Urbanization in a neo‐liberal world

Europe and North America—the Occident—have adopted the role of the bearers of civilization for a long time, assuming the task to enlightening (or imposing it on) others. 'Development’ in its current form derives from ideas and practices, as Atkinson accurately describes, that have their ideological roots in the rise of capitalism and Christian ethics, and finds their expression and reproduction in the constant obsession with power and wealth. In this essay, Adrian Atkinson questions the ideas, reasons and effect behind the currently widespread development process, instigated and adopted by international development agencies. Its core concern revolves around the opposition of the neoliberal reality against a 'utopian communities paradigm’. The crux of Atkinson's argument is the tension between fatalism which underpins the mono‐dimensional, neoliberal approach to development, and the challenge which is embodied in a host of radical and revolutionary ideas and past movements which assert that we can design and build a world that provides for the needs and reasonable desires of all.