Introduction to Cities

The revised and updated second edition of Introduction to Cities explores why cities are such a vital part of the human experience and how they shape our everyday lives. Written in engaging and accessible terms, Introduction to Cities examines the study of cities through two central concepts: that cities are places, where people live, form communities, and establish their own identities, and that they are spaces, such as the inner city and the suburb, that offer a way to configure and shape the material world and natural environment. Introduction to Cities covers the theory of cities from an historical perspective right through to the most recent theoretical developments. The authors offer a balanced account of life in cities and explore both positive and negative themes. In addition, the text takes a global approach, with examples ranging from Berlin and Chicago to Shanghai and Mumbai. The book is extensively illustrated with updated maps, charts, tables, and photographs. This new edition also includes a new section on urban planning as well as new chapters on cities as contested spaces, exploring power and politics in an urban context. It contains; information on the status of poor and marginalized groups and the impact of neoliberal policies; material on gender and sexuality; and presents a greater range of geographies with more attention to European, Latin American, and African cities. Revised and updated, Introduction to Cities provides a complete introduction to the history, evolution, and future of our modern cities.

Auteur

Xiangming Chen is the founding Dean and Director of the Center for Urban and Global Studies and Paul Raether Distinguished Professor of Global Urban Studies and Sociology at Trinity College, Hartford, and a guest professor in the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Anthony M. Orum is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. He was the founding editor of the journal City & Community. Krista E. Paulsen is Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Florida, USA.

Résumé
The revised and updated second edition of Introduction to Cities explores why cities are such a vital part of the human experience and how they shape our everyday lives. Written in engaging and accessible terms, Introduction to Cities examines the study of cities through two central concepts: that cities are places, where people live, form communities, and establish their own identities, and that they are spaces, such as the inner city and the suburb, that offer a way to configure and shape the material world and natural environment.

Introduction to Cities covers the theory of cities from an historical perspective right through to the most recent theoretical developments. The authors offer a balanced account of life in cities and explore both positive and negative themes. In addition, the text takes a global approach, with examples ranging from Berlin and Chicago to Shanghai and Mumbai. The book is extensively illustrated with updated maps, charts, tables, and photographs.

This new edition also includes a new section on urban planning as well as new chapters on cities as contested spaces, exploring power and politics in an urban context. It contains; information on the status of poor and marginalized groups and the impact of neoliberal policies; material on gender and sexuality; and presents a greater range of geographies with more attention to European, Latin American, and African cities.

Revised and updated, Introduction to Cities provides a complete introduction to the history, evolution, and future of our modern cities.

Contenu

List of illustrations xi

List of tables xvii

List of boxes xviii

About the authors xx

Acknowledgments xxi

Walk-through tour xxiii

Part I The foundations 5

1 Cities as places and spaces 6

Cities as places 9

Exploring further 1.1 11

Identity, community, and security 14

Places as the site of our identity 14

Places as the site of community 15

Places as sites of security 16

Studying the city 1.1 17

Human beings make and remake places 17

Place and space 20

Studying the city 1.2 21

Making the city better 1.1 24

Cities shape the fates of human beings 25

Cities and people 26

2 Social theories of urban space and place: The early perspectives 28

The social and theoretical roots of modern urban theory 29

Studying the city 2.1 31

Ferdinand Tönnies: Community and society 32

Georg Simmel: The metropolis and mental life 33

Tönnies and Simmel: Further reflections 35

The Chicago School of Sociology 38

The city as social space 39

The city, social change, and social order 40

Studying the city 2.2 42

Life in the city as a way of life 44

Making the city better 2.1 46

Early social theories of urban life 47

3 Social theories of urban space and place: Perspectives in the post-World War II era 49

Theoretical descendents of Marx 50

Manuel Castells and the urban question 50

David Harvey: Injustice and inequality in the city 51

John Logan and Harvey Molotch: The city as a growth machine 53

Making the city better 3.1 54

Making the city better 3.2 56

Further reflections: Marx and the critique of modern cities 57

The return to place and the turn to culture 58

Jane Jacobs and the discovery of community in the modern metropolis 58

Studying the city 3.1 59

Sharon Zukin and the turn to culture 61

Exploring further 3.1 63

Going global: The 1980s and the creation of the global city 66

Evaluating theories of the city 69

4 Methods and rules for the study of cities 72

First rules for doing a social science of cities 74

The rule of validity 74

The rule of reliability 76

Exploring further 4.1 77

Cities and the question of numbers 78

Studying the city 4.1 79

The city as a case study 80

The city as the typical case 82

The city as a prototypical case 85

Ethnographic and historical case studies 87

Ethnographic case studies 87

Studying the city 4.2 89

Historical case studies 90

From one to multiple cases 91

Studying the city 4.3 94

A last but very important rule on doing a good social science of cities: Fitting good theory to good methods 94

And what about insight? 95

Part II The changing metropolis 99

5 The metropolis and its expansion: Early insights and basic principles 100

Metropolitan growth: Basic features 102

The metropolis and its expansion 104

The center of the city 105

The zone of transition 106

The zone of commuters 106

Assessing the concentric zone theory 106

The natural areas of the city 107

Alternative views of the city 107

Studying the city 5.1 108

The mobility of people and groups in the metropolis 109

Social differences and migration in the metropolis 109

Exploring further 5.1? 110

Migration and the expansion of the metropolis 113

The metropolitan center and its links to the hinterlands 115 Human agents and social institutions in the expansion of th...