Green Cities: A Dialogue

Dorothee Brantz and Avi Sharma discuss the history of green urban visions, looking at historical precedents of the modern green city such as those found in Franz Lang’s classic film Metropolis and the garden cities imagined by modern city planners. Crucial to understanding any attempt of imagining and building green cities, they argue, is also understanding the underlying urban political economy—the historical and political process shaping why, in urban settings, “some people live in gardens while others live in caves.”