Cities and Urban Life

Now that we have entered a new century--indeed, a new millennium--the world stands on the brink of a historic landmark: In a few years, a majority of the planet's people will live in cities. Urban living is rapidly becoming the norm for members of our species. Surely, there is no more compelling reason to undertake the study of cities and urban life. THE BASIC APPROACH The approach of this text is multidisciplinary but fundamentally sociological. Readers will find here the enduring contributions of the classical European social thinkers, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, Ferdinand Tunnies, Georg Simmel, and Emile Durkheim, as well as those of early pioneers in North America, including Robert Park and Louis Wirth. Of course, many men and women have stood on the shoulders of these giants and extended our understanding. Thus, this text also considers the ideas of a host of contemporary urbanists, including Henri Lefebvre, Jane. Jacobs, Manuel Castells, John Logan, Harvey Molotch, Kevin Lynch, Lyn Lofland, Carol Stack, Herbert Gans, Michael Sorkin, and Michael Dear. Yet, as this string of well-known names suggests, urban studies rests on research and theory developed within many disciplines.Cities and Urban Life,therefore, is truly a multidisciplinary text that draws together the work of historians (Chapter 2: "The Origins and Development of the World's Cities," and Chapter 3: "The Development of North American Cities"); sociologists (Chapter 4: "Cities and Suburbs of the Twenty First Century," Chapter 5: "Urban Sociology: The Classic Statements," Chapter 10: "Social Class: Urban and Suburban Lifestyles," Chapter 11: "Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Urban Diversity," and Chapter 12: "Housing, Education, (:rime: Confronting Urban Problems"); social psychologists (Chapter 6: "Social Psychology: The Urban Experience"); geographers and urban ecologists (Chapter 7: "Geography and Spatial Perspectives: Making Sense of Space"); political economists working within various disciplines (Chapter 9: "The New Urban Sociology: The City and Capitalism"); anthropologists (Chapter 8: "Comparative Urbanism: The City and Culture," and Chapter 13: "Cities in the Developing World"); and architects as well as city planners (Chapter 14: "Planning the Urban Environment"). THE ORGANIZATION OF THIS TEXT Part I of the text, "Understanding the City," introduces the main questions and themes that resonate throughout the book (Chapter 1). Part II, "History of Cities and New Trends," surveys the historical development of cities, noting how urban life has often differed in striking ways from contemporary patterns we take for granted (Chapters 2 and 3), and the current trends of sprawl, edge cities, and gated communities that are shaping the cities and suburbs of the new century (Chapter 4). Part III, "Disciplinary Perspectives," highlights the various disciplinary orientations that, together, have so advanced our understanding of cities (Chapters 5 through 9). Part IV, "The Anatomy of the City," focuses on the social organization of today's cities in North America, highlighting how urban living reflects the importance of social class (Chapter 10), race, ethnicity, and gender (Chapter 11), as well as forcing us to confront vexing problems such as housing, education, and crime (Chapter 12). Part V, "Global Urbanization," offers a look at the history and current urbanization in four major world regions: Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (Chapter 13). It is in these areas of the world that urbanization is now most rapid, with cities reaching unprecedented size. Finally, Part VI, "The Planning and Evaluation of Cities," examines the architectural, social, and political dimensions of urban planning, as well as points out the problems that prevent cities from living up to their promise of improving everyone's lives (Chapter 14). FOUR KEY THEMES This attempt to tell the urban story willMacionis, John J. is the author of 'Cities and Urban Life', published 0011 under ISBN 9780131113954 and ISBN 013111395X.