The Big Sort
The Big Sort

Author: Bill Bishop

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780547237725

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In 2004, journalist Bill Bishop coined the term "the big sort." Armed with startling new demographic data, he made national news in a series of articles showing how Americans have been sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities -- not by region or by state, but by city and even neighborhood. Over the past three decades, we have been choosing the neighborhood (and church and news show) compatible with our lifestyle and beliefs. The result is a country that has become so polarized, so ideologically inbred that people don't know and can't understand those who live a few miles away. How this came to be, and its dire implications for our country, is the subject of this ground-breaking work. In The Big Sort, Bishop has taken his analysis to a new level. He begins with stories about how we live today and then draws on history, economics and our changing political landscape to create one of the most compelling big-picture accounts of America in recent memory.

Urban America: Growth, Crisis, and Rebirth
Urban America: Growth, Crisis, and Rebirth

Author: John Mcdonald

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-03-26

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1317452879

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This book will change the way Americans think about their cities. It provides a comprehensive economic and social history of urban America since 1950, covering the 29 largest urban areas of that period. Specifically, the book covers 17 cities in the Northeast, 6 in the South, and 6 in the West, decade by decade, with extensive data and historical narrative. The author divides his analysis into three periods - urban growth (1950 to 1970), urban crisis (late 1960s to 1990), and urban rebirth (since 1990). He draws on the concepts of the vicious circle and the virtuous circle to offer the first in-depth explanation for the transition from urban crisis to urban rebirth that took place in the early 1990s. "Urban America" is both a message of hope and a call to action for students and professionals in urban studies. It will inspire readers to concentrate on finding ways and means to ensure that the urban rebirth will continue.

Past Trends and Future Prospects of the American City
Past Trends and Future Prospects of the American City

Author: David L. Sjoquist

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2009-09-24

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 0739135392

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Atlanta's experience over the past 15 to 20 years is reflective of many cities, particularly those in the south and west. Thus, the story of how and why Atlanta has changed is informative for cities in general. What accounts for the positive turn-around of the city of Atlanta? What can other cities learn from Atlanta's experience? This collection examines changes in the city of Atlanta over the past three decades and explores the factors associated with the observed changes. Beginning with several essays that take a broad focus on the city's demographics and the city's economy, the contributions then focus on more specifics aspects of urban development, such as the changing face of retailing; income and poverty; race and ethnicity; the arts; transportation; and housing and gentrification. Later chapters assess the future prospects for the city. Together, the contributions paint a picture of how the city of Atlanta has changed, why it has changed, and its future prospects. The implications for other major metropolitan centers are broad, and the lessons learned are of relevance to anyone interested in the economic and social health of cities.

The Oxford Handbook of Urban Politics
The Oxford Handbook of Urban Politics

Author: Karen Mossberger

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 697

ISBN-13: 0199385556

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The Oxford Handbook of Urban Politics is an authoritative volume on an established subject in political science and the academy more generally: urban politics and urban studies. The editors are all recognized experts, and are well connected to the leading scholars in urban politics. The handbook covers the major themes that animate the subfield: the politics of space and place; power and governance; urban policy; urban social organization; citizenship and democratic governance; representation and institutions; approaches and methodology; and the future of urban politics. Given the caliber of the editors and proposed contributors, the volume sets the intellectual agenda for years to come.

Urban Patterns of Growth
Urban Patterns of Growth

Author: Nordic Council of Ministers

Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers

Published: 2013-02-22

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9289324716

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Urban Patterns of Growth was carried out for the preparation of the Nordic regional policy co-operation programme 2013-2016 and national regional policies in the Nordic countries. A key issue is the concentration of economic growth in the largest cities. This is favored by urbanisation economies but also by the forming of specialised international networks of innovation and production established far beyond regional and national borders. Much research has focused upon these new global networks, leaving behind the question of the national spreading effects of the production that has not been outsourced. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to elucidate, via case studies, the extent to which the purchases of supplies and services from knowledge firms are located in proximity of the company or whether these purchases have spread to the remaining part of the country.

Smart Sustainable Cities and Knowledge-Based Economy
Smart Sustainable Cities and Knowledge-Based Economy

Author: Enrico Ivaldi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-07-10

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 3031250389

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This book provides information and resources to city planners and other public policy officials on the importance of smart sustainable cities and their relationship with urban knowledge-based economy. It answers important topical questions relating to urban sustainable development and human well-being, namely, how can we implement policies and programs that can make cities “smart” and boost their knowledge-based development? How can such programs reduce inequalities and enhance the environment where people live and work? The authors suggest a new approach to the creation of sustainable smart cities, not only in metropolises but also in smaller urban spaces. They advance the body of knowledge in entrepreneurship literature by examining both the European regional understanding of entrepreneurship and the quality of life and well-being at city levels. They also provide synthetic indexes to assess the relationship between perceived quality of life and entrepreneurship. This book stimulates the debate on the role of smart cities in promoting entrepreneurship, which is a currently under-investigated topic in Europe, and is of interest to a wide range of practitioners, professionals and academics in the area of well-being and quality of life research, urban studies, public policy, and sustainable development.

Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics
Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics

Author: Gilles Duranton

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2015-06-29

Total Pages: 1686

ISBN-13: 0444595392

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Developments in methodologies, agglomeration, and a range of applied issues have characterized recent advances in regional and urban studies. Volume 5 concentrates on these developments while treating traditional subjects such as housing, the costs and benefits of cities, and policy issues beyond regional inequalities. Contributors make a habit of combining theory and empirics in each chapter, guiding research amid a trend in applied economics towards structural and quasi-experimental approaches. Clearly distinguished from the New Economic Geography covered by Volume 4, these articles feature an international approach that positions recent advances within the discipline of economics and society at large. - Emphasizes advances in applied econometrics and the blurring of "within" and "between" cities - Promotes the integration of theory and empirics in most chapters - Presents new research on housing, especially in macro and international finance contexts

Smaller Cities in a World of Competitiveness
Smaller Cities in a World of Competitiveness

Author: Peter Karl Kresl

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-28

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1317539753

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Much recent research in Urban Studies has concentrated on the notion of the ‘global city’ but discussion has also covered a larger set of mega cities, with populations in excess of 10 million. This analysis has begged the question of the optimal size for a city – is larger always better? Smaller Cities explores the advantages and disadvantages of different sized cities, trying to determine their place in the global economy and hierarchy. How can smaller cities gain or retain their competitiveness in a world of large cities? In a globalized world, the nation has perhaps been diminished as an economic actor, with fiscal shortcomings and political gridlock leaving cities more or less on their own in the task of enhancing their competitiveness and improving the economic lives of their residents. This book argues that smaller cities of varying population can be important actors in competitiveness and aims to bring attention to an area often overlooked by researchers. In short, are Pittsburgh, San Diego and Austin less competitive than London and Mumbai? This volume will be of interest to students, researchers, and city professionals who work in urban economy and urban geography.

Cities at the Heart of Inequalities
Cities at the Heart of Inequalities

Author: Clementine Cottineau

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2022-06-28

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 1789450632

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Cities have become the major habitat for human societies. They are also the places where the starkest social inequalities show up. Income, social, land and housing inequalities shape the built environment and living conditions of different neighborhoods of cities, and in return, unequal access to services, environmental quality and favorable health conditions in different neighborhoods and cities fuel the reproduction of interpersonal inequalities. This book examines how inequalities are produced and reproduced both within and between cities. In particular, we review land rent and social segregation theories from diverse disciplinary references and through examples taken from around the world. The attraction of urban centralities, which is further reinforced by the growing financialization of property and urban capital, is also analyzed through the lens of its influence on rent-seeking mechanisms and the ever increasing pressure of population migration.

The Routledge International Handbook of Walking
The Routledge International Handbook of Walking

Author: C. Michael Hall

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-28

Total Pages: 568

ISBN-13: 1317271106

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Walking is an essentially human activity. From a basic means of transport and opportunity for leisure through to being a religious act, walking has served as a significant philosophical, literary and historical subject. Thoreau’s 1851 lecture on Walking or the Romantic walks of the Wordsworths at Grasmere in the early 19th Century, for example, helped create a philosophical foundation for the importance of the act of walking as an act of engagement with nature. Similarly, and sometimes inseparable from secular appreciation, pilgrimage trails provide opportunities for finding self and others in the travails of the walk. More recently, walking has been embraced as a means of encouraging greater health and well-being, community improvement and more sustainable means of travel. Yet despite the significance of the subject of walking there is as yet no integrated treatment of the subject in the social science literature. This handbook therefore brings together a number of the main themes on the study of walking from different disciplines and literatures into a single volume that can be accessed from across the social sciences. It is divided into five main sections: culture, society and historical context; social practices, perceptions and behaviours; hiking trails and pilgrimage routes; health, well-being and psychology; and method, planning and design. Each of these highlights current approaches and major themes in research on walking in a range of different environments. This handbook carves out a unique niche in the study of walking. The international and cross-disciplinary nature of the contributions of the book are expected to be of interest to numerous academic fields in the social and health sciences, as well as to urban and regional planners and those in charge of the management of outdoor recreation and tourism globally.