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Age of the City: Why our Future will be Won or Lost Together
Visionary Oxford professor Ian Goldin and The Economist's Tom Lee-Devlin show why the city is where the battles of inequality, social division, pandemics and climate change must be faced.
From centres of antiquity like Athens or Rome to modern metropolises like New York or Shanghai, cities throughout history have been the engines of human progress and the epicentres of our greatest achievements. Now, for the first time, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a share that continues to rise. In the developing world, cities are growing at a rate never seen before.
In this book, Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world.
Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin combine the lessons of history with a deep understanding of the challenges confronting our world today to show why cities are at a crossroads – and hold our destinies in the balance.
From centres of antiquity like Athens or Rome to modern metropolises like New York or Shanghai, cities throughout history have been the engines of human progress and the epicentres of our greatest achievements. Now, for the first time, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a share that continues to rise. In the developing world, cities are growing at a rate never seen before.
In this book, Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world.
Professor Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin combine the lessons of history with a deep understanding of the challenges confronting our world today to show why cities are at a crossroads – and hold our destinies in the balance.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published September 12, 2023
33 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
About the author
Ian Goldin
35 books67 followersIan Goldin is a professor at the University of Oxford in England. He took up his most recent position as director of Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, in September 2006. He is the Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development, and holds a professorial fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 23, 2024
Disappointingly unoriginal or insightful - just a rehash of what I have read in numerous other books about cities and current problems.
February 13, 2024
The book is all about why we need (and how we can achieve) more equitable and sustainable cities. The economist in me really enjoyed it.
January 13, 2025
Pretty good, covers a lot of breadth in one cohesive argument. There are a few factual errors I noticed, could mean there are others, but these don't detract from the overall argument itself. Very useful framing
September 8, 2025
Tykkäsin miten monipuolisesti ja monesta näkökulmasta täs puhuttiin kaupungeista
February 22, 2024
I think the book is very relevant today and it is looking at issues facing our cities in the correct way, however I did not enjoy the delivery so much.
I wish the authors would have invested a little more energy into making their arguments and solutions more compelling especially since a lot of them are not on the political agenda of most cities (some are but not in a concerted way).
I also would have liked for them to try and build a few blueprints for the modern cities with integrated solutions. They have definitely touched upon this topic but I would have enjoyed a more in depth view even if the book would have been longer.
In the end this book has the potential to motivate people and push them into action but it falls a little short on the delivery, at least from my perspective.
I wish the authors would have invested a little more energy into making their arguments and solutions more compelling especially since a lot of them are not on the political agenda of most cities (some are but not in a concerted way).
I also would have liked for them to try and build a few blueprints for the modern cities with integrated solutions. They have definitely touched upon this topic but I would have enjoyed a more in depth view even if the book would have been longer.
In the end this book has the potential to motivate people and push them into action but it falls a little short on the delivery, at least from my perspective.
April 7, 2025
Not sure that taught me anything beyond what I learnt in GCSE Geography sadly, just a coherent and concise summary of some pretty bogstandard stuff
September 26, 2024
This is an excellent introductory book for someone who starts learning economic geography/spatial economics or simply general readers.
The first couple chapters seem familiar if you have read books by Acemoglu (Power and Progress) or Harari (Sapiens). Then it gets interesting! In the subsequent chapters the author explains the benefits of cities, why some cities remain poor, as well as more contemporary topics such as the effects of pandemics, digitalisation, and climate change on cities.
Since it is an introductory book, you may need to read more to understand the topic deeper. Nonetheless, the book sufficiently explains the roles of cities, as well as their challenges to remain relevant.
The first couple chapters seem familiar if you have read books by Acemoglu (Power and Progress) or Harari (Sapiens). Then it gets interesting! In the subsequent chapters the author explains the benefits of cities, why some cities remain poor, as well as more contemporary topics such as the effects of pandemics, digitalisation, and climate change on cities.
Since it is an introductory book, you may need to read more to understand the topic deeper. Nonetheless, the book sufficiently explains the roles of cities, as well as their challenges to remain relevant.
August 2, 2025
Urbanism is a subject that I have become interested in over the past few years. The Age of the City by Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devilin looks at the development of cities and how cities function in their respective countries. The book looks over the history of cities and what problems cities are facing today. The first chapter of the book looks at how cities develop to begin with and looks through the history of cities. Cities are the growth engines of civilisations, and where all the intellectual developments take place. The development of cities has allowed humanity to increase its level of productive capacity that would have been impossible if humans lived in rural areas.
The rest of the book lays out all of the issues that cities face. There are a multitude of issues faced by cities, including levelling cities up, inequality within cities, the issues that remote working does to cities, cyberspace and cities, the issues that cities in the developing world have, the problems with pandemics and climate change, which threaten cities. Throughout the book, there is an appreciation of the importance that cities have in the world and how they are vital for a more habitable future. For example, in the section on the climate emergency, there is an important point to make that city living is more sustainable than rural living. Cities made up 80% of the world’s population and only 70% of emissions. In wealthy countries, rural living, despite its romantic image, is considerably worse for the planet than living in a city because rural living necessitates driving vehicles.
