LAUSR

Abstract The paper by Batty and Marshall asks after Geddes’ grand theory, respectively the lack thereof, and the difficulties this poses for assessing Geddes’ importance on subsequent and today’s urban planning theories. Shoshkes’s paper traces the influence of Geddesian thought on post-World-War-Two planning through the person of Jaqueline Tyrwhitt, arguing that the latter’s synthesis of Geddesian thinking laid a foundation for sustainable urban planning. The two papers share the assumption that for Geddes the city was the end towards which he worked and thought. Yet looking at Geddes as a life-long biologist, the city turns out to be a means towards the end of understanding life. Such approach allows one to make sense of many if not most of his activities.