Peter Bishop trained in town planning at Manchester University and has spent his entire career working in London. Over the past 25 years he has been a Planning Director in four different Central London boroughs and has worked on major projects including Canary Wharf, the development of the BBC's campus at White City and the King's Cross development.

In 2006 he was appointed as the first Director of Design for London, the Mayor's architecture and design studio. He is an advisor to the Mayor of London and a Director at the architectural firm Allies and Morrison - Urban Practitioners. Peter lectures and teaches extensively, is a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University, an Honorary Fellow of University College London and an Honorary Fellow of the RIBA.

Lesley Williams trained in environmental sciences in Bradford and in town planning at the Bartlett School of Architecture, and is a writer and sculptor. She has worked for the Civic Trust, CAG Consultants and the Environment Trust. For the last 15 years she has worked as a freelance consultant specialising in the design and facilitation of stakeholder involvement processes, consensus building and partnership development.

1. Introduction: The Temporary City 2. The Dream of Permanence 3. Temporary Urbanism: Drivers and Conditions 4. Site Life: The Private Sector Response 5. Temporary Arenas for Consumption 6. The City as a Stage 7. Culture and Counterculture 8. Activism 9. Creative Cities and the Gentrification Dilemma 10. Re-Imagining the City: Planning for Temporary Activity 11. The Four-Dimensional City