Key Concepts in Urban Studies


Book Description

"Key Concepts in Urban Studies is written in an accessible, concise way and introduces students to the key topics in urban studies. Drawing examples from different parts of the world, this authoritative resource exposes students to the diverse forms that cities take, and the social, spatial and temporal dimensions of urban living. It is an essential resource for students across disciplines interested in the city." - Lily Kong, Singapore Management University "An insightful multidisciplinary introduction to the multifarious places, processes and problems that constitute modern cities. Its short, digestible entries unpack the complexity and evolution of urban conditions, offering cross-references between concepts and links to key literature and to useful current and historical examples. The book’s clear, often sharp critical edge also encourages deeper enquiry." - Quentin Stevens, School of Architecture and Design, RMIT University Key Concepts in Urban Studies is an essential companion for students of urban studies, urban sociology, urban politics, urban planning and urban development. This revised edition has been updated and expanded to provide a keen global focus, particularly in emerging economies with discussions on the creation of "dream cities" in the Gulf States and a renewed emphasis on building mega-scaled "downtowns" in India and China. New features include: Contemporary and international examples throughout. Detailed entries on environmental concerns and the sustainability of urban development. Discussion of the role of consumption in city culture and urban development. New entries on modern urban planning and adaptive urbanism. Key Concepts in Urban Studies is a must-have text with an explicit focus on contemporary urbanism which students will find invaluable during their studies. Mark Gottdiener is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at The University at Buffalo (SUNY). Leslie Budd is Reader in Social Science at the Open University. Panu Lehtovuori is Professor of Planning Theory at Tampere University of Technology.




Key Concepts in Urban Studies


Book Description

The SAGE Key Concepts series provides students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding. Written by experienced and respected academics, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. Key Concepts in Urban Studies: • Clearly and concisely explains the basic ideas in the interdisciplinary field of urban studies • Offers concise discussions of concepts ranging from community, neighbourhood, and the city to globalization, the New Urbanism, feminine space, and urban problems • Constitutes a re-examination of the key ideas in the field • Is illustrated throughout with international examples • Provides an essential reference guide for all students and teachers across the urban disciplines within sociology, political science, planning and geography.




Key Concepts in Urban Studies


Book Description

This series provides students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding.




Key Concepts in Urban Geography


Book Description

"This extraordinary collage of sophisticated essays on key terms in urban geography both provides a conventional basis to and recasts innovatively a burgeoning field in the discipline." - Roger Keil, co-Editor, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research "The city is an obvious but confounding object of geographical analysis; urban structure and life are shaped by an astounding array of social, economic, and political dynamics. This volume embraces these complexities of city form in a wide-ranging, readable, well-informed, and highly interdisciplinary analysis of key topics in urban studies. With its fresh approach, this book provides an accessible entry point for the newcomer to urban geography, yet also delivers creative insights for those with greater familiarity." - Professor Steven K. Herbert, University of Washington Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Urban Geography provides a cutting-edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in urban geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field. Over 20 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject. A glossary, figures, diagrams and suggested further reading. This is an ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in urban geography and covers the expected staples of the subdiscipline from global cities and urban nature to transnational urbanism and virtuality.




Key Concepts in Planning


Book Description

"I have been looking for a book which does this for ages! It provides a clear explanation of the different elements and concepts which underpin how the planning system works and which are fundamental to the operation of the UK system. It also provides good guidance on further reading. A real assett to anyone wanting to understand the nature of planning in the UK" - Dr Catherine Hammond, Architecture and Planning, Sheffield Hallam University Key Concepts in Planning forms part of an innovative set of companion texts for the human geography sub-disciplines. Organized around 19 short essays, the book provides a cutting edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in planning. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the text includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field. 18 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject. Detailed suggested further reading for each concept discussed. It is an ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in planning, and covers the expected staples of the discipline in an accessible style.




Handbook of Urban Studies


Book Description

This handbook is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary and up-to-date account of the urban condition, and of the theories through which the structure, development and changing character of the city is understood.




Urban Theory


Book Description

Urban Theory: New Critical Perspectives provides an introduction to innovative critical contributions to the field of urban studies. Chapters offer easily accessible and digestible reviews, and as a reference text Urban Theory is a comprehensive and integrated primer which covers topics necessary for a full understanding of recent theoretical engagements with cities. The introduction outlines the development of urban theory over the past two hundred years and discusses significant theoretical, methodological and empirical challenges facing the field of urban studies in the context of an increasing globally inter-connected world. The chapters explore twenty-four topics, which are new additions to the urban theoretical debate, highlighting their relationship to long established concerns that continue to have intellectual purchase, and which also engage with rich new and emerging avenues for debate. Each chapter considers the genealogy of the topic at hand and also includes case studies which explain key terms or provide empirical examples to guide the reader to a better understanding of how theory adds to our understanding of the complexities of urban life. This book offers a critical and assessable introduction to original and groundbreaking urban theory and will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in human geography, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, economics, planning, political science and urban studies.




