Cities Contested: Urban Politics, Heritage, and Social Movements in Italy and West Germany in the 1970s ed. by Martin Baumeister, Bruno Bonomo, and Dieter Schott (review)

Cities Contested: Urban Politics, Heritage, and Social Movements in Italy and West Germany in the 1970 s is unusual in a number of respects for an edited collection that emerged from a conference. Firstly, it is tightly focused. The themes of urban planning, political crisis, alternative views of the city and popular urban participation run through all the pieces. Secondly, the comparative focus is maintained throughout, perhaps not within the individual pieces themselves, but the collection as a whole provides comparative study and thought between Italy and Germany. Thirdly, this collection opens out prospectives for further study, research collaboration, and understanding. It provides links and suggestions to a range of material and methodological innovations which can be applied to other areas of study in these countries and on these countries and beyond. Finally, it is beautifully produced and edited and framed by two useful introductory chapters, which are not merely descriptive of what is inside the volume but—once again—provide pointers and signposts towards further discussions, debates, and reading. Thus, the book provides a positive example of exactly what an edited collection can do and avoids the pitfalls of so many similar collections.

Given the breadth and depth of the material inside this volume, this review will focus on a few of the specific chapters included in the book. Vittorio Vidotto's essay on the enormous Corviale public housing development in Rome is a model of how to apply architectural, urban, and social history to the study of one place. Vidotto shows how this incredible building has become part of the popular imaginary of Rome itself since its completion in the mid-1980s. Corviale, as Vidotto points out, is linked to a series of urban myths. It reportedly has stopped cool winds coming into Italy's capital city, and it is often said that its architect committed suicide (he didn't). Vidotto shows how the politicization of urban planning has affected the fate of Corviale over the years, with calls for demolition alongside attempts to preserve and, maintain, and relaunch this almost unique public building. Bizarrely, perhaps, those who live in Corviale today seem proud of where they live. Vidotto cites a website which states, "the residents of Corviale love their monster."

A connected piece in the volume looks at the construction and history of the Pilastro neighborhood in Bologna, and the ways in which its residents took part in politics, urban planning, and discussions over participation. A number of pieces in the volume focus on the history and urban politics of Bologna, a place that was a model in the 1970s and 1980s for attempts to maintain democratic access to the city and balance a potent social mix while also preserving historic buildings. These chapters often provide a useful corrective to the global myth of "red Bologna," underlining the tensions and contradictions within the Communist Party's plans for the city and the ways in which these radical proposals have been almost entirely forgotten in recent years (and not just in Italy). Both these chapters combine the key approaches to be found throughout this volume. What makes it so distinctive and interesting (especially if read alongside the pioneering collection Storie di case: Abitare l'Italia del boom, Donzelli, Rome, 2013) is a focus on micro-history, on the stories of ordinary people, and on the effects of urban planning decisions and architecture beyond the merely theoretical or political. This engagement with the actually existing city, with everyday life, and with real buildings and stories makes this volume of particular interest to those involved in public history projects and research.

A further key theme running through this book is that of urban protest and contestation. In the 1960s and 1970s cities in both Italy and Germany became...