ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the historical role of visualization technologies in unleashing a wave of re-thinking about the appropriate form and nature of the city, and the urban conflicts resulting from the imposition of “views from above” by architects, planners and city governments alike. Returning to a series of key historical scenes underscores how new representational techniques afforded by new media technologies have been integral to the arts of urban reform, helping not only to document but also to reconstruct the city through time, providing guiding imaginaries of idealized urban futures.