Throughout the book, there are multiple suggestions for improving the way cities function. I did find this to be one of the weaker sides of the book. For example, car usage, which I believe to be a core problem of urban transportation design, was only mentioned at the end of the book, which I felt was problematic. There wasn’t much focus on the differences between countries in how they did urban planning. For example, there was a lack of focus on how irrational American development has been, focused on car-based development, which is highly inefficient. Neither was how tax policy can be used to increase or reduce development. The Japanese, Danish, Chinese, Australians (and more recently the Welsh) all use land-value tax policies, whilst England, the USA and other countries use property tax policies. There isn’t much focus on how tax and planning policy can have significant incentives to build or not. Has anyone noticed the number of golf courses in London or New York? A land value tax would properly capture this market-inefficient use of land. Of course, a certain orange-tanned geriatric, with a propensity to lie and bully, might not be supportive to a land-valuation tax that hits golf courses, but I couldn’t care less.
This book is a good overview of the problems of urban development and how to respond to them.
The rest of the book lays out all of the issues that cities face. There are a multitude of issues faced by cities, including levelling cities up, inequality within cities, the issues that remote working does to cities, cyberspace and cities, the issues that cities in the developing world have, the problems with pandemics and climate change, which threaten cities. Throughout the book, there is an appreciation of the importance that cities have in the world and how they are vital for a more habitable future. For example, in the section on the climate emergency, there is an important point to make that city living is more sustainable than rural living. Cities made up 80% of the world’s population and only 70% of emissions. In wealthy countries, rural living, despite its romantic image, is considerably worse for the planet than living in a city because rural living necessitates driving vehicles.
Throughout the book, there are multiple suggestions for improving the way cities function. I did find this to be one of the weaker sides of the book. For example, car usage, which I believe to be a core problem of urban transportation design, was only mentioned at the end of the book, which I felt was problematic. There wasn’t much focus on the differences between countries in how they did urban planning. For example, there was a lack of focus on how irrational American development has been, focused on car-based development, which is highly inefficient. Neither was how tax policy can be used to increase or reduce development. The Japanese, Danish, Chinese, Australians (and more recently the Welsh) all use land-value tax policies, whilst England, the USA and other countries use property tax policies. There isn’t much focus on how tax and planning policy can have significant incentives to build or not. Has anyone noticed the number of golf courses in London or New York? A land value tax would properly capture this market-inefficient use of land. Of course, a certain orange-tanned geriatric, with a propensity to lie and bully, might not be supportive to a land-valuation tax that hits golf courses, but I couldn’t care less.
This book is a good overview of the problems of urban development and how to respond to them.
March 8, 2024
I saw the authors talk about this book at the Edinburgh book festival last year. It's a fascinating topic and one I am very interested in.
The book takes us through the history of cities through different slants on their place in the modern world - as creative hubs, or breeding grounds for pandemics.
The authors discuss mechanisms to create more sustainable cities, and prod at the global inequality which exists and need for developed nations to do more to support those up and coming areas of urbanisation across the world.
Ultimately, whether we like it or not, we are bound together globally, and face challenges now at this scale. Cutes can play a huge role in tackling these issues, or exasperating them further.
The book takes us through the history of cities through different slants on their place in the modern world - as creative hubs, or breeding grounds for pandemics.
The authors discuss mechanisms to create more sustainable cities, and prod at the global inequality which exists and need for developed nations to do more to support those up and coming areas of urbanisation across the world.
Ultimately, whether we like it or not, we are bound together globally, and face challenges now at this scale. Cutes can play a huge role in tackling these issues, or exasperating them further.
December 17, 2023
Touches on history of cities. How industrialisation led to rapid urbanisation of cities and the introduction of cars led to the creation of suburbs. With people moving into city centres again as the rise of knowledge workers and economy improves.
Most interesting concept for the book was the use of multi-purpose developments to breathe life into the suburbs.
Multiple positive references of Singapore. Eg. introducing greenery into the city and planning ahead to combat climate change. Shows that the government is on the right track for urban city planning.
Most interesting concept for the book was the use of multi-purpose developments to breathe life into the suburbs.
Multiple positive references of Singapore. Eg. introducing greenery into the city and planning ahead to combat climate change. Shows that the government is on the right track for urban city planning.
April 10, 2025
An enjoyable and concise account of the problems facing the global cities of today’s world and how remedies can be sought to address these, both individually and collectively.
Although specific topics (such as climate change and pandemic prevention) are granted focused passages within the narrative, the arguments put forward within each are seamlessly knitted to form an overall basis of thought which is both engaging and thought-provoking. Recommended.
Although specific topics (such as climate change and pandemic prevention) are granted focused passages within the narrative, the arguments put forward within each are seamlessly knitted to form an overall basis of thought which is both engaging and thought-provoking. Recommended.
September 17, 2024
A pretty long way just to say: cities good.
January 22, 2025
fairly high-level read but interesting because it tackles very timely & pertinent topics.
April 7, 2025
Glimrende overflyvning af de vigtigste udfordringer og muligheder der præger store byer i vores tid.
May 5, 2025
Soooo interesting. Super eye opening. Anyone who lives in a city (or not) should read this.
July 27, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews