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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part One|43 pages
Foundations
chapter |9 pages
“The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project”
chapter |9 pages
“The Pattern of Movement of Residential Rental Neighborhoods”
chapter |10 pages
“The Nature of Cities”
part Two|46 pages
Globalization
chapter |11 pages
“World-City Network: A New Metageography?”
chapter |10 pages
“Social Polarisation in Global Cities: Theory and Evidence”
chapter |9 pages
“From Colonial City to Globalizing City? The Far-from-complete Spatial Transformation of Calcutta”
chapter |10 pages
“Cultural Globalization and the Identity of Place: The Reconstruction of Amsterdam”
part Three|49 pages
Restructuring
chapter |12 pages
“The Urban Process Under Capitalism: A Framework for Analysis”
chapter |7 pages
“Beyond the Crabgrass Frontier: Industry and the Spread of North American Cities, 1850–1950”
chapter |10 pages
“Gentrification, the Frontier, and the Restructuring of Urban Space”
chapter |14 pages
“Postmodern Urbanism”
part four|58 pages
Politics, governance, and inequality
chapter |9 pages
“Local Politics in a Global Era: Thinking Locally, Acting Globally”
chapter |11 pages
“Retooling the Machine: Economic Crisis, State Restructuring, and Urban Politics”
chapter |12 pages
“Local Governance, the Crises of Fordism and the Changing Geographies of Regulation”
chapter |9 pages
“Yuppies, Yuffies and the New Urban Order”
part Five|61 pages
Difference
part Six|61 pages
Form and symbolism
part Seven|50 pages
Technologies