ABSTRACT

Drawing on a rich diversity of theoretical approaches and analytical strategies, urban geographers have been at the forefront of understanding the global and local processes shaping cities, and of making sense of the urban experiences of a wide variety of social groups. Through their links with those working in the fields of urban policy design, urban geographers have also played an important role in the analysis of the economic and social problems confronting cities.

Capturing the diversity of scholarship in the field of urban geography, this reader presents a stimulating selection of articles and excerpts by leading figures. Organized around seven themes, it addresses the changing economic, social, cultural, and technological conditions of contemporary urbanization and the range of personal and public responses. It reflects the academic importance of urban geography in terms of both its theoretical and empirical analysis as well as its applied policy relevance, and features extensive editorial input in the form of general, section and individual extract introductions.

Bringing together in one volume 'classic' and contemporary pieces of urban geography, studies undertaken in the developed and developing worlds, and examples of theoretical and applied research, it provides in a convenient, student-friendly format, an unparalleled resource for those studying the complex geographies of urban areas.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

part One|43 pages

Foundations

chapter |9 pages

“The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project”

from Robert Park et al., The City (1925)

chapter |9 pages

“The Pattern of Movement of Residential Rental Neighborhoods”

from The Structure and Growth of Residential Neighborhoods in American Cities (1939)

chapter |9 pages

“A Theory of Location for Cities”

from American Journal of Sociology (1941)

chapter |10 pages

“The Nature of Cities”

from Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (1945)

part Two|46 pages

Globalization

chapter |11 pages

“World-City Network: A New Metageography?”

from Annals of the Association of American Geographers (2000)

chapter |10 pages

“Social Polarisation in Global Cities: Theory and Evidence”

from Urban Studies (1994)

chapter |9 pages

“From Colonial City to Globalizing City? The Far-from-complete Spatial Transformation of Calcutta”

from P. Marcuse and R. van Kempen (eds) Globalizing Cities: A New Spatial Order? (2000)

part Three|49 pages

Restructuring

chapter |12 pages

“The Urban Process Under Capitalism: A Framework for Analysis”

from International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (1978)

chapter |10 pages

“Gentrification, the Frontier, and the Restructuring of Urban Space”

from Neil Smith and Peter Williams (eds) Gentrification of the City (1986)

chapter |14 pages

“Postmodern Urbanism”

from Annals of the Association of American Geographers (1998)

part four|58 pages

Politics, governance, and inequality

chapter |9 pages

“Local Politics in a Global Era: Thinking Locally, Acting Globally”

from Globalization and the Changing US City (1997)

chapter |11 pages

“Retooling the Machine: Economic Crisis, State Restructuring, and Urban Politics”

from Andrew Jonas and David Wilson (eds) The Urban Growth Machine: Critical Perspectives, Two Decades Later (1999)

chapter |12 pages

“Local Governance, the Crises of Fordism and the Changing Geographies of Regulation”

from Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (1996)

chapter |9 pages

“Yuppies, Yuffies and the New Urban Order”

from Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers (1989)

part Five|61 pages

Difference

part Six|61 pages

Form and symbolism

part Seven|50 pages

Technologies