This textbook of essays by leading critical urbanists is a compelling introduction to an important field of study; it interrogates contemporary conflicts and contradictions inherent in the social experience of living in cities that are undergoing neoliberal restructuring, and grapples with profound questions and challenging policy considerations about diversity, equity, and justice. A stimulant to debate in any undergraduate urban studies classroom, this book will inspire a new generation of urban social scholars.
- Alison Bain, York University "Stages a lively encounter with different understandings of urban production and experience, and does so by bringing together an exciting group of scholars working across a diversity of theoretical and geographical contexts. The book focuses on some of the central conceptual and political challenges of contemporary cities, including inequality and poverty, justice and democracy, and everyday life and urban imaginaries, providing a critical platform through which to ask how we might work towards alternative forms of urban living."
- Colin McFarlane Durham University What is the city? What is the nature of living in the city? This new textbook provides students with an in-depth understanding of the central issues associated with the city and how living in a city impacts its inhabitants.
Theoretically informed and thematically rich, the book is edited by leading scholars in the field and contains an eminent, international cast of contributors and contributions. It provides a critical analysis of the key thinkers, themes and paradigms dealing with the relationship between the built environment and urban life. It includes illustrative case studies, questions for discussion, further reading and web links.
Examining the contradictions, conflicts and complexities of city living, the book is an essential resource for students looking to get to grip with the different theoretical and substantive approaches that make up the diverse and rich study of the city and urban life.
Ronan Paddison is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Glasgow. His research interests focus on the political processes driving urban change and, in particular, under what conditions local participation can contribute to the making of more inclusive and democratic cities. Recent projects have included the role of community participation in the installation of public art, and the limitations to public participation in the post-political city. He is Managing Editor of Urban Studies and of Space and Polity.
Eugene McCann is Professor in the Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on the ways in which policies, especially urban policies, are circulated among communities of practitioners across the global and how these ′policy mobilities′ are related to urban politics.
