The making of 'glocal' urban modernities: Exploring the cracks in the mirror

Swyngedouw and Kaïka explore some of the classic tensions and preoccupations of urban planners and theorists: emancipation/disengagement, global/local, social justice/neoliberalism. In particular, the authors refer us to the effects of the 'drastic re-assertion of the forces of modernity in the contemporary city. They raise the question' can we still build an enabling and empowering urbanisation process?'. To answer the question they tell various stories of how local-global elites are undermining cultures of everyday life creating a city of the spectacular commodity. They go further to paint a picture of the city as a 'staged archaeological theme park' (p.11). In answer, they suggest that a utopian and localist politics of difference is still possible. Moreover, much can be redeemed from the maelstrom of modernity. They invite us to dwell in the utopian visions of different, more just forms of urbanity emerging from the 'third space' of the margins.