A Theory of Urbanity: The Economic and Civic Culture of Cities

Author:   Anton Zijderveld
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Inc
ISBN:  

9781412808200


Pages:   212
Publication Date:   30 December 2008
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Our Price $96.99 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

A Theory of Urbanity: The Economic and Civic Culture of Cities


Add your own review!

Overview

Cities provide for people, not just functionally in terms of jobs, obligations and practical pursuits, but also, and above all, emotionally. We like some cities and detest others. Despite shared rationalizations and common modes of administration and design, each city has its own culture. A culture is typically human in that it contains all dimensions of the human, personal condition--from the lowest to the most sublime. Urban culture comprises both economic and civic culture, and is the source of a city's vitality. For today's urban sprawls, which have a weak and failing economic and civic culture, the task of the urban administration and various economic and civic organizations is to strengthen conditions that can prevent the emergence of urban anomie. With suburbanization, the edge city, and the emergence of cyberspace, some argue that cities, as integrated places of working and living, are things of the past. Zijderveld argues that people are and remain social animals, who like and need one another's company, particularly in their economic, socio-cultural, and political activities. Throughout the ages, cities have provided the environment in which people fulfill these needs. Anton Zijderveld discusses urban preferences, the organizations and ramifications of urbanity, the modernization of urban culture, the uneasy alliance between urbanity and the interventionist state, and the cultural dimensions of urban renewal. Zijderveld sees the economic and civic culture of the city as the centerpiece of contemporary urban management and contemporary urban democracy. In this sense, the new technology is an ally of the new urban renewal. Most postmodern treatises on the end of the city are impressionistic and unsystematic. In contrast, Zijderveld puts the qualitative dimensions of city life into focus, catching its pulse and cultural rhythms in a systematic context that prior studies have lacked. As such, it will be of great interest to urban administrators, planning experts, and students of urban studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anton Zijderveld
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Inc
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9781412808200


ISBN 10:   1412808200
Pages:   212
Publication Date:   30 December 2008
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

-This masterly book accomplishes two things: As an exercise in highly sophisticated historical sociology, it places the city at the heart of the great drama of modernization. But it is also a passionate defense of urbanity and of the civic culture to which it has been linked. The book should be read by everyone who cares about the fate of cities and who loves their vulnerable vitality.- --Peter L. Berger, Boston University


This masterly book accomplishes two things: As an exercise in highly sophisticated historical sociology, it places the city at the heart of the great drama of modernization. But it is also a passionate defense of urbanity and of the civic culture to which it has been linked. The book should be read by everyone who cares about the fate of cities and who loves their vulnerable vitality. --Peter L. Berger, Boston University -This masterly book accomplishes two things: As an exercise in highly sophisticated historical sociology, it places the city at the heart of the great drama of modernization. But it is also a passionate defense of urbanity and of the civic culture to which it has been linked. The book should be read by everyone who cares about the fate of cities and who loves their vulnerable vitality.- --Peter L. Berger, Boston University


This masterly book accomplishes two things: As an exercise in highly sophisticated historical sociology, it places the city at the heart of the great drama of modernization. But it is also a passionate defense of urbanity and of the civic culture to which it has been linked. The book should be read by everyone who cares about the fate of cities and who loves their vulnerable vitality. --Peter L. Berger, Boston University


Author Information

Anton C. Zijderveld is professor emeritus of general sociology at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He taught briefly in the United States and Canada. Among his publications are The Abstract Society, On Cliches, and Reality in a Looking-Glass.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List