities Alive and A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions
This is a long time coming book which had grown from a pioneering series of public lectures given by female scholars, at a time when we had just started to think more seriously about gender and representation in the architecture and built environment academe. I look forward to reading more and reflect on its implications for feminist and critical theory in urban studies.
— Catalina Turcu, professor of sutainable built environment, University College London (UCL)
Contemporary cities are the mainstage for multiple social, political, economic, ecological, and technological dramas of the twenty-first century. The contributors to this ground-breaking collection provide fresh and poignant insights on the fascinating place-based dynamics of the human condition. Great stuff!!
— Andrew Karvonen, Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Lund University LTH, Author of Inside Smart Cities and Experimental Cities
Basic assumptions about contemporary urbanism are proving wrong, and we need a new model. We can't just ignore this professionally or morally in light of the transformation we see happening before our eyes; it is a big, interdependent complex problem. This fantastic Athena series in Stockholm provokes awareness, a sense of urgency, and ideas for rejuvenating and intensifying our cities, bringing about some of the leading female urban scholars. As this anthology proves, the editor, Dr. Tigran Haas, is one of the most upbeat, energetic, and conscientious colleagues and academics I know as an ambassador for and tribute to urbanism.
— Late Professor Emeritus Douglas Kelbaugh, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning, Ann Arbor University of Michigan, Author of The Urban Fix, Repairing the American Metropolis, Common Place and Writing Urbanism.
At different times and in different parts of the World, Women's voices in the city have been suppressed, marginalized, or ignored. This hugely valuable collection of essays from some of the World's leading urban thinkers - all women - demonstrates beyond any doubt the profound folly of such approaches and speaks to the importance of a pluralistic society where all voices on the city are valued equally.
— Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning & Urban Design, The Bartlett, UCL London, Author of Capital Spaces, The Design Dimension of Planning, Explorations in Urban Design and Public Places Urban Spaces.
This Book gives new and fascinating perspectives on equality, justice, and equity in cities. Edited by one of the leading urbanists of our time, Tigran Haas, many female scholars present new, alternative views to the mainstream literature.
— Professor Hans Westlund, Urban and Regional Planning, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship, Jönköping International Business School, Author of Innovation in Socio-Cultural Context, Smart Development for Rural Areas and In the Post Urban World
With a timely and relevant selection of City topics, and with an unmatched repertoire of scholars from a wide range of scholarly backgrounds, this book has much to offer to students, policymakers, and fellow academics in any field.
— John Östh, Professor in Urban Analytics @ Oslo Metropolitan University, Department of Built Environment/TKD and Coordinator of SMUA (Master in Smart Mobility and Urban Analytics)
This remarkable volume brings together voices of leading women scholars in architecture, planning, and urbanism. From everyday urbanism and just city to landscape literacy and health in the city, each contributor challenges established boundaries (or glass ceilings) of the field and stakes new grounds. What we know about society and the built environment today would not be the same without their insights and sensibilities.
— Professor Jeff Hou, Professor of Landscape Architecture, College of Built Environments, University of Washington Seattle, Author of Transcultural Cities: Border-Crossing and Placemaking, Insurgent Public Space: Guerrilla Urbanism and the Remaking of Contemporary Cities and Now Urbanism: The Future City is Here
This Book serves as a pleasant reminder that the most prolific thinkers in urban design and planning are female. The imposing roster of authors in this Book has created the canon for urban scholarship over the past years and decades; it speaks to editor Dr. Tigran Haas and the Athena lecture series for convening such an insightful and powerful group of scholars. In Women Reclaiming the City, it is a delight to read their latest insights on cities, their potentials, and their contemporary challenges.
— Conrad Kickert, Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning | University at Buffalo, Author of Street Level Architecture, Dream City and Street Life.
This impressive collection by major authors is a testimony to the longstanding efforts and admirable enthusiasm invested by Professor Haas in developing and disseminating research in urbanism, architecture, and planning.
— Ali Madanipour, Professor of Urban Design, Newcastle University UK, Author of Rethinking Public Space, Planning Theory Volumes I-IV, Urban Design, Society and Space and Whose Public Space
Women Reclaiming the City will be regarded as a landmark in the history of urban thought. Although female scholars have made pathbreaking contributions to urban studies for several decades, no one before Tiran Haas recognized the need to celebrate this contribution. Professor Haas has tapped into his scholarly breadth and multi-national background in handpicking the group of female giants who contributed to the Book. In a single book, one discovers a fascinating, multifaceted urban picture composed of perspectives and methods from urban design, history, landscape architecture, urban sociology, anthropology, geography, social psychology, psychoanalysis, economics, architecture, and technology. Spanning scholars with academic backgrounds in the USA, Canada, Australia, England, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Singapore, this Book whets readers' appetite for more.
— Professor Emerita Rachelle Alterman, Emeritus Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Author of Planning in the Face of Crisis, National-Level Spatial Planning in Democratic Countries and Regulating Coastal Zones
60 years ago, Jane Jacobs wrote that "cities... can provide something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody." This book, reimagining urban studies through women's perspectives, shows exactly what it means to bring "everybody" to the table."
— Carlo Ratti, architect, engineer, inventor, educator and activist. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Director of the MIT Senseable City Lab and Founder of CRACarlo Ratti Associati, Author of The City of Tomorrow and OpenSource Architecture
Thank you, Tigran Haas, for having assembled the most formidable, courageous, radical, inspiring female urban scholars that critically reflect on architecture, urbanism, and city planning. Adèle Naudé Santos, Ann Forsyth, Anne Vernez-Moudon, Anne Whiston Spirn, Christine Boyer, Clare Cooper Marcus, Dana Cuff, Ellen Dunham-Jones, Emma Waterton, Emily Talen, Fran Tonkiss, Galen Cranz, Karen A Franck, Loretta Lees, Margaret Crawford, Nan Ellin, Nina-Marie, Setha M. Low, Sharon L. Zukin, Susan Fainstein, Jane Margaret Jacobs, Saskia Sassen, and Sherry Turkle weave together an amazing tapestry made of many stories that tell of how we live and can live together in cities today.
— Professor Massimo Santanicchia, Ph.D., Head of the Department in Architecture and Professor and Director of the Master's Program in Architecture, Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavik.