Cover image for Cities, change, and conflict : a political economy of urban life
Title:
Cities, change, and conflict : a political economy of urban life
Personal Author:
Edition:
4th ed.
Publication Information:
Australia ; Belmont, C.A. : Wadsworth Cengage Learning, c2011
Physical Description:
xvi, 425 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
ISBN:
9780495812227
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30000010279553 HT111 K544 2011 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

CITIES, CHANGE, AND CONFLICT - A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF URBAN LIFE discusses the importance of cities for the economic, cultural, and political life of modern societies. The authors consistently use the political economy perspective to introduce students to the basic concepts and research in urban sociology, while also acknowledging the contributions of the human ecology perspective. Through the use of case studies, the presentation remains accessible and down-to-earth, engaging the student in the material.


Table of Contents

Preface
Part I Thinking About Cities
1 Examining Urban Issues
Attitudes About Cities
Box 1.1
Some Urban Myths
Political Economy Perspective
Cities, Change, and Conflict: Three Applications
The Forbidden City Within Los Angeles
Criminalizing Homelessness
Box 1.2 Project Home's Campaign against Homelessness
Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice
Box 1.3 Environmental Justice in Chicago
Conclusion
2 Theoretical Perspectives on the City
Theories and Paradigms
Urban Ecology Paradigm
Antecedents: Tonnies, Durkheim, Simmel
The Chicago School
Contributions and Critique
Political Economy Paradigm
Antecedents: Marx, Engels, and Weber
Emergence of Urban Political Economy
Promise and Limitations of Political Economy
Box 2.1 Perspectives on Urban Ghettos
Conclusion
Part II The Changing City: Historical and Comparative Perspectives
3 Cities in World History
Origins of Cities
Early Urban Centers
What Makes Them Cities?
Ancient Cities, 1000 B.C. to A.D.
300 Physical Features of Ancient Cities
Social Patterns in Ancient Cities
Cities Outside of Europe
Cities of the Near East
Box 3.1 Islamic Cities
Cities of the Far East
Box 3.2 Chinese Cities of the Chou Dynasty
Cities of the Americas
Box 3.3 City Planning in Teotihuac?n
Medieval Cities in Europe
Feudalism and the Growth of Towns
Social Institutions
Pressures on the System
Growth of Capitalism and the Industrial City
Cities Built on Trade
World-Economy
Early Industrial Cities
Conclusion
4 Urban Development in the United States
A Brief History of Cities of the United States
The Commercial City
The Industrial City
The Corporate City
Explaining Urban Patterns
Ecological Explanations
Political Economic Explanations
Process of Urban Growth and Change
City Builders: Property Capitalists
Local Government Officials
Corporations
Regional Differences in Growth and Development
The South
New England
California
Conclusion
5 Cities, Suburbs, and Metropolitan Areas
Changes in Metropolitan Areas Since 1950
Growth of Suburbs and Metropolitan Areas
Policy Choices by the Federal Government
Local Political Choices: To Annex of Not to Annex?
Corporate Decisions: New Industrial Spaces
Social Consequences of Suburbanization
Restructuring the Central Cities
Transformation of the Central Business Districts
Social Transformation of the Cities
Box 5.1 The Process of Gentrification in New York's East Village
Box 5.2 Restructuring of the Metropolitan Los Angeles Economy
Explaining Urban Transformations
The United States in the World Economy
Government Responses to Economic Changes
Conclusion
6 Cities in Europe
Cities in Western Europe
Box 6.1 Super Cities
Comparisons with North American Cities
Factors Affecting Western European Cities
Emerging Problems in Western European Cities
Immigration
Socially Excluded Groups
Cities in Eastern and Central Europe
Urban Planning
Box 6.2 Planning for Moscow as a Communist Mecca
Box 6.3 The International Scene in Prague
Housing
Economic Restructuring
Environmental Challenges
Globalization and Global Cities
The Process of Globalization
Globalization and Politics
Global Cities
Characteristics of Global Cities
Similarities among Global Cities
Conclusion
7 Cities in the Third World
Characteristics of Third World Cities
Urban Population Trends
Box 7.1 The Urban-Rural Gap
Economic and Political Trends
Box 7.2 The Informal Sector in Calcutta
Box 7.3 Mexico City
Explaining the Diverging Paths of Urban Development
Development Perspective
Uneven Development Perspectives
Box 7.4 The Banana Industry and the Honduran Economy
