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Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis
The 21st century will be the age of the city. Already over 50% of the global population lives in urban centres and, over the coming decades, this percentage will increase - with consequences for us all. But this does not mean that things will only get worse. In fact our urban future might just be something to look forward to. Blending anecdote, fact and first-hand encounters, Leo Hollis reveals that we have misunderstood how cities work for too long.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 2, 2014
This is a fine book that offers a clear argument: the urban environment is beneficial to the life of its residents. There is attention to housing, transportation, employment, movement cultures and lifestyle.
Hollis tracks - around the world - the gentrification of cities and the impact of the poor being excluded to the periphery of urbanity. Yet the problems of cities - pollution and congestion being two major ones - are underplayed.
It is an inspiring book and beautifully written. For urban studies scholars, this is a fine read. For those simply interested in urban life, it is a pleasure to explore.
Hollis tracks - around the world - the gentrification of cities and the impact of the poor being excluded to the periphery of urbanity. Yet the problems of cities - pollution and congestion being two major ones - are underplayed.
It is an inspiring book and beautifully written. For urban studies scholars, this is a fine read. For those simply interested in urban life, it is a pleasure to explore.
August 9, 2016
The book was a pretty meagre throughout. I have read much on cities but I was aware of the majority of sources and anecdotes in the book already, it felt like a compendium of people's other work rather than offering any insight itself (just a lot of praise for the internet or travelling).
December 30, 2019
Optimistic and insightful
Read
June 30, 2020For April, I read Cities Are Good For You by Leo Hollis. Overall, I found the book to just be a lot of summaries about random urban topics. I think one of the best arguments presented is something that I already know and agree with. This is the idea that living in the city is good for you because you will walk more. I think there are so many benefits to being able to walk everywhere. Walking keeps people physically active, reduces the impact on the environment, does not have a monetary cost, and can even have social benefits when you interact with your community along the way.
Another argument that I hadn't thought about has to do with all of the secondary connections that one will make living in the city. These people may not be close friends, but the power of this large network of secondary connections leads to increased innovation and creativity. All of the interactions occurring among this network lead to a lot of new ideas.
There were also several topics on technology, but I didn't find that all of them even supported the main idea that cities are good for us. One technology topic that stood out to me was how the use of smartphones has really transformed things in Africa. Now even those in rural villages can stay connected with loved ones and those who are migratory workers can use their phone to send money back to their families throughout Africa or anywhere in the world.
A very interesting topic on technology related to cities is that new cities are being created with a high level of technology integration that really supports the internet of things. With all of these parts of the city being connected to the internet, many things are possible in regards to data collection. Now data can be collected on nearly everything such as citizen behavior, traffic, environmental conditions, and more. Many pieces of data are nearly impossible to collect without these technologies. I think while this raises privacy concerns, this data will allow us to make informed decisions for the better of our cities.
I believe that cities really are the centers of technology. The latest innovations and access are in the cities. Those in rural areas usually are at disadvantage when it comes to technology. The small population just doesn't justify the investments needed in infrastructure, equipment, and/or labor. I know that in my home town, an organization started a computer class that I helped to teach but it was not continued as their just wasn't enough state funding to sustain it for future periods. In our cities, the large populations allow us to invest in community technology centers and to share in their use as well as provide a diverse offering of trainings. It is because of our location in the city that CTEP can exist and make an impact on so many people. This is due to in part to the technology available, but I think even more importantly it is due to the all of the secondary connections as the author notes that the impact is so large.
Another argument that I hadn't thought about has to do with all of the secondary connections that one will make living in the city. These people may not be close friends, but the power of this large network of secondary connections leads to increased innovation and creativity. All of the interactions occurring among this network lead to a lot of new ideas.
There were also several topics on technology, but I didn't find that all of them even supported the main idea that cities are good for us. One technology topic that stood out to me was how the use of smartphones has really transformed things in Africa. Now even those in rural villages can stay connected with loved ones and those who are migratory workers can use their phone to send money back to their families throughout Africa or anywhere in the world.
