Responding to the 19th century industrial revolution and 20th century modernism, the Second World War and mass motorisation, Dr Marco Amati shows how vitalism, eugenics, evolutionary theories and medical treatments were applied to understand cities and propose new urban forms.

Prologue.- Introduction.- A city for ‘natural man’.- From an exterior to an interior urban gaze.- The vital city.- Evolving the city.- Urban social hygiene.- The city of organic regularity.- Planning natural communities with open space.- European medicine for American urbanism.- Conclusion: a renewed direction for naturalism in planning.

This book traces how naturalism—the idea of a common theory uniting natural social systems—has contributed to major shifts in urban planning. Beginning in the 17th century, when the human body began to emerge as an inspiration for urban planning, the book examines the work of medical analyses of city life. Responding to the 19th century industrial revolution and 20th century modernism, the Second World War and mass motorisation, Dr Marco Amati shows how vitalism, eugenics, evolutionary theories and medical treatments were applied to understand cities and propose new urban forms. While critically evaluating the uses of naturalism, Amati also observes a renewed interest in the application of sciences to analyse city life, arguing that this is essential to help resolve challenges of human-induced climate change.

“Increasingly, we find environmental issues are also urban issues and vice versa. Just as scientific thinking is used to understand nature and environmental problems, it can also be employed to analyze and plan cities. In The City and the Super-Organism, Marco Amati takes us through a critical history of scientific thinking—naturalism, as he calls it—in urban planning, demonstrating its role in the design of cities, and evaluating its benefits and many pitfalls. Amati claims that the use of biological sciences in urban planning, coupled with the social sciences, will be crucial to the future of cities and planetary survival. This is a vital and timely contribution to urban studies in the context of our current climate crisis, and the existential threat of the pandemic. Essential reading for students, teachers, and practitioners of city planning and urban design.” (Tanu Sankalia, University of San Francisco, USA)

Offers a timely contribution building on recent works that demonstrate the power of ‘biological thinking’ Uniquely conceives of biology in city planning, infrastructure, housing and human relationships Comprises a cutting edge resource for researchers and students

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