Cities are where the twenty-first century is really going to happen. Already at the beginning of the century, we became 50% urban as a global population, and by 2050 we're going to be up to 70% urban. So cities could either be our coffin or our ark. Leo Hollis presents evidence that cities can deliver a better life and a better world in the future. From exploring what slime mold can tell us about traffic flow, to looking at how traditional civic power structures are being overturned by Twitter, to investigating how cities all over the world are tackling climate change, population growth, poverty, shifting work patterns and the maintenance of the fragile trust of their citizens, Cities Are Good for You offers a new perspective on the city. Combining anecdote, scientific studies, historical portraits, first-hand interviews and observations of some of the most exciting world cities, Hollis upends long-held assumptions with new questions: Where do cities come from? Can we build a city from scratch? Does living in the city make you happier or fitter? Is the metropolis of the future female? What is the relationship between cities and creativity? And are slums really all that bad? Cities Are Good for You introduces us to dreamers, planners, revolutionaries, writers, scientists, architects, slum-dwellers and kings. Ranging globally and through time in search of answers--from the archive to the laboratory, from City Hall to the architect's desk--it is above all driven by the idea that cities are for people and by people.

Presents a plan for American cities that focuses on making downtowns walkable and less attractive to drivers through smart growth and sustainable design

This book explores the ways in which Western-derived music connects with globalization, hybridity, consumerism and the flow of cultures. Both as local terrain and as global crossroads, cities remain fascinating spaces of cultural contestation and meaning-making via the composing, playing, recording and consumption of popular music.

"The Good Life: New Public Spaces For Recreation explores how architects, designers, landscape architects, end artists ore reinventing urban public spaces to meet the needs of 21st-century recreation. Chosen for their innovative solutions and high-quality designs, the seventy projects provide a cross-section of some of the most interesting new spaces for leisure around the world."--BOOK JACKET.

"Many cities have a rich past. No one knows if many have a future" Richard C. Longworth Caught in the Middle, 2007, p. 28 "In the last six decades, no stagnant or decaying city has been globally or signifi cantly saved - never" David H. McDonald "More and more, federal and state governments are growing their already out-of-control fi nancial problems. Cities are on their own to sink or swim, now more than ever" David H. McDonald "Only two states in the nation have, over time, lost population. If the states are gaining population but the cities are losing, then it is the cities' fault" David H. McDonald "Occasionally a city will, usually by accident, 'back into' attempting growth in the right manner. It always works" David H. McDonald "Virtually no city has a workable vision of how to even achieve stability - let alone a return to vibrancy. Th is book presents such a vision and a clear path to beginning the process of stabilization and growth" David H. McDonald "Whatever is going to save your cities, it won't be government. Both political parties are largely trapped in the past, driven by a desire to protect old sacred cows"

This book interprets popular American belief and sentiment about cities, suburbs, and small towns in terms of community ideologies. Based on in-depth interviews with residents of American communities, it shows how people construct a sense of identity based on their communities, and how they perceive and explain community problems (e.g., why cities have more crime than their suburban and rural counterparts) in terms of this identity. Hummon reveals the changing role of place imagery in contemporary society and offers an interpretation of American culture by treating commonplaces of community belief in an uncommon way—as facets of competing community ideologies. He argues that by adopting such ideologies, people are able to "make sense" of reality and their place in the everyday world.