1 Nathan Gene Charlton How do urban forms enable political projects? The affordance of nationalism and nationhood during the modernisation of European cities. The London School of Economics and Political Science A thesis submitted to the European Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, May 2018 2 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 74,419 words. 3 Abstract How do ideologies and cities shape each other? This work offers a theoretical strategy for explaining how urban forms and political projects have afforded each other's development historically, while avoiding a deterministic account of how political aims are realised in particular urban forms. To do this it focuses on the emergence of nationalism in the context of the modernisation of European cities in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. As background, the development of the concept of citizenship in the context of the medieval city is explored and an understanding of the exceptional political space of the city in political philosophy is outlined. The political philosophy of nationalism is seen to engender an urban-rural tension and the works of Rousseau and Herder are read to understand further the relationship between nationalist thought and the modern city. Then in order to structure an investigation of how urban form and ideology interact, an analytical framework is developed using JJ Gibson’s theory of affordances. The framework is applied to European urban forms which developed during the rise of nationalism, specifically in three historical city cases: Budapest, Vienna and Venice. The cases share in common an experience of Habsburg administration and the rise of nationalism in the nineteenth century but have quite different formal contexts. Urban forms and affordances are discussed more generally using the phenomenon and concept of Haussmannisation and the usefulness of that concept is discussed. More general conclusions are drawn in which political ideas, ideologies and urban forms are understood to afford each other ranges of such possibilities without determining them. Keywords: urban history, urban forms, affordances, politics, political ideas, ideology, history, nationalism, intellectual history, architecture, planning, modernity, philosophy, Budapest, Vienna, Venice 4 Acknowledgements My sincere thanks, first of all, to my supervisors, Jonathan White and Simon Glendinning for their insights and the patience they have demonstrated in guiding me during this project. I am also most grateful for the opportunity they gave me to return to academia as a mature student and their encouragement at every turn. My thanks go to the staff of the Austrian State Archives and the University Library in Vienna, the State Archives of Venice, the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, the Telephony Museum and the Library of Parliament in Budapest and the British Library and the LSE Library in London. Thanks also to Judit Böröcz in helping me navigate Budapest and for translating. This thesis was made financially possible by people at a variety of companies in London who paid for my project management services while I pursued my research. In particular I would like to thank Adam Fisher for stretching the definition of ‘working from home’ as far as Vienna. For the past ten years I have been fortunate to be able to discuss ideas with thoughtful and interesting contributors and attendees at Big Ideas, a series of events Rich Cochrane and I started in pubs across London. My thanks go to Rich, Andrew McGettigan, Clare Churly, Bob Kingham, Ralph McHugh, Clunie Reid, Danny Rye among many others for fascinating discussions which have no doubt contributed to my intellectual development and therefore to this thesis. I thank Danny Birchall who has always found the time to listen to my ideas, give thoughtful responses and has also been a great source of encouragement. Special thanks go to my parents, Neil Charlton and Viv Charlton, for instilling in me a love of reading and learning and for their love and support over the years. And heartfelt thanks to my children, Frank and Magali, for putting up with a distracted dad and for being a joy to spend time with when I was not distracted. 5 Alice Charlton has done everything possible to encourage me to pursue my academic journey and has supported me throughout. She has inspired me and enriched my life immensely and I am greatly indebted to her. This thesis is dedicated to Alice. 6 Table of Contents Declaration --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Abstract ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Acknowledgements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Table of Figures ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 1. Nationalism and Urban History -------------------------------------------------------- 21 Avoiding Deterministic Accounts in Urban History .................................... 34 2. Theorising Politics, City and Nation -------------------------------------------------- 48 The European City and Citizenship ............................................................. 50 The City as an Exception ............................................................................. 54 Nationalism, Political Philosophy and the City ........................................... 61 Rousseau ...................................................................................................... 65 Herder .......................................................................................................... 72 3. Urban Forms and Affordances --------------------------------------------------------- 80 Urban Wholes .............................................................................................. 82 Urban Rhythms ............................................................................................ 92 Urban Hierarchies ...................................................................................... 100 Urban Networks ......................................................................................... 105 7 4. Budapest --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 112 Historical Context ...................................................................................... 115 Urban Forms .............................................................................................. 120 Unified ‘whole’ across the Danube. ....................................................... 120 Measuring the demographic whole. ....................................................... 126 Budapest’s whole forms. ........................................................................ 128 Institutional rhythm. ............................................................................... 130 Connecting the nation. ........................................................................... 131 Hierarchies of urbanisation. ................................................................... 133 Affordances ................................................................................................ 138 5. Vienna ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 147 Historical Context ...................................................................................... 150 Urban Forms .............................................................................................. 158 Containing Vienna. ................................................................................. 158 Hydraulic rhythms. ................................................................................. 160 Architectural hierarchies. ....................................................................... 161 The cultural network of the coffeehouse. ............................................... 166 Rhythms of supply and demand. ............................................................ 168 Hydrocephalus........................................................................................ 169 Red Vienna. ............................................................................................ 170 Affordances ................................................................................................ 172 6. Venice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 181 Historical Context ...................................................................................... 186 8 Urban Forms .............................................................................................. 193 Defining the whole on marginal land. ...................................................