Dr. Mark Jendrysik, Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, recent publication in Utopian Studies

Research Highlight: Dr. Mark Jendrysik, Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, recent publication in Utopian Studies

Journal: Utopian Studies, Volume 37 no. 1 2026, Pages 60-81
Article Title: “Look Upon My Works, ye Mighty and Despair”: New Cities for a New Gilded Age
Authors: Dr. Mark Jendrysik

Abstract:
Utopian desire expresses itself through design, in particular the design of new communities that might produce truer and more human ways of living. The past three decades have seen many new proposed cities. But the latest round of planned cities seems designed as expressions of wealth, power, and impunity from the laws of humanity and nature. We have seen efforts by the mega-rich and absolute rulers to carve out private territories within existing countries. What do these projects, so representative of our “new gilded age,” say about the possibilities and dangers of utopian city planning?