In two recent papers Storper and Scott have sought to counter the rise of assemblage thinking in urban studies, suggesting it is indeterminate, jargon-ridden and particularist – that it lacks a critique of power. Against such approaches they propose the ‘nature of cities’ as an ‘urban land nexus’ driven by the economics of agglomeration. In this paper we respond, largely agreeing on jargon yet arguing that assemblage is a form of critical urban thinking that holds potential for a general but open theory of urbanity. We also suggest that many parts of Scott and Storper’s own work are entirely compatible with assemblage thinking, including concepts such as urban ‘bundling’ and ‘buzz’. Agglomeration theory explains why cities emerge and grow where they do but is weak on issues of scale and morphology. Assemblage thinking embodies capacities to expand urban studies through a better engagement with multi-scale relations, gearing the economics of agglomeration to the study of urban morphology; understanding cities in terms of their possible futures as well as actual conditions. We call for more open and productive interfaces between research disciplines and approaches – a deterritorialisation of urban theory. The choice is not between agglomeration and assemblage, it is between the singular and the multiple.

The rapid expansion of online retailing has long raised the concern that shops and shopping centers (evolved or planned agglomerations of shops) may be abandoned and thus lead to a depletion of urbanity. Contesting this scenario, I employ the concept of ‘retail resilience’ to explore the ways in which different material forms of shopping may persist as online retailing proliferates. Through interviews with planning and development professionals in Edmonton (Canada), Melbourne (Australia), Portland (Oregon), and Wuhan (China); field/virtual observations in a wider range of cities; and a morphological analysis of key shopping centers, I find that brick-and-mortar retail space is not going away; rather, it is being increasingly developed into various shopping spaces geared toward the urban experience (a combination of density, mixed uses, and walkability) and may thus be adapted to online retailing. While not all emerging forms of shopping may persist, these diverse changes, experiments, and adaptations of shops and shopping centers can be considered a form of resilience. However, many emerging shopping centers pose a threat to urban public life.

Industrial heritage is one of the most neglected types of cultural heritage and urban landscape, often being vulnerable to rather than blessed by urban (re)development. China is confronting an unprecedentedly intensive challenge of preserving industrial heritage, as the country has rapidly shifted towards post-industrialization only several years after being recognized as the “world’s factory” in the 21st century. However, none of the existing literature has systematically investigated the typology and preservation of China’s post-1949 industrial heritage. This research selects Shanghai—the largest metropolis and a prime industrial hub in China— for the case study, and examines 83 accredited modern industrial heritage sites in the city through typological analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, and GIS spatial analysis. Two principal findings are identified. First, there is a diverse range of the post-1949 industrial heritage in China, by industries, time, and spatial forms. Particularly the industrial block—where industrial development is intermingled with the surrounding urban fabric—is the dominant spatial type. Second, the preservation and regeneration of China’s post-1949 industrial heritage in the suburbs are substantially more complex and more threatened than those in the inner city. This study concludes by providing implications for enhanced management and investigation of China’s post-1949 industrial heritage preservation and regeneration.

This typological account of the urban morphology of shopping presents a diagrammatic genealogy of urban retail types from traditional markets, streets and plazas through various adaptations and mutations into the contemporary shopping mall and power centre. This genealogy shows an increased car-dependency, privatized and centralized control, and disintegration from urban life. Many cities have been transformed by contemporary retail types that are less walkable, equitable, productive and resilient than those from which they were derived. The challenge lies in the invention of new retail types with potential for re-integration into more resilient forms of urban development.