Introduction to Space Syntax in Urban Studies


Book Description

This open access textbook is a comprehensive introduction to space syntax method and theory for graduate students and researchers. It provides a step-by-step approach for its application in urban planning and design. This textbook aims to increase the accessibility of the space syntax method for the first time to all graduate students and researchers who are dealing with the built environment, such as those in the field of architecture, urban design and planning, urban sociology, urban geography, archaeology, road engineering, and environmental psychology. Taking a didactical approach, the authors have structured each chapter to explain key concepts and show practical examples followed by underlying theory and provided exercises to facilitate learning in each chapter. The textbook gradually eases the reader into the fundamental concepts and leads them towards complex theories and applications. In summary, the general competencies gain after reading this book are: – to understand, explain, and discuss space syntax as a method and theory; – be capable of undertaking various space syntax analyses such as axial analysis, segment analysis, point depth analysis, or visibility analysis; – be able to apply space syntax for urban research and design practice; – be able to interpret and evaluate space syntax analysis results and embed these in a wider context; – be capable of producing new original work using space syntax. This holistic textbook functions as compulsory literature for spatial analysis courses where space syntax is part of the methods taught. Likewise, this space syntax book is useful for graduate students and researchers who want to do self-study. Furthermore, the book provides readers with the fundamental knowledge to understand and critically reflect on existing literature using space syntax.




The SAGE Handbook of New Urban Studies


Book Description

The last two decades have been an exciting and richly productive period for debate and academic research on the city. The SAGE Handbook of New Urban Studies offers comprehensive coverage of this modern re-thinking of urban theory, both gathering together the best of what has been achieved so far, and signalling the way to future theoretical insights and empirically grounded research. Featuring many of the top international names in the field, the handbook is divided into nine key sections: SECTION 1: THE GLOBALIZED CITY SECTION 2: URBAN ENTREPRENEURIALISM, BRANDING, GOVERNANCE SECTION 3: MARGINALITY, RISK AND RESILIENCE SECTION 4: SUBURBS AND SUBURBANIZATION: STRATIFICATION, SPRAWL, SUSTAINABILITY SECTION 5: DISTINCTIVE AND VISIBLE CITIES SECTION 6: CREATIVE CITIES SECTION 7: URBANIZATION, URBANITY AND URBAN LIFESTYLES SECTION 8: NEW DIRECTIONS IN URBAN THEORY SECTION 9: URBAN FUTURES This is a central resource for researchers and students of Sociology, Cultural Geography and Urban Studies.




Literary Urban Studies and How to Practice It


Book Description

Literary Urban Studies and How to Practice It is the first textbook in literary urban studies (LUS). It illuminates and investigates this exciting field, which has grown since the humanities’ ‘spatial turn’ of the 1990s and 2000s. The book introduces city literature, urban methods of reading, classics in LUS and new directions in the field. It outlines the located qualities of literary narratives, texts and events through three units. First, the concept of the city and the main methods and terms needed as tools for investigating city literatures are introduced. A second section, ordered historically, shows how notions like pre-modern, realist, modernist, postcolonial and planetary actually work in nuanced explorations of actual writers, texts and places. The third unit covers literary urban modes: fictional and non-fictional prose in multiple genres; poetry and the idea of the city; dramatic city representation and the theatre as urban place. Multiple key categories of place are explored: the sacred spaces of religion; entry points such as railway stations and junctions; residential areas such as the ‘slum’, suburb and mass housing district; hubs of publishing and performance; categories of city such as the port and resort. In each chapter key terms, reflection questions and tasks labelled ‘Research It’ support reference and learning. Some Research It tasks enable readers to enter new areas of LUS by engaging with neighbouring disciplines like human geography, cultural history, sociology and urban studies. Others equip users by sharpening particular skills of writing or documentation. A thorough glossary of key terms and concepts aids the reader. Literary Urban Studies and How to Practice It is designed for application to literatures and cities in any period and part of the world. Armed with it, humanities researchers at any career stage can develop their interdisciplinary skills and ability to participate in activism and public debates while becoming specialised in LUS. The book is a gateway to practicing LUS and spatial literary research.