Posturban
Deurbanising Society: alterRural Modernities
Published on 27. January 2026
280 pages
978-1-040-82780-2 (ISBN)
Description
Posturban reveals why the future cannot remain urban. Linking climate breakdown, inequality, and democratic erosion to an urban paradigm rooted in a patriarchal, discriminative divide, it calls for a radical shift towards resilient, decentralised, and ecologically rooted ways of living.
Through a transdisciplinary critique of urbanisation's ties to capitalism, consumerism, and technocratic governance, the book shows why urban-centred solutions fail-and what can replace them. It introduces alterRural, Epimethean modernities that restore faith in nature and humanity: frameworks uniting ecological care, community autonomy, and cultural resilience into strategies for systemic change. It demonstrates how a plurality of place-based communities can lead towards sustainable, equitable, and life-affirming ways to inhabit Earth.
Written for engaged citizens, activists, policymakers, and scholars interested in more equitable and sustainable ways to organise society, Posturban is for anyone ready to challenge the future of cities and explore viable, hopeful alternatives.
Through a transdisciplinary critique of urbanisation's ties to capitalism, consumerism, and technocratic governance, the book shows why urban-centred solutions fail-and what can replace them. It introduces alterRural, Epimethean modernities that restore faith in nature and humanity: frameworks uniting ecological care, community autonomy, and cultural resilience into strategies for systemic change. It demonstrates how a plurality of place-based communities can lead towards sustainable, equitable, and life-affirming ways to inhabit Earth.
Written for engaged citizens, activists, policymakers, and scholars interested in more equitable and sustainable ways to organise society, Posturban is for anyone ready to challenge the future of cities and explore viable, hopeful alternatives.
Reviews / Votes
"POSTURBAN is a wonderful critique of the long-accepted view that urbanisation equates to development, and rurality to underdevelopment. Its counters this position and proposes that a new complex modernity can exist in the rural. An essential perspective for reimagining how we can live today."Dominic Stevens, architect
"POSTURBAN takes on the urban-centricity of contemporary thinking and argues that the rural still matters. The erudite and wide-ranging discussion finds hope for a more egalitarian society in the persistent rural and will be stimulating reading for anyone interested in our planetary future."
Michael Woods, geographer (author of 'Rural')
"POSTURBAN takes an important step in reconnecting urban and rural lifeworlds in less exploitative ways. It not only exposes the patriarchal Promethean roots of urban modernity but also proposes alterRurality as a timely framework for thriving decentralised degrowth societies."
Andrea Vetter, transformation researcher, activist and journalist (The Future is Degrowth)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
File size
12,19 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-82780-2 (9781040827802)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Pieter Versteegh, PhD (ETH Lausanne) in Architecture and Sciences of the City, is a free-lance researcher and teacher. He explores the co-construction of identity within post-urban dwelling modes, focusing on the mirrors of globalised urban Western society: rurality and the spaces of psychiatric care. He is co-founder of ARENA (Architectural Research European Network Association) and initiator of its AlterRurality network. He has taught in the domains of architecture, urban planning, and social work.
Content
Introduction Part One: The Urban, Promethean Modernity, And Their Economy 1. What Is Urban? 2. The Urban Drive: Promethean Modernity 3. Interlude: Economy And Economics 4. The Decline Of Promethean Wellbeing 5. Back To The Urban Part Two: Exploring Alternatives: Epimethean Modernity 6. The Other Side: Rurality 7. The Other Side Of History 8. Posturban: Alterrural Endeavours 9. Towards New Complex Social Morphologies 10. Conclusion
