On Urban Failure

This essay considers the meaning and implications of “urban failure.” Agreeing with accounts of urban future as uncertain and perilous at a time of increased importance of cities in world affairs, the essay cautions against risk mitigation strategies premised upon smart technologies, top-down management, and community vigilance. It argues instead that cities are regulated by their sociotechnical systems of provisioning and circulation, sometimes keeping adversity at bay and sometimes exacerbating crisis. The essay looks at the aspects of “machine culture” that help to keep cities abreast (and sometimes ahead) of the uncertainties and risks they face. “Urban failure” is traced to the recursions of distributed intelligence.