Politics and urban artifacts in cities: what are they and how are they interconected?

This research, analyses the effect of politics on a city and its image, via their control over the formation or changes on urban artifacts. It analyses the concepts introduced in Aldo Rossi’s architectural monograph, The Architecture of the City, in the chapter titled ‘Politics as Choice’, and his idea that a city’s image is a reflection of its political institutions and the choices people in authority make. Monuments and architecture of various cities world over are taken into consideration, and in the authors opinion it becomes evident that over the ages, irrespective of the location, architecture and urban planning are used as tools in achieving or furthering political goals and agendas. These choices made by people in authoritative positions can have long lasting effects on the shape, identity or image of the city. Qualitative analysis based on review of existing literature and urban plans has been done, along with semi-directed interview with experts in the urban history of Rome, Bilbao and Sydney. This approach was adopted as the study analyses concepts which are more analytical and a qualitative methodology is more appropriate for use. Lastly, this study is preliminary research in better understanding the urban artifacts of the 20th century and researches one of the factors that influence their formation, that is politics. Other aspects of socio-economic, historical and cultural factors will be researched in future studies.