Smooth City Against Urban Perfection, Towards Collective Alternatives

Examines the rise of the smooth city and counters it with a clear critique
Offers a starting point for challenging the obsession with urban ‘perfection’ 
Presents a framework for collectively working towards ‘porous’ alternatives
Selected by the Student Jury of The Best Dutch Book Designs of 2023!
Author: René Boer

Visuals and design: Kees de Klein

June 2023, Valiz supported by Creative Industries Fund NL | pb | 272 pp. | 19 x 12 cm (h x w) | English | ISBN 978-94-93246-20-1

René Boer (1986, he/him) works as a critic, curator and organizer in and beyond the fields of architecture, art, design and heritage. He is based in Amsterdam, founding partner of Loom - practice for cultural transformation and editor at Failed Architecture.

Kees de Klein is a graphic designer, visual artist and art director based in Amsterdam

In the media:
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the interview with René Boer about Smooth City by Laurens Bluekens in HP/De Tijd (21 May 2023)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the interview with René Boer about Smooth City by Teun Dominicus in Het Parool (9 June 2023)
- Click here to read the article Healthy Cities and Bodies: Reflections on New Paradigms of Urban Wellbeing from Vincent Baptist in Mediapolis (9 June 2023)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the review of Smooth City by Ronnie Weessies in Architectenweb (20 June 2023)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the review of Smooth City by Marina Samveljan, Kate Unsworth and Anna Kozera on Archined (27 November 2023)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the review of Smooth City on De Architect (29 November 2023)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the review of Smooth City by Joost Zonneveld on Gebiedsontwikkeling.nu (5 March 2024)
- Click here to read the review of Smooth City by Kate Wagner in The Nation (12 March 2024)
- Listen here to the interview with René Boer in New Books Network (22 October 2024)
- Click here to read an excerpt of Smooth City on KoozArch (17 January 2025)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the article 'Porous City? Hoe dan wel?!' by Marina Samveljan, Kate Unsworth and Anna Kozera on Archined (3 February 2025)
- (Only in Dutch) Click here to read the review 'Pleidooi vor de poreuze stad' by Jarmo Berkhout on de Nederlandse Boekengids (8 June 2025)