A very interesting topic on technology related to cities is that new cities are being created with a high level of technology integration that really supports the internet of things. With all of these parts of the city being connected to the internet, many things are possible in regards to data collection. Now data can be collected on nearly everything such as citizen behavior, traffic, environmental conditions, and more. Many pieces of data are nearly impossible to collect without these technologies. I think while this raises privacy concerns, this data will allow us to make informed decisions for the better of our cities.
I believe that cities really are the centers of technology. The latest innovations and access are in the cities. Those in rural areas usually are at disadvantage when it comes to technology. The small population just doesn't justify the investments needed in infrastructure, equipment, and/or labor. I know that in my home town, an organization started a computer class that I helped to teach but it was not continued as their just wasn't enough state funding to sustain it for future periods. In our cities, the large populations allow us to invest in community technology centers and to share in their use as well as provide a diverse offering of trainings. It is because of our location in the city that CTEP can exist and make an impact on so many people. This is due to in part to the technology available, but I think even more importantly it is due to the all of the secondary connections as the author notes that the impact is so large.
March 23, 2019
2.5 - Hollis presents a survey of cities and urbanism, showcasing challenges and innovations of cities, but doesn't really go any further than that. While it introduces and to some extent contextualises the work of a range of architects and urbanist thinkers, the book doesn't really refine its own thesis beyond the title.
The chapter Hollis devotes to the Dharavi slum in Mumbai raises interesting questions, but most of these are glossed over rather than being explored in any depth. For instance, Hollis suggests in a throwaway comment that the slums can't just be integrated into city through granting land ownership to the slum dwellers because (paraphrasing) "they would then have to pay taxes". The notion would deserve more unpacking - after all, it seems reasonable to wonder why the Mumbai government would be driven to provide public services to a taxless area. Since Hollis contends that the slums are part of the city (purely on the basis on economic contribution, rightly so), how do they integrate within the legal and financial framework of the city? What is the case for special financial/tax treatment to improve living conditions in Dharavi?
The book also would have benefited from tighter editing and spellchecks, especially on the foreign words (in the edition I read at least) - consistent misspelling of 'banlieues' or Lefebvre's concept of 'droit à la ville', for instance, detracts from the work. As other reviews have pointed out, maybe the sheer scope of Hollis' book just didn't leave enough space for him to bring it all together into a more cogent whole. As it stands, Cities are good for you is informative but uninspiring, though can be a good springboard to other, perhaps more groundbreaking, sources.
The chapter Hollis devotes to the Dharavi slum in Mumbai raises interesting questions, but most of these are glossed over rather than being explored in any depth. For instance, Hollis suggests in a throwaway comment that the slums can't just be integrated into city through granting land ownership to the slum dwellers because (paraphrasing) "they would then have to pay taxes". The notion would deserve more unpacking - after all, it seems reasonable to wonder why the Mumbai government would be driven to provide public services to a taxless area. Since Hollis contends that the slums are part of the city (purely on the basis on economic contribution, rightly so), how do they integrate within the legal and financial framework of the city? What is the case for special financial/tax treatment to improve living conditions in Dharavi?
The book also would have benefited from tighter editing and spellchecks, especially on the foreign words (in the edition I read at least) - consistent misspelling of 'banlieues' or Lefebvre's concept of 'droit à la ville', for instance, detracts from the work. As other reviews have pointed out, maybe the sheer scope of Hollis' book just didn't leave enough space for him to bring it all together into a more cogent whole. As it stands, Cities are good for you is informative but uninspiring, though can be a good springboard to other, perhaps more groundbreaking, sources.
January 15, 2019
Cities are Good For You is a well-researched book with a thesis I'm sympathetic to (i.e. that cities are good for you). It has a really wide scope! I learned a bunch of interesting stuff about urban planning and this book made me question what a city even is (the definition of a city as a place with a cathedral is pretty wanting both globally and historically).
