ABSTRACT
Nostalgia is a very different mood from the anger and determination to escape class society that was expressed, in however flawed a fashion, in J. Braine's Room at the Top. Moreover, in cities, nostalgia operates particularly potently on impoverished, marginal out-of-the-way districts and corners. Nostalgia is part of the legacy of the Romantic Movement, and is an effect of change, and the massive changes that take place in cities induce this emotion to an intense degree. The notion of change is central to the experience of modern and contemporary urban life. Both change and nostalgia seem to be bound up with the contemporary debates about urban life and city space. The search for perfect cities can lead, paradoxically, to a radical anti urbanism. Reforms, such as the reduction of private motorcar use and improvements in public transport, would do much to improve city life and increase its safety.
