The remarkable expansion in metropolitan growth rates has been nearly matched by the phenomenal expansion in the literature commenting upon it. Social scientists of every discipline and politicians of every persuasion have been straining to understand the changing urban scene and searching for effective ways of planning for change. However, these efforts have been typically handicapped by simplistic and unitary conceptions of the metropolis. Most of the commentaries have conceived the metropolis as mappable and discrete settlement, and metropolitan planning has been conceived as willful redesigning of spatial forms. In this volume, six students of metropolitan development present a challenging reappraisal and fresh conceptual approaches to the analysis of urban systems. Drawing upon the accumulating theory in economics, sociology, political science, geography, and city planning, they reconceptualize urban structure and function, refocusing attention from the forms of population density to the processes of human interaction. They see the urban system as a complex network of functional interdependencies that are reflected in the intricate processes of communication, intergovernmental competition, and market decision. The authors are concerned primarily with increasing the effectiveness of public policy in this field. The conceptual clarity they bring to that task leads them to approach metropolitan planning with a new respect for the pluralism and diversity that are the distinguishing marks of complex urban processes. It is only through the recognition of these processes that we can hope to overcome the seemingly insurmountable problems of urban planning and renewal. In an increasingly urban society these problems take on pressing urgency. Explorations into Urban Structure is a timely, thought-provoking, and direction­-setting book about some of the key conceptual and policy issues of our time. Contributors to this landmark volume include John W. Dyckman, Donald L. Foley, Albert Z. Guttenberg, William L. C. Wheaton, and Catherine Bauer Wurster.

Six students of metropolitan development present a reappraisal and fresh approaches to the analysis of urban systems. Drawing on economics, sociology, political science, geography, and city planning, they reconceptualize urban structure and function, refocusing attention from the forms of population density to the processes of human interaction.

Whilst recognising that distinctly different traditions exist within the study and practice of urban design, this book advances an interdisciplinary and innovative approach, which is of direct importance to understanding the urban forms, conditions, practices and processes. It enthuses and inspires users who are grappling with urban design research problems, but who need inspiration to move from idea to methodological approach. Through the work of 32 urban researchers from the arts, sciences and social sciences, it demonstrates a wide range of problems and approaches and shows how the diverse range of complementary approaches can come together to provide a holistic understanding to the design of cities. While each of the contributors presents a particular approach to researching the field, sometimes focusing centrally on particular research methodologies, others cutting across methods, or focusing on theory, all include discussion of actual research projects to illustrate their application to 'real world' problems. This book will be valuable to everyone from the informed undergraduate student about to embark on their first dissertation, to PhD students and seasoned researchers immersed in methodological and conceptual complexity and wishing to compare available and appropriate methodological paths.

Carnival, that image of sensuous frivolity, is shown by Abner Cohen to be a masquerade for the dynamic relations between culture and politics. His masterful study details the transformation of a local, polyethnic London fair to a massive, exclusively West Indian carnival, known as "Europe's biggest street festival," which in 1976 occasioned a bloody confrontation between black youth and the police and which has since become a fiercely contested cultural event. Cohen contrasts the development of the London carnival with the development of other carnivalesque movements, including the Renaissance Pleasure Faire of California. His valuable analysis of these relatively little-explored urban cultural movements advances further the theoretical formulations developed in his previous studies.

This trilogy deals with an epistemology of economics, arguing for a radical overturning of conventional analysis and providing an alternative to political economy and social sciences, based not on positivism, but on a normative and programming paradigm. Volume II builds on the work presented in Volume I to explore oppositions to the traditional and conventional teaching of economics, and presents testimonies that are favourable to a trend towards a programming approach, thereby giving substance to the epistemological 'overturning' of conventional analysis. Such oppositions studied include the work of Ludvig von Mises and his theory of praxeology; Ian Tinbergen and Wassily Leontif's preference for 'planning' over 'forecasting science'; Bruno de Finetti and Daniel Bell's support for the base of 'utopia' in economics; the trend from the 'theory of planning' towards the 'methodology of planning, by Andreas Faludi; neoclassic curiosity about the 'multi-purposes approach' and 'non-economic commodities' as investigated by Walter Isard, as well as theories expressed by Herbert Simon, Robert Lucas, George Soros and Mark Blaug. Volume III takes studies further and presents a concrete and practical example of how to build a Planning Accounting Framework (PAF), as associated with Frisch's 'plan-frame' (explored in Volume II), to demonstrate the extent to which decisions and negotiations can be routed in the social sciences.

Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a Man—Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design discusses the man—environment interaction in urban setting. The book is comprised six chapters that provide a broad conceptual framework using a range of disciplines. The text first tackles urban design as the organization of space, time, meaning, and communication. The second chapter talks about environmental quality, while the third chapter deals with environmental cognition. Next, the book tackles the importance and nature of environmental perception. Chapter 5 discusses the city in terms of social, cultural, and territorial variables. Chapter 6 details the distinction between associational and perceptual worlds. The book will be of great interest to urban planners and government policymakers. Researchers and practitioners of sociological and behavioral science will also benefit from the book.