The Rise of Cities in North-West Europe (Themes in International Urban History)

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Verhulst examines fifteen towns, mainly situated on the rivers Meuse and Scheldt and along the North Sea coast of present day Belgium, Holland and France. He details the impact of political, military, ecclesiastical, economic and social factors on the development of towns from market towns to industrial centers. Arranged chronologically, the book charts the settlement and subsequent growth of the towns from the fourth to the twelfth centuries. Well illustrated with maps and with a full bibliography, this book will prove essential reading for students and scholars of historical and urban geography.

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For more than fifty years no synthesis has been written which systematically examines the growth and development of cities in north-west Europe. Adriaan Verhulst takes as his subject the history of urban settlements and towns in the region between the rivers Somme and Meuse from the late Roman period (fourth century) to the end of the twelfth century. This region comprises Flanders and LiËge, two of the most urbanized areas, not only in the southern Netherlands but in northwestern Europe as a whole until the twelfth century. Fifteen towns are studied in all, and, supported by numerous maps, Professor Verhulst provides rich details of the impact of political, military, ecclesiastical, as well as social and economic, factors on the developing towns as they were transformed from regional markets to centres of industry and international commerce.

Cities of the World: World Regional Urban Development

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Great book!
2003? seems more like 1950
This can also be considered a book on world history

Cities of the World: World Regional Urban Development
Stanley D. Brunn
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 084769898X

Book Description

The only text to offer a regional survey of world urban development, this third edition has been fully revised and updated to include new chapter authors, new cities and regions, and an expanded art program. Focusing on the eleven major culture realms of the world, the volume examines each region's urban history, economy, and culture and society, and offers engaging case studies of major representative cities. Introductory and concluding chapters frame the regional discussion by summarizing world urban history and by looking to the future of urban development. Maps, graphs, tables, photos, color satellite images, recommended readings, web sites, and UN data on major cities offer rich additional resources for students. Visit our website for sample chapters!

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Great book!.......2005-01-06

Very good book for all beginners wanting to learn more about the world's greatest and largest cities. This book also discusses the history of many of these cities along with their social geography. Overall, a very good read!

2003? seems more like 1950.......2003-07-16

This book is poorly written, full of factual and gramatical errors, and suffers from what I would nicely call "eurocentricity." The book blames the problems of less developed countries on the populations of those countries and does not discuss the effects of colonialism or neocolonialism. I was expecting an unbiased, interesting, enlightening text on world cities, history, culture, and urban systems, what I got is a lot of population ecology and an unabashed advertisement for globalization and the IMF.

This can also be considered a book on world history.......2001-02-12

An important reason that I think this book gives a balanced, non-biased overview of the development of cities throughout the world is because it was written by a diverse group of authors. While in every chapter or section of the book we find that "Western imperialists" are always involved in the evolution of world cities, this book also emphasizes how indigenous city planning still shape the cities and offer the means for cities to be friendlier places to live.

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For decades, concerns have been raised about the consequences of relentless suburban expansion in the United States. But so far, government programs to control urban sprawl have had little effect in slowing it down, much less stopping it. In this book, Pietro S. Nivola raises important questions about the continued suburbanization of America: Is suburban growth just the result of market forces, or have government policies helped induce greater sprawl? How much of the government intervention has been undesirable, and what has been beneficial? And, if suburban growth is to be controlled, what changes in public policies would be not only effective, but practical? Nivola addresses these questions by comparing sprawling U.S. metropolitan areas to compact development patterns in Europe. He contrasts the effects of traditional urban programs, as well as "accidental urban policies" that have a profound if commonly unrecognized impact on cities, including national tax systems, energy conservation efforts, agricultural supports, and protection from international commerce. Nivola also takes a hard look at the traditional solutions of U.S. urban policy agenda involving core-area reconstruction projects, mass transit investments, "smart" growth controls, and metropolitan organizational rearrangements, and details the reasons why they often don't work. He concludes by recommending reforms for key U.S. policies--from taxes to transportation to federal regulations--based on the successes and failures of the European experience. Brookings Metropolitan Series

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Urban Husbandry.......2000-06-27

