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Books : Nonfiction : Social Sciences : Sociology : Communities
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A direct and fundamentally optimistic indictment of the short-sightedness and intellectual arrogance that has characterized much of urban planning in this century, The Death and Life of Great American Cities has, since its first publication in 1961, become the standard against which all endeavors in that field are measured. In prose of outstanding immediacy, Jane Jacobs writes about what makes streets safe or unsafe; about what constitutes a neighborhood, and what function it serves within the larger organism of the city; about why some neighborhoods remain impoverished while others regenerate themselves. She writes about the salutary role of funeral parlors and tenement windows, the dangers of too much development money and too little diversity. Compassionate, bracingly indignant, and always keenly detailed, Jane Jacobs's monumental work provides an essential framework for assessing the vitality of all cities.
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In this compelling work, Brian Ladd examines the ongoing conflicts radiating from the remarkable fusion of architecture, history, and national identity in Berlin. Ladd surveys the urban landscape, excavating its ruins, contemplating its buildings and memorials, and carefully deconstructing the public debates and political controversies emerging from its past.
"Written in a clear and elegant style, The Ghosts of Berlin is not just another colorless architectural history of the German capital. . . . Mr. Ladd's book is a superb guide to this process of urban self-definition, both past and present."—Katharina Thote, Wall Street Journal
"If a book can have the power to change a public debate, then The Ghosts of Berlin is such a book. Among the many new books about Berlin that I have read, Brian Ladd's is certainly the most impressive. . . . Ladd's approach also owes its success to the fact that he is a good storyteller. His history of Berlin's architectural successes and failures reads entertainingly like a detective novel."—Peter Schneider, New Republic
"[Ladd's] well-written and well-illustrated book amounts to a brief history of the city as well as a guide to its landscape."—Anthony Grafton, New York Review of Books
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In America, in contrast to almost anywhere else in the world, the good life means traveling a long distance to get to work. How and why this came to be our cultural norm is the subject of this long-awaited book.
Because more than two-thirds of all dwellings are single family homes surrounded by an ornamental yard, suburbia is the most distinctive physical characteristic of modern American society. Crabgrass Frontier is the first book to trace the growth of suburbs in America from their origins in the 1820's--in Brooklyn Heights opposite Manhattan--until the present day. Combining social history with economic and architectural history, the book discusses suburban communities in every section of the country as well as making comparisons with Europe and Japan.
Jackson considers such intriguing questions as why transportation technology changed the shape of American cities more than European ones, why the family room and the television set replaced the stoop and the street as the focus of social interaction, how the evolution of the garage reflected increasing affection for the automobile, how federal housing programs undermined inner city neighborhoods, and how government policies insured the collapse of the nation's once superb mass transit system. The book shows not only that Americans have long preferred a detached dwelling to a row house, rural life to cit
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A guide to communal life. Completely revised.
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'The overall purpose of human communication is - or should be - reconciliation. It should ultimately serve to lower or remove the walls of misunderstanding which unduly separate us human beings, one from another. . ' Although we have developed the technology to make communication more efficient and to bring people closer together, we have failed to use it to build a true global community. Dr M. Scott Peck believes that if we are to prevent civilization destroying itself, we must urgently rebuild on all levels, local, national and international and that is the first step to spiritual survival. In this radical and challenging book he describes how the communities work, how group action can be developed on the principles of tolerance and love, and how we can start to transform world society into a true community.
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Written from a postmodernist perspective, this work considers urban regions as built environments and goes beyond traditional social variables to examine economic and political dimensions of urban development. The text has a global outlook and takes a balanced approach to cities and suburbs. It introduces the paradigm - "social-spatial perspective" - to urban sociology, which is used to consider the role played by spacial considerations, such as the role of real estate in metropolitan development. Race, class and gender are dealt with in a balanced way. This edition includes new topics, such as focus groups and data management programs for data entry. Case studies are treated as a major form of social research and as such the text includes lengthy discussions of them.
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For introductory courses in urbanization, urban affairs, and urban problems. Based on the author's extensive experience as a working planner, this book gives students an insider's view of sub-state urban planning--the "nitty-gritty" details on the interplay of politics, law, money, and interest groups. The author takes a balanced, non-judgmental approach to introduce a range of ideological and political perspectives on the operation of political, economic, and demographic forces in city planning. Unlike other books on the subject, this text is strong in its coverage of economics, law, finance, and urban governance. It examines the underlying forces of growth and change and discusses frankly who benefits and loses by particular decisions.
