The financial crisis has spawned a raft of (new) economic models based on cooperative interests and calling for a reconsideration of our values system.

Within the context of de-industrialization, deregulation and privatization in urban planning in the last 15 years not only architects and urban planners but increasingly artists are assuming a key role in restructuring cities.

In this book, Barbara Holub together with international practitioners and theorists from art, urbanism, philosophy, anthropology and sociology but also politicians and administration officers explores the significance of artistic practices counteracting the investor-oriented (urban) planning and examines what options are offered by the new, trans-disciplinary role of urban practitioner.

This book features grass-roots projects and initiatives in cities across the world, including Liverpool (England), Ekaterinburg (Russia), Styria (Austria), Baltimore (United States), and Duisburg (Germany) among others.

English and German text.