What can a new scientific magazine on urban matters deliver these days? Sure, only time can tell, but it seems good to have new forums. Urban Cultural Studies appear as a vision of a dialogue between art and society, with a large array of associated disciplines, from architecture to video games. For some, this would be the typical scheme developed in an American University that, despite having placed itself under the banner of a “Marxist saint” (Henri Lefebvre) would only be, in the end, another product of consumerism, and a niche one. i.e., a University with a certain prestige must propose any kind of product, as a cable provider would deliver Kim Kardashian and “Mad Men”.

But I think such a vision is far from fair, and reductionist. If you remember the previous “biblio” on the need to make urban planning cool again by giving is practitioners a clearer idea of the implications it has on society as whole, beyond the mere economic calculations, this initiative is interesting. Following the blog of its director, Benjamin Fraser, you can see there could be something there. Besides, no excuse to read the first issue, as it can be freely consulted (that’s understating the current cultural paradigm…).