La ciudad autónoma

The autonomous city is the first history of squatting as it has been practiced in Europe and North America. Alexander Vasudevan follows the trail of the struggle for housing in cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Detroit, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Milan, New York or Vancouver to analyze the organization of alternative forms of coexistence, as well as the response of the governments, including the recent criminalization of squatting and the brutality of evictions. Faced with the aggressiveness of states and real estate developers, these pages present squatting as a way to reimagine and vindicate the city that faces housing insecurity, speculation, and the pernicious effects of neoliberal urban regeneration plans. Now, more than ever, we must revive and reclaim our cities as the site of radical social transformation.