Abstract

[Urban spaces, social practices and legal institutions in Albert Robida's “electric” city] The book of Albert Robida Le Vingtième Siècle, under the guise of a coming-of-age novel set within a tale of scientific anticipation, actually conceals an accurate and interesting description of the transformations induced on the city of Paris by the new electronic technologies and, above all, the impact of these on social behavior (and formations) in the urban context. The framework traced by the author thus reveals a technological progress aimed in part at improving living conditions and the progress of the person, but within a general context in which the economic powers seem to be the real directors, profiting widely from the transformations induced by technology.