Box 7.5 Caribbean Sweatshops
Future Development of Third World Cities
Conclusion
Part III Change and Conflict: Urban Social Groups
8 Immigrants and the City
Old and New Immigration
Three Waves of Immigration
Reactions to Newcomers
Economics of Immigration
U.S. Immigrations Policy
Contemporary Immigrant Lifestyles
Ethnic Identification and Group Solidarity
Box 8.1 The M?ndez Children
Ethnic Neighborhoods and Ethnic Enclaves
Immigrants in the Workplace
Immigrants and Politics
Do Cities Gain or Lose from Immigration?
Conclusion
9 African Americans in Cities
Development of African-American Neighborhoods
Urban Race Relations Before the Great Migration
Box 9.1 Race Relations in Philadelphia Before 1900
The Great Migration
Whites and Segregation
Enclave or Ghetto?
Current Racial Patterns in Metropolitan Areas
Institutional Barriers to Housing Choice
Correlates and Consequences of Racial Segregation
Suburban Movement
Social Class Patterns in African-American Neighborhoods
Changing Class Structure
Racial Concentration and Political Power
Box 9.2 Geography of Race and Social Class in Detroit
Current Issues Around Race and Residential Patterns
Government Policy
Attitudes About Racial Homogeneity
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
10 Changing Social Class Patterns
What Is a Social Class?
Social Class and Communities
Mapping Studies: Pictures of the Whole City
Descriptions of Urban Life: Community Studies
Box 10.1 Creation of an Elite Neighborhood
Box 10.2 Dismantling of a Working Class Community
Summary
Mechanisms for Sorting Out the Social Classes
Housing Market
Institutional Actors and Influences
Labor Market
The Changing Economy and the Shrinking Middle Class
Housing Patterns: A Reflection of Social Inequality
Withdrawal of the Affluent
Displacement of the Vulnerable
Homelessness: The Bottom of the Barrel
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
11 Women in Cities
Women's Spaces, Men's Spaces
Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Class in the City
Gendered Urban Spaces
Contemporary Workplaces
Transportation
Community Organizations
Box 11.1 Women as Community Activists
Recreation
Consumption
Running Cities As If Women Mattered
What Do Women Want?
User-Friendly Communities
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
Part IV Change and Conflict: Urban Social Institutions
12 Urban Economic Development
The Changing Economy
Impact on Local Economic Bases
Jobs of the Future
Growth of the Informal Economy
The Arts and the Urban Economy
Box 12.1 Culture as Business
Urban Economic Development Policy
Privatism and the Local Economy
Progressive Policies for Local Economic Development
Box 12.2 Investing in Human Capital
Politics of Economic Development Programs
Conclusion
Box 12.3 The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
13 Local Government and Finances
Government and Political Power
Municipal Control, Political Machines, and Reforms
Box 13.1 Machine Politics in the Industrial Era
Studies of Political Power
Recent Directions in the Study of Local Government
Financing Local Government
Fiscal Crises
Lessons from the Fiscal Crisis
Urban Politics and Urban Reform
Box 13.2 The Progressive Agenda for Chicago
Regionalism and Metropolitan Government
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
14 Federal Urban Policy
Implicit Urban Policy
Emergence of Urban Policy
Public Housing
Urban Renewal
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Summary: Efforts to Direct Urban Policy from Washington
Transformation of Urban Policy
New Federalism
Retreat from Urban Policy
Reinventing Urban Policy
Politics and Urban Policy
Why Is the United States Different?
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
15 Urban Unrest and Social Control
How Orderly Is Society?
Theories Stressing Order
Theories Stressing Conflict
Some Types of Urban Unrest
Crime
Gang Activity
Box 15.1 Gang Recruitment
Riots
Social Movements
Box 15.2 Redlining and Reinvestment
Causes of Urban Disruptions
Approaches to Reducing Urban Disruptions
Informal Social Control
Formal Social Control
Strategic Reinvestment
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
Part V Conclusions
16 Planning for the Future of Cities
Urban Planning in History
Defense
Commerce
Political Power
Urban Planning: The View from the Ground
Imaging the City
The Social Life of the Street
Urban Planning: Visions and Realities
Utopian Visions
Planning Realities in the United States
The Vision Implemented
Planning and Politics
Social Justice and the City
Discussion Questions
Online Exercises
Glossary
References
Index