The meaning of urbanism

Abstract

This article discusses an incomplete search on the different meanings understood from urbanism. It does so by discussing the relation of urbanism with urban planning and urban design. The similarities and differences between these concepts and the fact that they are often used indistinctly are pointed out. The current article is organized around two hypotheses, where the first involves a broader understanding of urbanism, which incorporates urban planning, and the second is based on the idea that the conceptual distinction between these two fields may be defined according to how close or how far urbanism is from art and architecture. The closer urbanism is to art and architecture, the more it moves away from urban planning. The ideas presented here are intended to be provocative, and the author is aware of reactions they may generate. This discussion is based on a technical literature as well as on debates with other researchers and students. The article starts with an introduction regarding the difficulties and complexities of an epistemological discussion while later sections point out similarities and distinctions between the two main concepts. The conclusion makes the author's position clear, but suggests that this issue needs further discussion.