There's problems though. The scope might be too wide. Anything from how people walk to environmental sustainability to inequality to architecture to traffic to politics is included. It's a lot to take in! It's also really hard to see 'the story of the city' unfold when cities are incredibly diverse. It wasn't really clear what each chapter was about going into it, even though they had evocative openings. I also think that Hollis kept forgetting that he was trying to make a pro-city argument, and his failure to link his stories and data back to it made the point of a lot of the book a bit unclear. So yeah, those are some major structural issues.
There's valuable stuff, but it's a bit muddled.
There's problems though. The scope might be too wide. Anything from how people walk to environmental sustainability to inequality to architecture to traffic to politics is included. It's a lot to take in! It's also really hard to see 'the story of the city' unfold when cities are incredibly diverse. It wasn't really clear what each chapter was about going into it, even though they had evocative openings. I also think that Hollis kept forgetting that he was trying to make a pro-city argument, and his failure to link his stories and data back to it made the point of a lot of the book a bit unclear. So yeah, those are some major structural issues.
There's valuable stuff, but it's a bit muddled.
April 20, 2024
Pretty good urbanist manifesto. As an urbanist myself, I knew lots of these arguments already (such as increased creativity, weak ties etc etc), but it definitely reinforced things and changed how I thought.
-1 star for not tackling gentrification. "Creative Cities" are good - but they usually come at the expense of the old, usually POC and low-income, social order. Would have liked to see him grapple with this idea.
-1 star for not tackling gentrification. "Creative Cities" are good - but they usually come at the expense of the old, usually POC and low-income, social order. Would have liked to see him grapple with this idea.
May 24, 2019
Хороший обзор частей, из которых складывается хороший город. Или не складывается.
January 1, 2022
Im in love with this book❤
March 2, 2022
Some interesting stories, but disappointingly superficial analysis.
July 5, 2022
The book equivalent of the coworker who repeats everyone’s ideas and expects credit for them in meetings
August 17, 2017
How our cities are copping with increasingly unsustainable numbers and how this affects us all.
Lovely bit on Jane Jacobs and her trying to prevent New Yorks history be erased in favour of less significant and well designed architecture.
Positive overall.
Lovely bit on Jane Jacobs and her trying to prevent New Yorks history be erased in favour of less significant and well designed architecture.
Positive overall.
June 12, 2020
From my review on NextCity Daily:
Leo Hollis’ new book, Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis, is not a book to “like,” exactly, but if you’re a regular reader of this space then it perhaps covers all the things you might like. I was with Hollis on his premise — that every way of life has its drawbacks but, despite these, cities are good for you, and are even better for all of us — before opening the front cover. That said, while reading I kept going back and forth about whether the book is good for us, meaning urbanists.
As Will Self wrote over at The Guardian, the book at its best highlights some of the most impressive developments in the best cities, which make it possible for more and more people to live together in healthy urban environments. Yet I was almost halfway through, reading through examples like those listed below, and struggling to figure out the precise point of Hollis’ writing. It felt like so much cheerleading that only folks who already agreed with him would read. I suspected his point, but wasn’t confident until I reached the last item on the list below, and that’s when I figured out why, though I enjoyed many parts of it, I can’t recommend Cities Are Good For You as a whole with much vigor.
Before I begin the list, though, let me tell you what I think Hollis is driving at. What’s best about cities, he thinks, is the diverse, organic activity and problem-solving that starts at the street level, as Jane Jacobs described it in The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
The rest is here.
Leo Hollis’ new book, Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis, is not a book to “like,” exactly, but if you’re a regular reader of this space then it perhaps covers all the things you might like. I was with Hollis on his premise — that every way of life has its drawbacks but, despite these, cities are good for you, and are even better for all of us — before opening the front cover. That said, while reading I kept going back and forth about whether the book is good for us, meaning urbanists.
As Will Self wrote over at The Guardian, the book at its best highlights some of the most impressive developments in the best cities, which make it possible for more and more people to live together in healthy urban environments. Yet I was almost halfway through, reading through examples like those listed below, and struggling to figure out the precise point of Hollis’ writing. It felt like so much cheerleading that only folks who already agreed with him would read. I suspected his point, but wasn’t confident until I reached the last item on the list below, and that’s when I figured out why, though I enjoyed many parts of it, I can’t recommend Cities Are Good For You as a whole with much vigor.