Urban Husbandry BY DENNIS MCCARTHY One of the defining trends of the last half of the 20th century was the collapse of America's cities. For those of us who love cities and see suburbia as the death of culture, this trend has had apocalyptic overtones. Fortunately, however, after decades of white flight, poor planning, misspent policies, and urban neglect, our nation's cities-some of them, at least-are coming back to life. How and why is not always clear, which makes replicating the successes difficult. Nonetheless, urban recovery is happening, and that in itself is cause for celebration. Worrying about the fate of cities has become big business if the spate of new books on the topic is any indication. Recently, I conducted a totally unscientific survey-I checked Amazon.com's listings of related books its customers are buying-and discovered no fewer than a score of new books on the topic. One of them was Pietro Nivola's Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America. Unlike some of the other recent books that are compendia of urban success stories-long on anecdotes and short on analysis-Nivola tells us how we got into the current mess. He explains why solutions have worked in some cities but not others, and he offers suggestions for getting around the unforeseen follies that past policies have produced. Nivola examines European and American cities and finds numerous examples of policies that have helped prevent European cities from suffering the same fate that has befallen the United States. For instance, the average price of gasoline is two and a half to three time higher in Europe than in the United States. Expensive gas discourages Europeans from moving to the suburbs, especially when their jobs are downtown. And their jobs are downtown, at least in part, because strictly enforced land-use laws control development in the urban fringe. Nivola, of course, is not suggesting that European urban policies are panaceas for America. For one thing, these policies don't easily transfer to the United States. For instance, how do we undo the federal highway system, which has been a major contributor to urban sprawl? The answer, of course, is we can't. The U.S. investment in highways is staggering compared to other countries. Our overall per capita transportation budget is unparalleled, as is the percentage of that budget that goes to highways. In 1993, for instance, the British invested 30 percent of their transportation budget in highways-the rest went to passenger trains and mass transit-while the United States put 86 percent of its transportation funds into highways. Since we can't undo earlier policies, the real question is, where do we go from here? One possibility is to develop new policies that undo the harm caused by earlier policies. Nivola likes this approach. For example, inner-city housing projects for impoverished residents in many cases have created breeding grounds for crime. Nivola proposes that these projects, where possible, be converted into mixed-income residences, that the government expand rental vouchers, which allow the urban poor to move to better neighborhoods, and that we stop making it so easy for parents to desert their families. The problem, of course, is that if government-mandated, well-meaning policies misled us the first time, how much confidence can we place in replacement policies that look good on paper but that may well produce their own unforeseen, unintended, and untoward consequences? It's too early to tell, for instance, whether enterprise and empowerment zones-the latest revitalization tools-will work where urban renewal failed. We borrowed the zone idea from the British, where it had little impact. Maybe it will work here, maybe not. Nivola provides another useful service by poking holes in some of our assumptions about the costs of sprawl and urban renewal. It's commonly assumed, for example, that it's cheaper to revitalize a community than to build a new one. Anyone who has tried to renovate a house recognizes the fallacy in this assumption. Moreover, Nivola points out that many communities charge developers special fees for new construction, which go a long way toward offsetting infrastructure costs. Of course, developers pass along the charges to buyers, but at least the infrastructure is paid for by buyers rather than taxpayers. And for the buyer, the money spent is more of an investment than a tax. Nivola also argues that the alternatives to, say, a sprawling Phoenix is not a Paris or Florence but a taller, denser Phoenix. And a taller, denser Phoenix, he says, probably won't better serve the environment, and it will drive up prices for the poor. Sure, the water supply would last a little longer if fewer suburbanites were watering their lawns, but the reality is that demand for water would continue unabated so long as supply was adequate. Right? Well, not necessarily. The point Nivola seems to miss is that not all the costs of sprawl can be easily quantifiable in economic terms. The losses of landscape, biodiversity, and clean flowing streams don't fit easily into a cost/benefit analysis. Nor do crippling traffic snarls, hour-long commutes, and loss of community life. These are real costs, and someone somewhere eventually will pay for them, whether it's through higher medical expenses or lost opportunities or poorer quality of life. If you need an example, look no further than the horripilating costs of hurricanes Floyd and Dennis this past summer. Setting aside the question whether past industrial activities contributed to the intensity of recent hurricane seasons, we wouldn't be rebuilding now if we hadn't allowed so much development to take place in areas totally unsuited for it. Of course, the rebuilding that's currently going on along the Carolina coast will have to be redone when the next disaster strikes. And you and I will pick up the tab, through insurance premiums or taxes or both. Laws of the Landscape is a good book. It's intelligent, thought-provoking, and well-written. If you love cities, this book deserves your attention. Buy it and read it. You'll not regret it.

