Richard Sennett on the user-friendly city and technology

This editorial for issue 11.2 of the Journal of Urban Cultural Studies follows from a reading of Richard Sennett’s book Building and Dwelling (2018), in which the urban thinker discusses the user-friendly city, among other topics. Following first The Craftsman (2008) and second Together (2012), Building and Dwelling is the third volume in his Homo Faber series, a reflection on the relationship between head and hand. Here Sennett’s remarks on user-friendliness and technology serve as a launching point for assessing what is at stake in the rise of generative artificial intelligence for long-form writing.