De/re-densification

In this article, I set out an approach to cities and urbanisation through a relational geography of urban density. While density has long been central to the urban question, I argue for a focus on the relationship between densification, de-densification, and re-densification as basis for understanding urban transformations and futures. A focus on the relational geographies of de/re-densification entails attending to three vital inter-related processes: urban transformation, sociospatial inequality, and ecological crisis. Taken together, this demands a critical approach to the framing and operation of de/re-densification geographies. I reflect on the implications for a politics of density.