What is it about?
This chapter clarifies the somewhat ambiguous idea of the “open city”. It identifies five forms of urban openness — transparency, involvement, inclusivity, flexibility, and porosity — and shows how each may concern institutions, citizens, or the physical environment. It then explains their normative foundations in democracy and freedom.
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Why is it important?
“Open city” is often used as an attractive but ambiguous label. By distinguishing its different meanings and their possible tensions, the chapter offers a clearer framework for research, planning, and public debate. It also highlights a neglected point: openness matters not only because it supports democratic participation, but because it preserves the freedom needed for diverse, creative, and still unforeseeable urban futures.
Perspectives
An open city is not a finished ideal: it is a framework that keeps democratic collective choice and individual freedom open to futures we cannot fully specify in advance.
prof. Stefano Moroni
Politecnico di Milano
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Conceptualizing the Open City: What Is “Open”, in What Ways, and Why, January 2026, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-981-92-3722-7_2.
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