Before I begin the list, though, let me tell you what I think Hollis is driving at. What’s best about cities, he thinks, is the diverse, organic activity and problem-solving that starts at the street level, as Jane Jacobs described it in The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
The rest is here.
August 12, 2014
A surprisingly hopeful book, in many ways. I imagine that's what the author intended, and I admit to being pleasantly surprised at how well he succeeded.
Some of the early material, mainly stuff on Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses, I was already familiar with (as I would expect most people interested in city life to be), and it seemed to be a bit of a potted history, as did some of the material on Le Corbusier. Famous Theorists and Power Brokers, Bad; Observant Lady: Good (to be clear, I agree with Hollis, so there may be a slight problem of the choir being preached to; then again, it's always nice to see people acknowledging the damage Le Corbusier and his ilk have done).
But when Hollis moves farther afield, to cities in Asia and particularly Latin America, he really seems to hit his stride, describing both their problems and some of their more creative and effective solutions.
That was really the part that I think is going to stay with me. I particularly liked the ideas about making bus travel better and less "loser-cruiser-ish;" some of those really do seem practical.
The only sad part was reading about all these innovative ways of thinking, and new approaches, just as the US government is in shutdown and everything civic-related feels so cramped and despised. I just want to shake people, make them read books like this, and say, "It doesn't have to be like this! We can make it better!"
Some of the early material, mainly stuff on Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses, I was already familiar with (as I would expect most people interested in city life to be), and it seemed to be a bit of a potted history, as did some of the material on Le Corbusier. Famous Theorists and Power Brokers, Bad; Observant Lady: Good (to be clear, I agree with Hollis, so there may be a slight problem of the choir being preached to; then again, it's always nice to see people acknowledging the damage Le Corbusier and his ilk have done).
But when Hollis moves farther afield, to cities in Asia and particularly Latin America, he really seems to hit his stride, describing both their problems and some of their more creative and effective solutions.
That was really the part that I think is going to stay with me. I particularly liked the ideas about making bus travel better and less "loser-cruiser-ish;" some of those really do seem practical.
The only sad part was reading about all these innovative ways of thinking, and new approaches, just as the US government is in shutdown and everything civic-related feels so cramped and despised. I just want to shake people, make them read books like this, and say, "It doesn't have to be like this! We can make it better!"
April 7, 2016
No focus and seemingly no editing (how many times can you start a sentence with "Yet"????). Hollis continually preaches the necessity of improving life at the street level via public participation, then shows unbridled enthusiasm for things like Vodafone UK's venture in mobile banking in Kenya without questioning why a London-based company and the UK Department of International Development are the ones serving the unbanked. I don't entirely trust the private sector to not exploit an emerging market, but this potential for exploitation goes unaddressed by Hollis.
There are a lot of interesting case studies of urbanization schemes, but they're not fully described and I had a hard time seeing exactly how they were implemented (especially with funding, which is a huge limiting factor for anything a city wants to do). So while I believe that cities are good for you, I didn't find Hollis' arguments about why they are very elucidating.
There are a lot of interesting case studies of urbanization schemes, but they're not fully described and I had a hard time seeing exactly how they were implemented (especially with funding, which is a huge limiting factor for anything a city wants to do). So while I believe that cities are good for you, I didn't find Hollis' arguments about why they are very elucidating.
January 6, 2014
The book meandered quite a bit, so I never quite go the sense of a coherent hypothesis. The name of the book is of course pushing towards one, but that isn't addressed in some grand argument in the book.
Lots of tidbits about the good things happening in various cities, but also the challenges. All of which cumulatively didn't add up to me to the kind of strong message presented in something like a Richard Florida or Ed Glaeser book.
The thoughts were all there, just the editing didn't push the end product to be as good as I think it could have been.
