The City Reader: 2nd Edition (Routledge Urban Reader Series) [Paperback]

Richard T. Legates (Editor), Frederic Stout (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999 | ISBN-10: 0415190711 | ISBN-13: 978-0415190718 | Edition: 2

The second edition of The City Reader brings together the very best writing on the city. Fifty-five generous selections are included: thirty from the first edition and twenty-five entirely new ones. Each piece is introduced with a brief intellectual biography and a review of the authors writings and related literature, and an explanation of how the piece fits into the broader context of urban history and practice, competing ideological perspectives on the city, and the major current debates concerning race and gender, global restructuring, sustainable urban development, the impact of technology and postmodernism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Simply brilliant. An essential reader for anyone.' - Heidi Grainger, Liverpool University

About the Author

Richard T. LeGates is Professor of Urban Studies at San Francisco State University. Frederic Stout is Lecturer in Urban Studies at Stanford University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415190711
• ISBN-13: 978-0415190718
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,046,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, December 3, 2001

By 

tbrady (Philadelphia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The City Reader: 2nd Edition (Routledge Urban Reader Series) (Paperback)

Legates and Stout do an excellent job of compiling and briefly explaining many seminal writings on cities. There is a lot to read here and I'm not yet finished. But this heavy book is full of informative, interesting and fun writings and provides an excellent introduction to the study of cities. This is essential reading for students of Urban Form, Architecture, and the Social Sciences. Includes Le Corbusier, Patrick Geddes, Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford, J.B. Jackson, Witold Rybczynski and many others.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Intro to Urban Planning I've Ever Read, July 6, 2002

By 

L Mann (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The City Reader: 2nd Edition (Routledge Urban Reader Series) (Paperback)

As a first year Urban Planner, this book was on the required readings list for our course. This book gave me the edge to all my fellow students because it provided a detailed sample through a historical and progressive manner. It provides the fundamentals of the great thinkers in Urban Planning. It also covered and introduced me to further research on areas such as design and sociology, promoting further personal research.

As a second year student, this book can always be seen in my bibliography, and is always the first thing I head towards for a brief history on any concepts that are raised in my lecturers.

This book can be seen as THE general summary of Urban Planning.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone who enjoys cities!, October 26, 2006

By 

The Intellectual "Learning never ends!" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The City Reader (Routledge Urban Reader Series) (Paperback)

This book is a very interesting collection of essays from prominent intellectuals who have shown concern over the development of cities in various aspects, whether it be economics, sociology, or other fields.

Excellent for anyone interested in urbanism, it's problems, it's development, it's future.

The book focuses heavily on U.S. cities, particularly Los Angeles and New York. It would have been nice if the book would had included articles on other large cities in the world.

Despite this, the book is an excellent read which encourages the reader to rethink the way he/she sees the city.