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Urban Theory
A critical introduction to power, cities and urbanism in the 21st century
- Alan Harding - University of Liverpool, UK
- Talja Blokland - Humboldt University, Germany
May 2014 | 312 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
What is Urban Theory? How can it be used to understand our urban experiences? Experiences typically defined by enormous inequalities, not just between cities but within cities, in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world. This book explains:
- Relations between urban theory and modernity in key ideas of the Chicago School, spatial analysis, humanistic urban geography, and ‘radical' approaches like Marxism
- Cities and the transition to informational economies, globalization, urban growth machine and urban regime theory, the city as an “actor”
- Spatial expressions of inequality and key ideas like segregation, ghettoization, suburbanization, gentrification
- Socio-cultural spatial expressions of difference and key concepts like gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and “culturalist” perspectives on identity, lifestyle, subculture
- How cities should be understood as intersections of horizontal and vertical – of coinciding resources, positions, locations, influencing how we make and understand urban experiences.
1. WHAT IS URBAN THEORY?
2. URBAN THEORIES UNDER CONDITIONS OF MODERNITY
3. FROM THE URBAN CRISIS TO THE ‘TRIUMPH OF THE CITY’
4. CAN CITIES ACT? URBAN POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE QUESTION OF AGENCY
5. SPATIAL EXPRESSIONS OF INTRA-URBAN INEQUALITIES
6. SPATIAL EXPRESSION OF DIFFERENTIATION
7. URBAN THEORY RECONSIDERED
an excellent introduction to theoretical issues in urban studies and urbanism
Geography & Environmental Management, Northumbria University
December 12, 2014
For my Place and Space unit, this will be down as an essential text - for my retail Design and Design for Restaurateurs and Retailers units (50+ students) it will only be a supplementary reading.
An excellent compendium of academic theory upon place and space issues.
School of Tourism, Bournemouth University
November 4, 2014
This is a comprehensive overview of urban theories as they were developing in the last century, written in easy English, which is important for non-English students.
Spatial Planning, Czech Technical University in Prague
June 25, 2014