Laws of the Landscape : How Policies Shape Cities.......2000-06-03

The author does contain some flaws in his logic and reasoning that sometimes stick out too much, but as for a good book on an overview of America's "suburbia" situation, I would suggest this item because it is a quick and thorough read that provides the reader with a good synopsis of many of the issues American suburban city planning deals with.

Some of the possible alternatives for better city management hit me as a tad bit too idealistic and I felt Nivola's novel was written more from a European point-of-view as opposed to an American realist. Case in point is just convincing the American public which has grown up since birth to seek the goal of a nice suburban house and car to suddenly switch to the inner-city. But as I mentioned earlier, agree or disagree, it's an interesting book that provides an excellent overview of suburban/urban policies considering it is a fast and short read. The section on government subsidization policies that have contributed to urban sprawl is a definite read.

Good on how, bad on why.......2000-05-26

The purpose of this book was apparently to explain why European cities are healthier than American ones. Nivola does a good job of this: he lists not only the usual suspects like highways, but also the American tax system (which encourages consumption at the expense of work and saving, and thus encourages heavy consumption of gasoline and thus driving, while European systems tax consumption more heavily) and unfunded mandates that burden city governments and thus degrade city services.

But Nivola is completely clueless as to why sprawl matters, or why we should care. The only anti-sprawl argument he seems to believe is that it contributes to global warming, probably one of the weaker anti-sprawl arguments (given the scientific uncertainties about (a) how much global warming exists, (b) how much global warming has to do with human-generated air pollution, (c) how much of that pollution is related to driving, and (d) how much of that driving is related to sprawl). Nivola barely addresses the social justice issues surrounding sprawl: he virtually ignores the strongest anti-sprawl argument, the toll taken on the carless poor and disabled.

Book Description

This volume covers cities of the industrial revolution to 1870, European Cities since 1870 and urban technology transfer. Among the cities and themes covered are:
* the onset of industrialization
* Manchester and Glasgow
* London and Paris
* the rise of modern urban planning
* Berlin
* Building and government sponsorship
* Milton Keynes
* cities in Russia
* cities in Colonial India
This text is designed to be used on its own or as a companion volume to the accompanying European Cities and Technology Reader in the same series. It investigates the relative importance of technology, economics, politics and social conditions in relation to urban change.

Postcolonial Dublin: Imperial Legacies And The Built Environment

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Postcolonial Dublin: Imperial Legacies And The Built Environment
Andrew Kincaid
Manufacturer: Univ Of Minnesota Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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For hundreds of years, Ireland has been a testing ground for colonizing techniques. Postcolonial Dublin shows how perpetrators of colonialism have made use of urban planning and architecture to underscore and legitimate ideologies. From suburban development to building facades, the conflict between nationalists and colonialists has inscribed itself on Dublin’s landscape. Andrew Kincaid illustrates how the architecture and urban planning of Dublin have been integral to debates about nationalism, modernism, and Ireland’s relationship to the rest of the world. Looking at objects such as Londonderry’s Market House, Patrick Abercrombie’s Dublin of the Future, and the urban renewal project of today’s Temple Bar, Kincaid highlights Ireland’s colonial history and the significance of architecture in the evolution of national identity. In doing so, he demonstrates how ideology “spatializes” itself. Postcolonial Dublin engages the prevailing historical representations of Irish nationalism, arguing that the evolving city reflected a debate over who would hold the reins of power. Bringing the tools of literary criticism and postcolonial theory to bear on the field of urban studies, Kincaid places Dublin at the forefront of debates over modernism, modernity, and globalization. Andrew Kincaid is assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Mediterranean Urbanization 800-600 BC (Proceedings of the British Academy)

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Mediterranean Urbanization 800-600 BC (Proceedings of the British Academy)

Manufacturer: British Academy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0197263259