Side note: I'm a bit concerned a lot of blame was assigned to Moses (fairly), but his rise to power and history were distorted. Obviously The Power Broker took 1,000+ pages to explain this, but in one page some things jumped out at me as inaccurate (he really rose through the state ranks and gained power there).
Lots of tidbits about the good things happening in various cities, but also the challenges. All of which cumulatively didn't add up to me to the kind of strong message presented in something like a Richard Florida or Ed Glaeser book.
The thoughts were all there, just the editing didn't push the end product to be as good as I think it could have been.
Side note: I'm a bit concerned a lot of blame was assigned to Moses (fairly), but his rise to power and history were distorted. Obviously The Power Broker took 1,000+ pages to explain this, but in one page some things jumped out at me as inaccurate (he really rose through the state ranks and gained power there).
January 19, 2014
This book was just so-so. Hollis enjoys sharing his thoughts and opinions perhaps too much, and his arguments tend to wind and meander much like the street configurations in the suburban housing developments he opposes. However, he does take on quite a bit (again, perhaps too much) and provides a decent survey of material that he is just unfortunate to have had covered by other authors who have more thoroughly outlined and supported their claims (e.g., Al Gore in The Future, Kasarda and Lindsay in Aerotropolis, Townsend in Smart Cities).
February 20, 2014
Given the rapid urbanization of the world, the question of the sustainable city is being lived out in every country. How do we maximize the good and minimize the difficulties of cities? Hollis draws on a lot of researchers and ideas about how to change and improve the city, understanding it as a wider network and for global sustainability. Hopeful, this is an introduction to the idea of the sustainable city.
July 12, 2015
I started out with both this and 'Smart Cities', and ended up sticking with this one. Both have a condensed history of urban planning - useful in some cases, but I've read it before - but this does a better job with the people side of cities. It's a good blend of anecdote, narrative example, and statistics, though I'm sure arguments could be made about other causes of success. A good introduction to urban issues and benefits that doesn't require pre-existing knowledge.
November 24, 2013
Just an occasional drive through the drab and soulless suburbs depresses me. So, yes, cities are good for me. But I didn't need this much of arguing in favor of city life. This is a good book to read if you're an urban planner or a historian. I think I just wasn't the right audience for this book.
May 7, 2015
3.5
The first half was at least a SOLID four for me, but it started to lag around the middle. It picked up a bit, but not to the level of the first bit. Overall, I'd recommend it for people who are already interested in urban studies and things like that (I am), but not necessarily for the general public.
The first half was at least a SOLID four for me, but it started to lag around the middle. It picked up a bit, but not to the level of the first bit. Overall, I'd recommend it for people who are already interested in urban studies and things like that (I am), but not necessarily for the general public.
January 29, 2017
Good coverage on all the popular topics, but author sometimes slips too much in personal experience and feelings. Chapters are filled with redundant details and the idea slips away from the reader. But as this is the second book on the topic - marking it as 4-star for providing a lot of interesting info and acquainting with main questions.
June 19, 2015
I'm a bit surprised this was an international bestseller. It's in dire need of a good editor, and was mostly quite boring given the potential of the subject matter. But I learned a few interesting things along the way, so.
September 17, 2016
This book gave me the feeling of traveling around the world and being an observer of everyday life. It was interesting to learn more about history and traditions in different countries. After reading this book I got a great impulse to improve life quality in my family, house and district.
September 21, 2016
It was really nice and thought-provoking - at first seemed quite unconnected and lacking coherence, but later it all started to make sense.
I've learnt a lot from the book - about the history of cities and urbanism and its different approaches.
I've learnt a lot from the book - about the history of cities and urbanism and its different approaches.
October 5, 2014
a passionate treatise to cities - full review here
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u...
http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u...
July 27, 2014
Hollis describes the advantages and challenges which accompany living in a city. Contained some interesting anecdotes, but overal not a very gripping read, with a not very strong message.
September 2, 2015
Interesting. Needed more editing.
August 25, 2015
Brilliant, thought provoking and fun.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews