Experiencing Cities

This extraordinary text for undergraduate urban students is a reflection of Mark Hutter’s academic interests in urban sociology and his life-long passion for experiencing city life. His deep academic roots in the Chicago School of Sociology help inform and appreciate the variety of urban structures and processes and their effect on the everyday lives of people living in cities. This text, however, extends the Chicago School perspective by combining its traditions with a social psychological perspective derived from symbolic interaction and also with a macro-level examination of social organization, social change, stratification and power in the urban context, informed by political economy. This entirely new, 3rd Edition has a global outlook on city life, and a visual presentation unmatched among books in this genre.

The fourth edition of Mark Hutter’s Experiencing Cities examines cities and larger metropolitan areas within a truly global framework, lending readers much to understand and appreciate about the variety of urban structures and processes and their effect on the everyday lives of people residing in cities. Beginning with the emergence of the first urban centers and continuing to examine the present day and the future of smart cities, this book explores the changing cultural and domestic character of the metropolis and offers readers a complete historical and theoretical overview of municipal life. The new edition seamlessly integrates issues of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class in its examination of city and suburban life, and further extends the Chicago School of Sociology perspective by combining its traditions with a distinct social psychological orientation derived from symbolic interaction and macro-level examination of social organization, social change, and power in the urban context. With this strong and sweeping interdisciplinary approach, the new edition of Experiencing Cities will continue to enrich students’ understandings of urban life and offer new, forward-looking perspective to those working in the fields of urban sociology, history, politics, geography, and the arts.

Until now, much research in the field of urban planning and change has focused on the economic, political, social, cultural and spatial transformations of global cities and larger metropolitan areas. In this topical new volume, David Bell and Mark Jayne redress this balance, focusing on urban change within small cities around the world. Drawing together research from a strong international team of contributors, this four part book is the first systematic overview of small cities. A comprehensive and integrated primer with coverage of all key topics, it takes a multi-disciplinary approach to an important contemporary urban phenomenon. The book addresses: political and economic decision making urban economic development and competitive advantage cultural infrastructure and planning in the regeneration of small cities identities, lifestyles and ways in which different groups interact in small cities. Centering on urban change as opposed to pure ethnographic description, the book’s focus on informed empirical research raises many important issues. Its blend of conceptual chapters and theoretically directed case studies provides an excellent resource for a broad spectrum of undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as providing a rich resource for academics and researchers.

Tourism in European Cities explores the relationship between tourist activity and the architecture and built environment within which it takes place. This is the first book to consider urban tourism with a particular focus on European cities. Tourism in European Cities considers the tourist experience and the various elements that shape it. In many cities, the historic core plays a crucial role in tourism either as the location of the more important attractions, or as an attraction in its own right. The book dedicates a chapter to urban heritage and its relationship to tourism, including urban conservation and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Another chapter considers contemporary architecture and debates some cities’ efforts to use iconic architecture, in particular, to enhance their attractiveness in the context of increased competition between cities. In the context of competition, many cities are resorting to events as a strategy to reposition and differentiate themselves from other cities. Major events are accompanied by major investment in event venues and in urban infrastructure. The city often serves as a backdrop to the urban festival as activities and performances are staged in the city’s urban spaces. This book is essential reading for students of tourism and urban geography. It is also of interest to students of urban planning and architecture, and anyone keen to learn more about tourism and European cities.

Using Toronto as a case study, Subdivided asks how cities would function if decision-makers genuinely accounted for race, ethnicity, and class when confronting issues such as housing, policing, labor markets, and public space. With essays contributed by an array of city-builders, it proposes solutions for fully inclusive communities that respond to the complexities of a global city. Jay Pitter is a writer and professor based in Toronto. She holds a Masters in Environmental Studies from York University. John Lorinc is a Toronto-based journalist who writes about urban affairs, politics, and business. He co-edited The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto's First Immigrant Neighbourhood (Coach House, 2015).

Imagine waking up to the gentle noises of the city, and moving through your day with complete confidence that you will get where you need to go quickly and efficiently. Soft City is about ease and comfort, where density has a human dimension, adapting to our ever-changing needs, nurturing relationships, and accommodating the pleasures of everyday life. How do we move from the current reality in most cites—separated uses and lengthy commutes in single-occupancy vehicles that drain human, environmental, and community resources—to support a soft city approach? In Soft City David Sim, partner and creative director at Gehl, shows how this is possible, presenting ideas and graphic examples from around the globe. He draws from his vast design experience to make a case for a dense and diverse built environment at a human scale, which he presents through a series of observations of older and newer places, and a range of simple built phenomena, some traditional and some totally new inventions. Sim shows that increasing density is not enough. The soft city must consider the organization and layout of the built environment for more fluid movement and comfort, a diversity of building types, and thoughtful design to ensure a sustainable urban environment and society. Soft City begins with the big ideas of happiness and quality of life, and then shows how they are tied to the way we live. The heart of the book is highly visual and shows the building blocks for neighborhoods: building types and their organization and orientation; how we can get along as we get around a city; and living with the weather. As every citizen deals with the reality of a changing climate, Soft City explores how the built environment can adapt and respond. Soft City offers inspiration, ideas, and guidance for anyone interested in city building. Sim shows how to make any city more efficient, more livable, and better connected to the environment.

A complete introduction to the history, evolution, and future of the modern city, this book covers a wide range of theory, including the significance of space and place, to provide a balanced account of why cities are an essential part of the global human experience. Covers a wide range of theoretical approaches to the city, from the historical to the cutting edge Emphasizes the important themes of space and place Offers a balanced account of cities and offers extensive coverage including urban inequality, environment and sustainability, and methods for studying the city Takes a global approach, with examples from Berlin and Chicago to Shanghai and Mumbai Includes a range of pedagogical features such as a substantial glossary of key terms, critical thinking questions, suggestions for further reading and a range of innovative textboxes which follow the themes of Exploring Further, Studying the City and Making the City Better Extensively illustrated with maps, charts, tables, and over 80 photographs Accompanied by a comprehensive student companion site featuring a list of relevant journals, a guide to useful web resources, and an annotated documentary film guide, alongside a useful instructor companion site with further examples, case studies, and discussion and essay questions; instructors will find a link to the instructor website on the student website at www.wiley.com/go/cities

In cities around the world, planning and health experts are beginning to understand the role of social and environmental conditions that lead to trauma. By respecting the lived experience of those who were most impacted by harms, some cities have developed innovative solutions for urban trauma. In Cities for Life, public health expert Jason Corburn shares lessons from three of these cities: Richmond, California; Medellín, Colombia; and Nairobi, Kenya. Corburn draws from his work with citizens, activists, and decision-makers in these cities over a ten-year period, as individuals and communities worked to heal from trauma--including from gun violence, housing and food insecurity, poverty, and other harms. Cities for Life is about a new way forward with urban communities that rebuilds our social institutions, practices, and policies to be more focused on healing and health.