This is a review article on the Chinese translation of Lewis Mumford's ”The City in History” (1961). The author attempts to analyse the discursive formation of this book and the Mumfordian humanist discourse. This paper elaborates upon the intellectual tradition of the anarchist socialist urban reform that lay behind Mum Ford's views, and their roots in American culture. In addition, the ”regionalism” in the RPAA and Mumfordian discourse is further defined. Finally, Lewis Mumford's critical and historical text is revaluated as the discursive form for the public constitution of American civil society in the progressive era.