Introduction to Cities - How Place and Space Shape Human Experience - Tapa blanda

Acerca del autor

Xiangming Chen is the founding Dean and Director of the Center for Urban and Global Studies and Paul Raether Distinguished Professor of Global Urban Studies and Sociology at Trinity College, Hartford, and Distinguished Guest Professor in the School of Social Development and Public Policy at Fudan University, Shanghai. His books include The World of Cities: Places in Comparative and Historical Perspective (with Anthony M. Orum, Blackwell, 2003), As Borders Bend: Transnational Spaces on the Pacific Rim (2005), and Shanghai Rising: State Power and Local Transformations in a Global Megacity (ed., 2009), and Rethinking Global Urbanism: Comparative Insights from Secondary Cities (coed., 2012). Several of his books have been translated into Chinese. Anthony M. Orum is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was the founding editor of the journal City & Community, and has received several awards, including the 2009 Robert and Helen Lynd Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service given by the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. His publications include City-Building in America (1995), The World of Cities: Places in Comparative and Historical Perspective (with Xiangming Chen, Blackwell, 2003), and Common Ground? Readings and Reflections on Public Space (ed. with Zachary Neal, 2010). Several of his books have been translated into Chinese. Krista E. Paulsen is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Florida. She has published widely on the city, urban tradition, and the ways that places develop and maintain distinctive cultures. Her research examines the ways that homes and neighborhoods reflect and reproduce cultural ideals associated with family and community, and her teaching takes in urban sociology and urban studies, environmental sociology, community, and qualitative research methods. She is currently at work on the edited volume Home Place Community: International Sociological Perspectives (ed. with Margarethe Kusenbach and Melinda Milligan).

De la contraportada

Introduction to Cities seeks to explain why cities are such a vital part of the human experience and how they shape our lives.

Written in an engaging and jargon-free style, this book approaches the study of cities through two main concepts: that cities are places, where people live, form communities, and establish their own identities, and that they are spaces, such as residential areas or the suburbs, that offer a way to configure and shape the material and natural environment.

Introduction to Cities covers theory from the historical to the cutting edge, and offers a balanced account of life in cities, highlighting both positive and negative themes. It takes a global approach, with examples ranging from Berlin and Chicago to Shanghai and Mumbai. Students will appreciate the inclusion of additional features such as a glossary of key terms, critical thinking questions, and suggestions for further reading. In addition, the book is extensively illustrated with maps, charts, tables, and over 80 photographs.

Taking in topics such as social inequalities, race, globalization, and sustainability, this book provides a complete introduction to the history, evolution, and future of the modern city.

It is also accompanied by a comprehensive website (www.wiley.com/go/cities), which features further examples and case studies, discussion and essay questions, chapter outlines, and links to useful online resources and films and documentaries.