Human settlements are the result of a mix of self-organisation and planning. Planners are fighting a losing battle to impose order on chaotic systems. Connections between the process of urban growth and the fields of complexity theory are of increasing importance to planners and urbanists alike; the idea that cities are emergent structures created not by design but from the interplay of relatively simple rules and forces over time. From the the small Tuscan hill town to the megacities of Asia: the struggle between the planned and the unplanned is universal. The question is: can we rediscover the art of city planning that works with, rather than against the natural process of urban growth? Based on years of international research, Climax City is a critical exploration of the growth of cities and masterplanning. Challenging the idea that the city can be entirely planned on paper, this book implores you to work with chaos when planning cities. Beautifully illustrated with striking hand-drawn plans of global cities, this is a vital and accessible contribution to urban theory and planning. It’s the perfect title for practitioners and academics across planning and urban design looking to make sense out of chaos.

David Rudlin is a planner and currently director of URBED, Chair of the Academy of Urbanism and Honorary Professor at Manchester University. In 2014 he was the winner of the Wolfson Economics Prize. He is also a practitioners who in the early part of his career worked on the redevelopment of the Hulme neighbourhood in Manchester. He has worked at URBED for nearly thirty years and been responsible for many high profile masterplans and research reports.

Shruti Hemani is an architect and urban designer with 10 years’ experience. Her work focuses on planning, design and research in the area of sustainable cities and social sustainability. Shruti worked at URBED for five years before returning to India to do a PHD on “The Influence of Urban Forms on Social Sustainability” from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. Shruti is currently a professor based in Jaipur and since 2012.