Were you aware that lives are at risk from living in great cities? This is a biblical fact, and now you have the chance to find out the truth for yourself. In this book, you will learn about the many evils that can be found in great cities. These evils work against humanity and the God of heaven. What we see today in these great cities are the histories of past generations, which are again revealing themselves before us. History is repeating itself. Keep in mind: Nothing is new under the heavens. The question is, though, what happened in cities before, and what will happen to them again? That is what you will learn as you read this book, which also includes poems and stories, making learning more enjoyable.

Were you aware that lives are at risk from living in great cities? This is a biblical fact, and now you have the chance to find out the truth for yourself. In this book, you will learn about the many evils that can be found in great cities. These evils work against humanity and the God of heaven. What we see today in these great cities are the histories of past generations, which are again revealing themselves before us. History is repeating itself. Keep in mind: Nothing is new under the heavens. The question is, though, what happened in cities before, and what will happen to them again? That is what you will learn as you read this book, which also includes poems and stories, making learning more enjoyable.

Jonathan Foiles weaves together psychology and public policy, exploring the trauma underlying urbanization in a book Kirkus Reviews calls an "urgent call for reform." When Jonathan Foiles was a graduate studen

"A brave foray into the interdisciplinary and a serious attempt to cover city life in all its complexity... Franklin′s optimism about the city is refreshing. He revels in the growing human and cultural diversity and the ′re-emergence and spread of a more tolerant, carnivalesque, culture-driven city life′, and he celebrates the city′s ability to offer shelter to the unexpected and the fragile. For Franklin, the city is a product of nature, with all its vicissitudes." - Times Higher Education "Franklin writes with barely restrained optimism as he emphasizes the excitement, vitality and potential of cities. This advances the idea of city lives as assemblages of ‘human and non-human networks of texts, software, culture, behaviour, architecture, trees and gardens’... Franklin uses a wide range of sources in making his case. Historical accounts, search engine statistics and social and cultural theory are all smoothly integrated into the narrative." - Sociology Cities are more important as cultural entities than their mere function as dormitories and industrial sites. Yet, the understanding of what makes a city ′alive′ and appealing in cultural terms is still hotly contested - why are some cities so much more interesting, popular and successful than others? In this engaging discussion of ′city life′ Adrian Franklin takes the reader on a tour of contemporary western cities exploring their historical development and arguing that it is the transformative, ritual and performative qualities of successful cities that makes a difference. Here is a new urban culture characterized by ecological frames of reference; tracking the making of contemporary city life from traditional times, through early modern, machinic and modernised stages of development. Adopting dynamic narrative structures and stories to develop its critical position this book creates a vibrant synthesis of city life from its key components of leisure and tourism, recreation and play, arts and culture, nature and environment, and architecture and public space. Emphasising the importance of experience the book represents the fluid complexity of the city as a living space, an environment and a posthumanist space of transformation. It will be of interest to all those engaging with the difficulties of urban life in sociology, human geography, tourism and cultural studies.

Originally published in 1984 by the Center for Urban Policy Research.

Focuses on the social margins of city life - the "faubourgs", or suburbs, where rural migrants and the labouring poor of French cities congregated in growing numbers in the first half of the 19th century. The text examines the cultural and social traditions which took root in these areas.