Urban theory : a critical introduction to power, cities and urbanism in the 21st century

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. Critical, interdisciplinary and pedagogically informed - with opening summaries, boxes, questions for discussion and guided further reading - Urban Theory: A Critical Introduction to Power, Cities and Urbanism in the 21st Century provides the tools for any student of the city to understand, even to change, our own urban experiences. 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 - the foundational concept in urban studies - in key ideas of the Chicago School, in spatial analysis, humanistic urban geography, and 'radical' approaches like Marxism ; Cities and the transition from industrial to informational economies, globalization, the importance of urban growth machine and urban regime theory, the city as an actor ; Spatial expressions of inequality - understood horizontally and vertically - and key ideas like segregation, ghettoization, suburbanization, gentrification, and neighbourhood effects ; Socio-cultural spatial expressions of difference and key concepts like gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, public space; culturalist perspectives on identity, lifestyle, subculture. How cities should be understood as intersections of horizontal and vertical,of coinciding resources, positions, locations; of different constellations of race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and age, influencing how we make and understand urban experiences. Critical, interdisciplinary and pedagogically informed with opening summaries, boxes, questions for discussion and guided further reading, this text provides the tools for any student of the city to understand, even to change, our own urban experiences 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 - the foundational concept in urban studies & ndash; in key ideas of the Chicago School, in spatial analysis, humanistic urban geography, and & lsquo;radical' approaches .. URBAN THEORY - COVER URBAN THEORY CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHORS FOREWORD CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS URBAN THEORY? CHAPTER 2: URBAN THEORIES UNDER CONDITIONS OF MODERNITY CHAPTER 3: FROM THE URBAN CRISIS TO THE ‘TRIUMPH OF THE CITY’ CHAPTER 4: CAN CITIES ACT? URBAN POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE QUESTION OF AGENCY CHAPTER 5: SPATIAL EXPRESSIONS OF INTRA-URBAN INEQUALITIES CHAPTER 6: SPATIAL EXPRESSIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION CHAPTER 7: URBAN THEORY RECONSIDERED REFERENCES INDEX This interdisciplinary introduction to urban theory explains how the concepts that help us understand the contemporary urban experience have developed and been applied. It discusses a wide range of work - within political science, economics, g