An integral lens on Patrick Geddes

•Geddes can be counted amongst those we describe as integrative holistic thinkers.•Contemporary metatheories especially integral theory update and extend Geddes’ work.•Integral theory substantiates and advances Geddes’ vision for a “larger modernism.”•Geddes’ evolutionary perspective on cities can enrich metatheoretical discourse.•The holistic and progressive view of our two subjects is especially germane today.