"Here's a new take on 'ciné' and 'cité' by a planning buff who appreciates the filmic potential of urban intentions and outcomes. He tracks the plot twists over the years in a drama that continues in real time - just watch it." Michael Hebbert, Professor of Town Planning, University of Manchester

Mark Tewdwr-Jones is Professor of Spatial Planning and Governance at University College London's Bartlett School of Planning and Architecture and the UCL Urban Laboratory. He is a recognised authority on urban planning, the politics of the city and the use of land.

Introduction; Part one: Between recreated past and threatening future: The modern planning project: 'This new fangled planning doctrine'; 'The era of reconstruction begins' (photographic narrative); Image and representations of the modern world; Part two: A longing for the past: Narratives of uneasiness for modern cities and planning: Poetic realism: filmic planning in an era of transport modernization; 'Look at all those chimneys, that's money': urban space and social realism; 'It's like living in heaven up here!' (photographic narrative); 'The planners did their best': utilising irony and prose to protect the past; Taking a bird's-eye view: modern planning and the changing landscape; 'Planning turned out to be war by other means' (photographic narrative); Part three: In everything, accept the genius of the place: Towards a new respect for place: A multiplicity of meanings of space and place; 'A sense of beauty, culture and civic pride' (photographic narrative); Fearful symmetries: the spirit and purpose of modern planning.