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"Elvia Alvarado tells the story of her life and the life of the people of Honduras. Read it and understand the struggle against tyranny of the poor. Read it and act."--Alice Walker
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Cities are among the most enduring and remarkable of human artefacts. This study explains how and why cities took the shape they did. Professor Kostof focuses on a number of themes - organic patterns, the grid, the city as diagram, the grand manner and the skyline - and interprets the hidden order of urban patterns. Photographs, historical views and specially commissioned drawings depict a global mosaic of citybuilding: the shaping of medieval Siena; the creation of New Delhi as the crown of the Raj; the remodelling of Moscow as the self-styled capital of world socialism and the transformation of the skyline as religious and civic symbols yield to the towers of corporate business.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, 40 percent of big-city dwellers--more than 30 million people--would rather live in small towns in rural areas. This book addresses the pros and cons of relocating to small towns and helps consumers make informed choices when pursuing their dream.
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To walk through Rome today is to find the past made present at nearly every corner. For John Stambaugh, this continuity of fabric, form, and function affords an extraordinary view of the ancient city, the experience of its inhabitants, and the Roman way of life. Exploring ancient Rome as both a physical and social environment, he has written the first extended survey of its development in English - and a vivid "guidebook into the living past of one of the most emphatically urban cities the world has ever known."
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An anthology of essential works on Urban Studies and Planning for students, practitioners, and anyone in the world who is fascinated by cities. Classic writings by Ebenezer Howard, Robert Park, Lewis Mumford, Raymond Unwin, and Jane Jacobs meet the best current writings by Peter Hall, Mike Davis, Manuel Castells and Saskia Sassen. Writings have been carefully chosen for their interest and enduring scholarly value. A lively interdisciplinary introduction to how cities have evolved, what they are like, and where they may be headed. The City Reader combines the best writing from scholars throughout the world writing on urban geography, economics, sociology, politics, the humanities, cultural studies, and urban design and planning. It emphasizes theory and practice, competing ideological perspectives on the city and major current debates. Topics include the evolution of cities, urban form and design, the culture of cities, urban politics and economics, and urban planning. The book pays particular attention to issues of race and gender, how global economic restructuring is affecting cities, the impact of technology on cities, and post-modern critiques of urban form. Introductions to the writings and comprehensive bibliographic references guide the reader and point the way to additional material. The first major anthology to bring together in one place a generous selection of the best c
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This text presents a cross-cultural look at cities and suburbs around the world. It offers an overview of the changing urban scene, covering evolving patterns and the changing nature of urban life. It provides coverage of women in metropolitan areas.
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This is the long-awaited revision of a well-known and widely used text in community organizing. The text provides a comprehensive introduction to the wide variety of approaches that guide social change, social activism, and community building work. Community Organizing and Development links various theories of organizing to the techniques and tactics of practice. It is vividly illustrated by dozens of real-life practice examples. It balances descriptions of protest actions and visible projects with the behind-the-scenes routines that make such work possible. The text describes and illustrates the skills and organizational techniques needed to undertake successful community projects, such as converting a former crack house into safe, clean, affordable housing.
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Nationwide, more and more entrepreneurs are committing themselves to creating and running "third places," also known as "great good places." In his landmark work, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg identified, portrayed, and promoted those third places. Now, more than ten years after the original publication of that book, the time has come to celebrate the many third places that dot the American landscape and foster civic life. With 20 black-and-white photographs, Celebrating the Third Place brings together fifteen firsthand accounts by proprietors of third places, as well as appreciations by fans who have made spending time at these hangouts a regular part of their lives. Among the establishments profiled are a shopping center in Seattle, a three-hundred-year-old tavern in Washington, D.C., a garden shop in Amherst, Massachusetts, a coffeehouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, a bookstore in Traverse City, Michigan, and a restaurant in San Francisco.
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This account of Ladakhi culture describes the high quality of life that was enjoyed in an apparently bleak and hostile country - Ladakh is high in the Himalayas, next to Tibet - before the advent of industrialized development there in the 1980s.
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The result of William Whyte's research is an extremely human, often amusing look at what goes on in our cities' streets. Illustrated.
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This authoritative introduction to the study of human beings and their cultural institutions in cities offers twenty-six readings more than one-half new or revised for the Fourth Edition that form a rich blend of classic studies of enduring interest and important new research. Impressive in scope, the latest edition offers an entirely new section on globalization and transnationalism.
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* Eighteen inspirational rural development success stories
* Covers Africa, Asia, and Latin America
In the personal words of international development initiators, Reasons for Hope tells true stories of what can be done to improve the lives of those in rural communities. Read individually for specific guidance, or collectively for cumulative advice on how to promote the most desirable forms of rural development, these stories offer a timely and crucial message concerning the plight of the rural poor.
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A description of urban life from a body sense perspective spans 2,500 years journeys through ancient Athens, Hadrian's Rome, medieval and revolutionary Paris, Renaissance Venice, Edwardian London, and contemporary New York. National ad/promo. Tour.