Book Description

Urban life as we know it in the Mediterranean began in the early Iron Age: settlements of great size and internal diversity appear in the archaeological record. This collection of essays offers for the first time a systematic discussion of the beginnings of urbanization across the Mediterranean, from Cyprus through Greece and Italy to France and Spain. Leading scholars in the field look critically at what is meant by urbanization, and analyse the social processes that lead to the development of social complexity and the growth of towns. The introduction to the volume focuses on the history of the archaeology of urbanization and argues that proper understanding of the phenomenon demands loose and flexible criteria for what is termed a 'town'. The following eight chapters examine the development of individual settlements and patterns of urban settlement in Cyprus, Greece, Etruria, Latium, southern Italy, Sardinia, southern France and Spain. These chapters not only provide a general review of current knowledge of urban settlements of this period, but also raise significant issues of urbanization and the economy, urbanization and political organization, and of the degree of regionalism and diversity to be found within individual towns. The three analytical chapters which conclude this collection look more broadly at the town as a cultural phenomenon that has to be related to wider cultural trends, as an economic phenomenon that has to be related to changes in the Mediterranean economy and as a dynamic phenomenon, not merely a point on the map. Wide ranging in its geographical coverage, this volume will be essential reading for scholars and students of archaeology, settlement studies, the archaic period and geographers interested in the history of urban forms.

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The Making of Urban Europe, 1000-1994
Paul Hohenberg , and Lynn Lees
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0674543629

Book Description

Europe became a land of cities during the last millennium. The story told in this book begins with North Sea and Mediterranean traders sailing away from Dorestad and Amalfi, and with warrior kings building castles to fortify their conquests. It tells of the dynamism of textile towns in Flanders and Ireland. While London and Hamburg flourished by reaching out to the world and once vibrant Spanish cities slid into somnlence, a Russian urban network slowly grew to rival that of the West. Later as the tide of industrialization swept over Europe, the most intense urban striving and then settled back into the merchant cities and baroque capitals of an earlier era.

By tracing the large-scale precesses of social, economic, and political change within cities, as well as the evolving relationships between town and country and between city and city, the authors present an original synthsis of European urbanization within a global context. They divide their study into three time periods, making the early modern era much more than a mere transition from preindustrial to industrial economies. Through both general analyzes and incisive case studies, Hohenberg and Lees show how cities originated and what conditioned their early development and later growth. How did urban activity respond to demographic and techological changes? Did the social consequences of urban life begin degradation or inspire integration and cultural renewal? New analytical tools suggested by a systems view of urban relations yield a vivid dual picture of cities both as elements in a regional and national heirarchy of central places and also as junctions in a transnational network for the exchange of goods, information, and influence.

A lucid text is supplemented by numerous maps, illustrations, figures, and tables, and by substantial bibliography. Both a general and a scholarly audience will find this book engrossing reading.

The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley

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The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley
John W. Cole , and Eric R. Wolf
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520216814

Book Description

This award-winning classic in the study of ethnicity, identity, and nation-building has a new introduction (on which Eric Wolf collaborated near the end of his life) that shows the continuing validity of the book's innovative approach to ethnography, ecology, culture, and politics. The authors investigated two Alpine villages--the German-speaking community of St. Felix and Romance-speaking Tret--only a mile apart in the same mountain valley.

Class Conflict and the Crisis of Feudalism: Essays in Medieval Social History

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Class Conflict and the Crisis of Feudalism: Essays in Medieval Social History
Rodney Hilton
Manufacturer: Verso
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Peasant Metropolis: Social Identities in Moscow, 1929-1941 (Studies of the Harriman Institute)

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Peasant Metropolis: Social Identities in Moscow, 1929-1941 (Studies of the Harriman Institute)
David L. Hoffmann
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0801429420

Book Description

During the 1930's, 23 million peasants left their villages and moved to Soviet cities, where they comprised almost half the urban population and more than half the nation's industrial workers. Drawing on previously inaccessible archival materials, David L. Hoffmann shows how this massive migration to the cities--an influx unprecedented in world history--had major consequences for the nature of the Soviet system and the character of Russian society even today.

Hoffmann focuses on events in Moscow between the launching of the industrialization drive in 1929 and the outbreak of war in 1941. He reconstructs the attempts of Party leaders to reshape the social identity and behavior of the millions of newly urbanized workers, who appeared to offer a broad base of support for the socialist regime. The former peasants, however, had brought with them their own forms of cultural expression, social organization, work habits, and attitudes toward authority. Hoffmann demonstrates that Moscow's new inhabitants established social identities and understandings of the world very different from those prescribed by Soviet authorities. Their refusal to conform to the authorities' model of a loyal proletariat thwarted Party efforts to construct a social and political order consistent with Bolshevik ideology. The conservative and coercive policies that Party leaders adopted in response, he argues, contributed to the Soviet Union's emergence as an authoritarian welfare state.

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