The City Reader

Routledge Urban Reader Series

by Richard T. LeGates (Editor), Frederic Stout (editor), Roger W. Caves (editor)

The eighth edition of the highly successful The City Reader juxtaposes the very best classic and contemporary writings on the city to provide the comprehensive mapping of the terrain of Urban Studies and Planning old and new. The City Reader is the anchor volume in the Routledge Urban Reader Series and is now integrated with all ten other titles in the series. It has been extensively updated and expanded to reflect the latest thinking in each of the disciplinary areas included and in topical areas such as urban history, placemaking, sustainable urban development, globalization, resilience, artificial intelligence in planning cities, climate change, the world city network, the impact of technology on cities, cities in Africa, and urban theory.

The new edition places greater emphasis on cities in the developing world, globalization, and the global city system of the future. The plate sections have been more than doubled to include 101 plates.

The eighth edition includes fifty-eight generous forty-seven from the seventh edition, one from the sixth edition, and ten new selections, including four newly written exclusively for the eighth edition. This new edition retains classic writings by authors such as Ebenezer Howard, Ernest W. Burgess, H.D.F. Kitto, Le Corbusier, Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs, Louis Wirth, and Peter Hall as well as the best contemporary writings of, among others, David Harvey, Manuel Castells, Michael Batty, Sara Meerow, Fulong Wu, Saskia Sassen, Richard T. LeGates, Michael E. Smith, John McWhorter, and a co-authored selection by Xuefei Ren and Roger Keil.

The City Reader eighth edition features general and section introductions as well as individual introductions to the selected articles introducing the authors, providing context, and relating the selection to other selections. The eighth edition includes a greatly expanded bibliography with up-to-date information on books, articles, professional reports, and videos for all the topics covered.

Genres: Urban Planning, Architecture, Urbanism, Nonfiction, Cities, Urban, Sociology

836 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 1996

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with some of the most important names in urban studies. A great book that acts as a primer to a multitude of disciplines -- urban studies, geography, sociology, etc. The reader is edited well and the introductions to each author give insight to each piece.

[Dalia Fawzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The prologue is killing me ...Amazing ^_^
-introduction of every chapter is very useful
-organized
-updated
-Heavy book :D
A treasure ...of a\journal articles
highly recommended
-the Plates are very useful

looking forward reading the 6th. edition :D

haven't finished all the articles yet..

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic reader, or anthology of articles and essays, concerning various aspects of urban affairs with mainly a sociological focus. That is, most of the articles look at social interactions in urban environments more than they examine city planning, architecture, and related urban planning concerns. Thus, it will probably be of most use to students of urban sociology and anthropology. That said, the selection of articles is good, diverse, and comprehensive as much as it can be given the vastness of its topic.

[Meena Menon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read parts of this book when I took an Urban Planning class in 2001 at Central Connecticut State University. I LOVED that class. But then 9/11 happened and I got really depressed and I ended up dropping it. It's still in my parents' house in Connecticut even though I asked for it and they couldn't find it. When I was taking that class, I’d be trying to get reading done for class and I’d have to keep going back. I’d read a whole page sometimes and then have to go back a few times and still have to reread. But it was such a good book.

[John M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The readings in this book came from a wide variety of sources and were organized thematically into sections and chronologically within sections. This made it possible to go from history, to theory, to practice, and to design in an orderly and compelling fashion. My favorite readings included Engels' observations of 19th century England, the many perspectives on suburbia, and New Urbanism and urban design, aspects of which touch on environmental psychology, an interdisciplinary interest of mine.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Late 20th century. Life is good for the white men in what they like to call The Western World, with no trace of racial bias. But what if the life has become too good for these sinful people. Or capitalists, egoists, whatever. Maybe they should do some penitence, following the always true spirit of the great chairman in the sky: Karl Marx.

Religion and mysticism sold out as science because on the door there is written some word ending in -logy.

[Paulita · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some very cool chapters on city dynamics here, as well as design philosophy. But overall I would say the way it reads is pretty boring.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very nice book who compile many major articles that become the legacy of contemporary urban studies.

[Bilal · Rating 3 out of 5]

2017410018 muse for sure.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of important writings about various aspects of cities. I found the editors introductions to each section and each selection to be incredibly useful in a) deciding whether to read a particular selection, b) giving me an idea of the gist of the selection/section if I decided not to read it, and c) identifying additional related references.

[Tyler Dickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! A textbook I *GASP* enjoy, tons of great pieces about city scapes, urban planning, and everything else. Good read.

My only qualm is the bad layout, finding a specific piece by author or title is rough.

[Doron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its hard to get excited about textbooks but this one had a few good articles in it. Nicely edited and put together. one of the better text books I've read

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great volume of classic urban reading... all the standards and some surprising selections, too.

[Skinnypeterm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good edition of The City Reader full of excellent writings on a variety of urban topics.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required reading but a good collection of essays and excerpts

[Tom Oman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way more interesting than you might think. Well written and digestible textbook.

[Kearstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

core text for an undergrad seminar I lead in grad school.

[Laura Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific anthology of the "canon" on the city and design.

[Kirsten Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best collection of urban reading, excellent college level urban his or, planning, and geography text. An update from the 5TH ED.