Interwoven Cities

Proposing a renovation of the metaphor of the urban fabric, Interwoven Cities develops an analysis of how cities might be woven into alternative patterns, to better sustain social and ecological life.

A novel theoretical account of globalization, this book argues that we must move away from top-down visions of the processes and concentrate on how ordinary people locked out of power structures create "globalities" of their own.

At once informative and entertaining, inspiring and challenging, My Los Angeles provides a deep understanding of urban development and change over the past forty years in Los Angeles and other city regions of the world. Once the least dense American metropolis, Los Angeles is now the countryÕs densest urbanized area and one of the most culturally heterogeneous cities in the world. Soja takes us through this urban metamorphosis, analyzing urban restructuring, deindustrialization and reindustrialization, the globalization of capital and labor, and the formation of an information-intensive New Economy. By examining his own evolving interpretations of Los Angeles and the debates on the so-called Los Angeles School of urban studies, Soja argues that a radical shift is taking place in the nature of the urbanization process, from the familiar metropolitan model to regional urbanization. By looking at such concepts as new regionalism, the spatial turn, the end of the metropolis era, the urbanization of suburbia, the global spread of industrial urbanism, and the transformative urban-industrialization of China, Soja offers a unique and remarkable perspective on critical urban and regional studies.

First published in 2013. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Routledge Companion to Urban Media and Communication traces central debates within the burgeoning interdisciplinary research on mediated cities and urban communication. The volume brings together diverse perspectives and global case studies to map key areas of research within media, cultural and urban studies, where a joint focus on communications and cities has made important innovations in how we understand urban space, technology, identity and community. Exploring the rise and growing complexity of urban media and communication as the next key theme for both urban and media studies, the book gathers and reviews fast-developing knowledge on specific emergent phenomena such as: reading the city as symbol and text; understanding urban infrastructures as media (and vice-versa); the rise of global cities; urban and suburban media cultures: newspapers, cinema, radio, television and the mobile phone; changing spaces and practices of urban consumption; the mediation of the neighbourhood, community and diaspora; the centrality of culture to urban regeneration; communicative responses to urban crises such as racism, poverty and pollution; the role of street art in the negotiation of ‘the right to the city’; city competition and urban branding; outdoor advertising; moving image architecture; ‘smart’/cyber urbanism; the emergence of Media City production spaces and clusters. Charting key debates and neglected connections between cities and media, this book challenges what we know about contemporary urban living and introduces innovative frameworks for understanding cities, media and their futures. As such, it will be an essential resource for students and scholars of media and communication studies, urban communication, urban sociology, urban planning and design, architecture, visual cultures, urban geography, art history, politics, cultural studies, anthropology and cultural policy studies, as well as those working with governmental agencies, cultural foundations and institutes, and policy think tanks.

This text is designed to introduce students of the Bible to the archaeology, geography, and history of many of the important sites of the Old and New Testament worlds. Many of these sites were centers for trade, religion, defense, culture, industry, and government. DeVries details the development of significant sites from villages and towns to cities, based on how the site could meet the essential needs of the people. The availability of water or arable land, proximity to trade routes, and easily defensible terrain were prime factors in determining a city's prominence. This study concentrates on the cities in Mesopotamia, Aram/Syria and Phoenicia, Anatolia, Egypt, and Palestine during the Old Testament period, and Palestine and the provinces of the Roman world during the New Testament period. Special attention is given to the geographical setting of the city, the history of its development, its relevance to the Bible, its distinguishing features, and any significant archaeological discoveries made at the site.

A popular crime genre in the nineteenth century, urban mysteries have largely been ignored ever since. This historical and critical text examines the origins of the innovative genre, which grappled with the rise of enormous, anonymous cities, beginning in France in 1842, then spreading rapidly across the continent and to America and Australia. Writers covered include Eugene Sue, George Reynolds, Paul Feval, George Lippard, "Ned Buntline" and Donald Cameron.

Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Sept. 16, 2013-Jan. 5, 2014.