Transformative Urbanism
YEAR
release date: october 2026
AWARDS
Science Award for Architecture of the Federal Chamber of Civil Engineers (Austria) 2025
Transformative Urbanism. Design Principles for Imagined Territories reframes urbanism at a moment when its traditional object—the city—has dissolved into a planetary condition. Rather than offering another theory of control, the book departs from the recognition that urbanisation is an open-ended, collective experiment shaped by uncertainty, conflict, and imagination. It positions urbanism not as the author of fixed futures, but as a practice that engages with how societies continuously renegotiate how and where they live.
Drawing on the Luis Hilti’s doctoral research and a series of real-world experiments, the book introduces the concept of imagined territories: overlapping, dynamic fields through which communities form, dissolve, and reconfigure their spatial realities. At its core is an experimental understanding of practice, where the role of the urbanist shifts from planner to facilitator—designing public realms in which collective imagination can unfold. Through case studies and theoretical reflection, the book outlines how these processes can become operational as transformative public realms.
Situated between planning, cultural practice, and transformation research, Transformative Urbanism proposes a new professional ethos for an era defined by ecological urgency and societal uncertainty. It does not prescribe solutions, but offers a set of design principles and a mode of working that expands the space of possibility—enabling societies to imagine, negotiate, and shape their futures together.