Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book makes a strong case for revisiting Jacob’s work in the context of today’s social relationships, highlighting the city as a site for ‘new discoveries and unscripted encounters’ as well as good neighbourhoods. It looks at the idea of authority and collective life. The book looks at the evolution of Foucault’s thinking, particularly in relation to phenomenology. In the late 1960s Michel Foucault became enmeshed in a series of research collaborative endeavours with architects, geographers, historians and sociologists, studying the history of housing, towns, health care facilities and the politics of space and themes of discipline and governmentality. The book covers the architecture and planning of the Welfare State, the process of post-war reconstruction and a variety of different relationships between designers and state planning.