Getting back into the "business of making things". On the promise and perils of the "productive city"

In recent years there has been much talk about a return of manufacturing (and production at large) to cities in advanced capitalist countries and the many benefits this can bring to urban economies and communities. This trend is reflected in the fact that the idea of the "productive city" is increasingly doing the rounds in urban planning and policy discourses. But what exactly is meant by this idea and which "urban producers" are actually being referred to when it is propagated? This debate article starts from the premise that not only the potentials but also the pitfalls, conflicts and contradictions arising from the current discourse on urban production and related ideas warrant critical investigation. Following on from this, it argues that the idea of the "productive city", in its current form, should not be seen as an innocuous idea to be embraced but as a starting point, indeed as a heuristic, for exploring the future of making in cities, as well as for a more general debate about what makes 21st century cities "productive" and what kind of "productivity" urban policy and planning practice should strive for.