Urban Sociology

In The Habit of Turning the World Upside Down, Howard Mansfield returns with thoughtful linked narratives examining a crucial and overlooked element of American identity: property.

Bicycle/Race paints an unforgettable picture of Los Angeles—and the United States—from the perspective of two wheels. This is a book of borderlands and intersections, a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting infrastructure before culture, and a coming-of-age story about power and identity.

"Ihr seid jung, euch gehört die Welt" - ein Satz, den die 24-jährige Ronja Ebeling schon oft gehört hat. Der Traumjob in den Zwanzigern, Eigenheim und Familie mit dreißig, dazwischen jede Menge Strandurlaube und Chancen zur persönlichen Entfaltung, und dann, im Alter, irgendwo im Grünen entspannt den Lebensabend verbringen. Doch die Realität? Die sieht leider anders aus. Anstatt sich auf unbefristeten Jobverträgen auszuruhen, pendelt die junge Generation von Praktikum zu Praktikum, statt Urlaub gibt es Burn-out, statt einer satten Rente den Ausblick auf Altersarmut. Und Kinder? Die kann sich heute doch eh keiner mehr leisten!

America is obsessed with Los Angeles. And America has been thinking about Los Angeles all wrong, for decades, on repeat. Los Angeles is not just the place where the American dream hits the Pacific. (It has its own dreams.) Not just the vanishing point of America's western drive. (It has its own compass.) Functionally, aesthetically, mythologically, even technologically, an independent territory, defined less by distinct borders than by an aura of autonomy and a sense of unfurling destiny - this is the city-state of Los Angeles.

Last Subway is the fascinating and dramatic story behind New York City's struggle to build a new subway line under Second Avenue and improve transit services all across the city. With his extraordinary access to powerful players and internal documents, Philip Mark Plotch reveals why the city's subway system, once the best in the world, is now too often unreliable, overcrowded, and uncomfortable. Last Subway offers valuable lessons in how governments can overcome political gridlock and enormous obstacles to build grand projects.

City of Big Shoulders links key events in Chicago's development, from its marshy origins in the 1600's to today's robust metropolis. Robert G. Spinney presents Chicago in terms of the people whose lives made the city - from the tycoons and the politicians, to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from all over the world. In this revised and updated second edition that brings Chicago's story into the 21st century, Spinney sweeps his historian's gaze across the colorful and dramatic panorama of the city's explosive past.

Deutschland im Sommer 2019: Die AfD wird zur Volkspartei im Osten. Merkel hat Zitteranfälle. Vor zehn Jahren stattete der Reporter Moritz von Uslar der Kleinstadt Zehdenick im Landkreis Oberhavel in der brandenburgischen Provinz einen Besuch ab. Nun kehrt er zurück, er bleibt vier Monate und - wie schon in seinem damaligen Buch Deutschboden - lässt er die Geschichte und die Einwohner des Städtchens auf sich zukommen. Anders als vor zehn Jahren ist der Reporter in der Kleinstadt aber kein Fremder mehr.

"Londra era, ma non è più." Una pressione centrifuga l'ha fatta esplodere fino a invadere il Sud dell'Inghilterra, tanto che è quasi impossibile stabilire dove cominci e dove abbia fine. Londra è ovunque, è sfruttata e sfruttatrice, è multiculturale, ha fretta ma non sa dove andare. È un museo per turisti in cui un graffito di Banksy viene ricoperto entro poche ore da un plexiglass protettivo. La abitano cittadini stregati dagli smartphone e ciclisti che non hanno tempo di evitare i pedoni.

In this uproarious memoir/tongue-in-cheek guide to leaving the cool city in which you "found" yourself and moving somewhere far more ordinary, author Erin Clune regales listeners with priceless stories of her own experiences leaving New York for her hometown in Wisconsin and provides a jocular but useful guide - for anyone leaving, or thinking about leaving, their own personal mecca - to finding contentment while staying true to yourself in a place far, far away from The City.

The rise of Texas cities is a fascinating story that has not been previously told. Yet it is essential for understanding both the state's history and its contemporary character.

L'inizio del nuovo millennio sta portando alla ribalta le grandi città del mondo come luoghi della sperimentazione del futuro del pianeta e insieme come protagoniste della competizione a livello globale: città come Los Angeles, Londra e Tokyo hanno un ruolo di guida economica e identitaria sia per se stesse sia per i Paesi che rappresentano. L'Italia è un Paese fondato sulle città e la nostra storia - dall'epoca dei comuni alle istanze autonomiste odierne - ci ricorda quanto l'attaccamento alla comunità locale sia spesso più forte del legame con lo stato centrale.

The Voucher Promise examines the Housing Choice Voucher Program, colloquially known as "Section 8", and how it shapes the lives of families living in a Baltimore neighborhood called Park Heights. Eva Rosen tells stories about the daily lives of homeowners, voucher holders, renters who receive no housing assistance, and the landlords who provide housing.

At 15, Victor Rios found himself a human target - flat on his ass amid a hail of shotgun fire, desperate for money and a place on the street. Faced with the choice of escalating a drug turf war or eking out a living elsewhere, he turned to a teacher, who mentored him and helped him find a job at an auto shop. That job would alter the course of his whole life - putting him on the road to college and eventually a PhD.

In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, David Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York City.

Segregation by Design draws on more than 100 years of quantitative and qualitative data from thousands of American cities to explore how local governments generate race and class segregation. Starting in the early 20th century, cities have used their power of land use control to determine the location and availability of housing, amenities (such as parks), and negative land uses (such as garbage dumps). The result has been segregation - first within cities and more recently between them.

El autor retoma el relato de una vida de desamparo y violencia la noche en que a los dieciséis años, herido de varios balazos, entra a un instituto de menores. Con una prosa madura -cruda y directa-, González nos lleva a un mundo que conoce como pocos. Y como pocos, se aleja de todo cliché. La caída es insoportable. Arden las heridas de bala, desespera la soledad, se subleva la sangre que reclama cocaína, poxirrán y pastillas. ¿Y ahora? Tras las rejas, las voces de otros pibes quieren captarlo para uno de los dos bandos enemigos que manejan el instituto de menores.

A welfare capitalist, Henry Ford was a leader on many fronts - he raised wages, increased leisure time, and transformed workers into consumers, and he was the most effective at making suburbs an intrinsic part of American life. The decade was dominated by this new political economy - also known as "Fordism" - linking mass production and consumption. The rise of Dearborn demonstrated that Fordism was connected to mass suburbanization as well. Ultimately, Dearborn proved to be a model that was repeated throughout the nation.

America’s suburbs are not the homogenous places we sometimes take them for. Today’s suburbs are racially, ethnically, and economically diverse, with as many Democratic as Republican voters, a growing population of renters, and rising poverty. The cliche of white picket fences is well past its expiration date. The history of suburbia is equally surprising: American suburbs were once fertile ground for utopian planning, communal living, socially conscious design, and integrated housing. We have forgotten that we built suburbs like these....

Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War—some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stories they tell about places, peoples, and nations are selective. They are never the whole story. Exploring seven old towns, from Frankfurt and Prague to Vilnius in Lithuania, Marek Kohn examines how they have been used since the Second World War to conceal political tensions and reinforce certain versions of history.

Survived physical abuse. Witnessed community violence. Conquered the streets. Saved by education. This is Dr. Maysa Akbar’s story. A story of overcoming urban trauma. It’s easy to look down at urban communities and wonder why economic and social disparities still exist when so many people of color, despite facing severe adversity, have done better.