Cities, we are told, must be planned. They must be orderly, resilient, smart, green, and – above all – efficient. Their flows must flow. Their zones must zone. Their development must be sustainable, measurable and accompanied by stakeholder dialogues with coffee-flavoured name tags. And then someone comes along and plants tomatoes in a parking lot. This issue of topos is dedicated to those people. To the ones who don’t wait for permission, who don’t colour within the zoning map, who don’t ask whether it’s allowed before asking whether it makes sense. Rebels of Urbanism is not a celebration of chaos – it is a tribute to disobedient clarity. To those who look at the city not as a finished product, but as an open system with enough cracks to plant new ideas in.

We’re not talking about noise for the sake of provocation. We’re talking about friction – and how it generates movement.

Urbanism as Resistance

From informal settlements that outsmart formal planning, to community-built infrastructures that succeed where governments have failed; from artists who reprogram the meaning of public space to architects who refuse the rules of the market – this issue explores urbanism as resistance, reinvention, and, yes, resistance and rebellion.

You will encounter stories from all over the world and beyond – places where the city has been challenged not by ideology, but by daily life and imagination. You’ll meet planners who speak softly but act radically. Landscape architects who refuse the polished masterplan. Activists who turn dead zones into living rooms. And fighters who remind us that rebellion does not always wear a hoodie.

Many Forms of Rebellion

Rebels come in many forms. Some plant. Some build. Some occupy. Some code. Some walk slowly through a city designed for acceleration – and that alone becomes a statement. What unites them is not scale, but stance. They act where others explain. They improvise where systems hesitate. They remind us that the urban contract is not fixed, and that rules – like kerbs and fences – are made to be tested.

And yes, sometimes they fail. But in failure, there is more truth than in a dozen glossy renderings. Because rebellion, when done well, is not just noise – it is method. So no: this is not a handbook for polite participation. This is a journal of urban courage, of stubborn optimism, of brilliant misbehaviour.

I am particularly looking forward to hearing from you, dear readers, whether via LinkedIn, email, or in person. We are immensely proud of this issue. On the one hand, it has once again pushed the boundaries of topos; on the other, it has allowed us to further broaden our own horizons.

Get the topos 134– Rebels of Urbanism – here.

Our latest issue explores the world of Urban Icons. Urban icons shape how cities are seen, remembered, and sold informing skylines, postcards, and collective imagination. They promise identity, orientation, and pride, yet their meanings are rarely innocent. This issue of topos neither celebrates icons as unquestioned achievements nor dismisses them as empty spectacle. Instead, it examines their power. For architects, planners, and urbanists, icons are more than landmarks. They influence investment, tourism, and policy, while often obscuring the social, political, and ecological costs behind their images. Who defines what becomes an icon? What narratives are amplified – and which are erased? Urban Icons explores the double life of symbolic places, from monumental architecture to subtle landscapes that invite memory, play, or quiet reflection. Through global case studies, the issue reveals how icons inspire, standardise, distract, and endure. It asks not what icons do for cities, but what they reveal about the values, contradictions, and futures of urban society.Read more in the editorial of topos 133 – Urban Icons.