Abstract The essay proposes an urban aesthetics that acknowledges the need for care-based action in the face of several critical challenges that conventional aesthetic models are poorly equipped to address. These challenges include inadequate and deteriorating infrastructure unable to withstand climate impacts; conflictual politics that prioritize visibility over functionality; complex human-environment relationships that require understanding as ecosystems; institutional barriers that prevent meaningful citizen engagement; and, on occasion, colonial legacies that disconnect urban form from cultural identities and local contexts. The approach builds on recent scholarship examining the relationship between aesthetic experience and ethical engagement with urban environments while recognizing the practical constraints faced by planners and communities. The impetus for this essay stems from the author's professional experience implementing an urban resilience program in Naryn, the provincial capital of the Naryn region in the Kyrgyz Republic. This setting provides an illuminating context for examining the tensions between aesthetic theory and planning practice. Observations from this case study are woven into the article to illustrate how the challenges identified manifest in specific ways and how an urban aesthetics of care might address them.
Surekha Ghogale (Thu,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: