book reviews
Book Review: The Concrete Dragon
Thursday, June 5th, 2008The Concrete Dragon: China’s Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World by Thomas J. Campanella
Reviewed by guest blogger, Dave Atkins.
Thomas Campanella’s book is a timely, eye-opening analysis of the wrenching urban revolution transforming China. Written in a clear, conversational tone, but packed with data and anecdotal stories that demonstrate the author’s insight into […]
4 ways to read “Who’s Your City”
Friday, May 23rd, 2008Richard Florida, Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.
Where you choose to live may be the most important decision in your adult life — at least according to Economist Richard Florida. And he makes a compelling case for it in his […]
“3 cups of tea:” Lessons from those who’ve never seen a city
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time (New York: Penguin, 2006).
They live in isolated villages deep in the Karakorum Mountains at the western edge of the Himalayas. On our paper map abstractions, they live in Pakistan or Afghanistan. In reality, […]
Book Review: Suburban Transformations
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008Review by Guest Blogger, Dave Atkins
How can we transform our suburbs and edge cities into memorable and sustainable places? This is the central question behind architect Paul Lukez’s book, Suburban Transformations, in which he uses five case studies of proposed suburban renewal to introduce the Adaptive Design Process.
Lukez considers what has made great European cities […]
“The Missing Class”
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007Review by guest blogger David Atkins
The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America by Princeton University sociologist Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen offers a glimpse into the lives of many urban, working Americans who live above the official poverty line, but are not quite middle class.
This book is based […]
Insights into San Francisco (and cities) from Allende’s “Daughter of Fortune”
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007With the holidays approaching, many readers of this blog might look to curl up by the fireplace with a novel instead of non-fiction books about the economy or planning theory. A good choice would be Isabel Allende’s book, Daughter of Fortune.
This spellbinding work of historical fiction details the experiences of a well educated young […]
Urban blog perspectives
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007Most bloggers about urban issues have social science backgrounds (loosely defined) in fields like economics, economic history, urban planning, sociology, demography, etc.
Our opinions sometimes differ, along with the topics we choose to write about. But, we tend to approach the question of how cities work with similar tool kits and frameworks for analysis.
That’s why […]
Wikinomics - 5 implications for cities
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007By guest blogger, Dave Atkins…
Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams’ book Wikinomics is not a book about cities. However, the social changes it describes will have profound effects on cities because they impact how we live and work as well as how businesses perform. Here are five potential implications of the “wiki effect” […]
New lens on New York (Warhol Economy Reviewed)
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007Elizabeth Currid, The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City (Princeton University Press, 2007). See also the earlier post, “Top Three Reasons to Read the Warhol Economy.”
Elizabeth Currid seeks to turn our assumptions about New York’s economy upside down. Most people assume that New York’s economic core and […]
Top 3 reasons to read “The Warhol Economy”
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007Preliminary thoughts on Elizabeth Currid, The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City (Princeton University Press, 2007). A more formal review will follow in a few days.
Planners, economists, urban politicians, and anyone interested in how cities work — and how the arts work in a city — will find something […]