Urban Society

UNIT 1. The Urban Frame 1. Fear of the City, 1783 to 1983, Alfred Kazin, American Heritage, February/March 1983 Alfred Kazin examines the age-old threats of the city from a personal and historical perspective. He argues that despite its excesses and aggressiveness, the city possesses an indescribable allure and magic. 2. The Man Who Loved Cities, Nathan Glazer, The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 1999 William H. Whyte, best known as author of The Organization Man, was a brilliant analyst of how American cities and suburbs shape our lives. Like Jane Jacobs, another well-known city observer, he appreciated and developed original ways to document the uniquely urban virtue of density. 3. The Death and Life of America's Cities, Fred Siegel, The Public Interest, Summer 2002 A generation of reformist urban mayors in the 1990s broke with the policies and perspectives of the last 30 years. Local initiatives helped control crime, improve the quality of life, reduce taxes, and, in some cases, even improve public school systems. UNIT 2. Sprawl: Challenges to the Metropolitan Landscape 4. What Will it Take to Halt Sprawl?, Molly O'Meara Sheehan, World Watch, January/February 2002 With nearly half of the world's population living in and around urban areas (compared to 10 percent in 1900), more people than ever are frustrated by traffic congestion and support anti-sprawl initiatives. The Washington, D.C., metro rail system helped to counter sprawl and focus development (including infrastructure) on mass transit; Santiago, Chile's congestion gave birth to an antihighway coalition called "Living City." 5. Are Europe's Cities Better?, Pietro S. Nivola, The Public Interest, Fall 1999 This comprehensive overview of differences between cities in Europe and the United States highlights a wide range of issuestransportation policy, energy costs, crime, taxation, housing policy, and schoolsand contrasts the spread of sprawl outside U.S. cities with Europe's persistent urban density. 6. Is Regional Government the Answer?, Fred Siegel, The Public Interest, Fall 1999 Fred Siegel criticizes the "new regionalists" who link urban flight with blight, arguing instead that what metro areas need are better policies, not fewer governments. He redefines sprawl as "part and parcel of healthy growth" and warns against easy solutions. 7. Sprawl-Weary Los Angeles Builds Up and In, Timothy Egan, New York Times, March 10, 2002 Even Los Angeles, the quintessential metropolitan sprawl, is taking a new approach to get past its characteristic traffic jams and endless highways. Los Angeles built its first subway system in the 1990s, and nearly 4,000 lofts are being developed in downtown office buildings, many of which are being converted to mixed use. UNIT 3. Urban Economies 8. The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida, The Washington Monthly, May 2002 Creative "knowledge workers" seek out cities (such as Seattle, Washington, Boston, Massachusetts, and Austin, Texas) that support their lifestyle interests: outdoor recreational amenities, historic buildings, vibrant music and cultural scenes, and tolerance of diversity that incorporates gay people and new immigrants. 9. A Bit of a Chill for Hot Times in the Big City, Joel Kotkin, Washington Post, March 24, 2002 Challenging the celebration of urban revitalization, Joel Kotkin citSiegel, Fred is the author of 'Urban Society', published 2002 under ISBN 9780072817041 and ISBN 0072817046.