Porous City: From Metaphor to Urban Agenda

Radically mixed urban functions

Some time ago, Walter Benjamin and Asja Lacis used the term "porosity" with reference to Naples’ urban characteristics – spaces merging into each other and providing the backdrop for the unforeseen – improvisation as a way of life.

Today, the term "porosity" in this context is increasingly used conceptually.

Well-known authors from the worlds of architecture, town planning, and landscape design embark on a search for new concepts for a life-enhancing, user-friendly city – with reference to this enigmatic term.

The term refers to the overlaying and interweaving of spaces and structures, to urban textures and their architectural properties and qualities – to cities with radically mixed urban functions.

• Publication for a conference on a fundamental urbanistic subject



• 60 well-known authors




• An important contribution to the current European debate on urban design