To Build and to Live: Urban Ethics

In this comprehensive work, Richard Sennett examines the poignant relationship between the architectural structures of cities and the lifestyles of their inhabitants, spanning a broad framework from ancient Greece to 21st-century Shanghai. Analyzing how Paris, Barcelona, and New York acquired their modern urban identities, he takes the reader on a sociological journey of discovery, from the narrow streets of Medellín, Colombia, to Google's headquarters in Manhattan.

Sennett criticizes the spread of "closed cities"—segmented, regulated, and tightly controlled—from the Northern Hemisphere to the South, advocating instead for the "open city" model where citizens can freely discuss their differences and urban planners can experiment with city forms. He demonstrates how people can cope with complexity.

Considering the reality that more and more people live in cities today, this book offers a bold and original vision for the future of cities, making a strong contribution to contemporary sociological debates.