European University Institute Library

Urban theory, a critical introduction to power, cities and urbanism in the 21st century, Alan Harding and Talja Blokland

eng

no index present

non fiction

Urban theory

872983140

Alan Harding and Talja Blokland

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 - the foundational concept in urban studies <U+0127> 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 importnace 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 <U+0127> 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 - 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.--, Provided by Publisher

1. WHAT IS URBAN THEORY? Urban Studies and Urban Theory What is Urban? What is Theory? And So What on Earth is Urban Theory? 2. URBAN THEORIES UNDER CONDITIONS OF MODERNITY The Chicago School and Urban Ecology Urban Geography and Spatial Analysis The Community Power Debate Humanistic (Urban) Geography 'Radical' Approaches The Legacy of Previous Theories and Their Challenges 3. FROM THE URBAN CRISIS TO THE 'TRIUMPH OF THE CITY' Cities as Actors in a Globalising Economy Urban Decline and Obsolescence Urban Economic Renaissance Discussion 4. CAN CITIES ACT? URBAN POLITICAL ECONOMY AND THE QUESTION OF AGENCY The Rediscovery of Agency Within Urban Theory Introducing American Urban Political Economy Urban Regimes and Growth Machines The Normative Dimension Critiques and Applications 5. SPATIAL EXPRESSIONS OF INTRA-URBAN INEQUALITIES Inequalities Versus Differentiations: Vertical and Horizontal Paradigms Cities as Sites of Resources: Space and Inequalities Segregation Suburbanization Gentrification Ghettoization as a Spatial Process of Marginalization Neighbourhood Effects: Spatial Profit and Disadvantage 6. SPATIAL EXPRESSION OF DIFFERENTIATION The Cultural Turn The City as a Realm of Community and Lifestyle The Subcultural Thesis The Representational City: Public Space Cultural Diversity: Identities in Public Space Conclusion: Cities as Matrix of Resources 7. URBAN THEORY RECONSIDERED The 'Crisis' in Urban Theory Revisited The Performance of Theories The Commensurability of Theories Theory, Politics and Practice A New Urban Agenda?