Seeing Like a State (Scott)

Details

Photo

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Name

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Field

Political science / Planning

Year

1998

Core idea in one line

Big, high-modernist plans fail when they flatten messy local knowledge into neat, legible grids.

My take

After this, you never look at superblocks, public housing courtyards, or “smart city” dashboards without hearing a faint bureaucratic cackle.

Good starting point for

Questioning why top-down reforms so often backfire in cities.