Urban Economics

In Evicted, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Hailed as “wrenching and revelatory” (The Nation), “vivid and unsettling” (New York Review of Books), Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of twenty-first-century America’s most devastating problems. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.

After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling improvements on the car dependence of sprawl?

In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein explodes the myth that America's cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation - that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, he incontrovertibly makes clear that it was de jure segregation - the laws and policy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments - that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.

Why do well-intentioned plans for improving the human condition go tragically awry? Author James C. Scott analyzes failed cases of large-scale authoritarian plans in a variety of fields. Centrally managed social plans misfire, Scott argues, when they impose schematic visions that do violence to complex interdependencies that are not - and cannot - be fully understood. Further, the success of designs for social organization depends upon the recognition that local, practical knowledge is as important as formal, epistemic knowledge.

Viennese ideas saturate the modern world. From California architecture to Hollywood Westerns, modern advertising to shopping malls, orgasms to gender confirmation surgery, nuclear fission to fitted kitchens—every aspect of our history, science, and culture is in some way shaped by Vienna. Richard Cockett gives us the entirety of an extraordinary story of how one city made the modern world—and how we all remain inescapably Viennese.

With propulsive storytelling and ground-level reporting, New York Times journalist Conor Dougherty chronicles America’s housing crisis from its West Coast epicenter, peeling back the decades of history and economic forces that brought us here and taking listeners inside the activist movements that have risen in tandem with housing costs.

Segregation by Design draws on more than 100 years of quantitative and qualitative data from thousands of American cities to explore how local governments generate race and class segregation. Starting in the early 20th century, cities have used their power of land use control to determine the location and availability of housing, amenities (such as parks), and negative land uses (such as garbage dumps). The result has been segregation - first within cities and more recently between them.

All places are not created equal. In this groundbreaking book, Richard Florida shows that where we live is increasingly a crucial factor in our lives, one that fundamentally affects our professional and personal prospects. As well as explaining why place matters now more than ever, Who's Your City? provides indispensable tools to help you choose the right place for you.

Once America's "arsenal of democracy," Detroit is now the symbol of the American urban crisis. In this reappraisal of America's racial and economic inequalities, Thomas Sugrue asks why Detroit and other industrial cities have become the sites of persistent racialized poverty. He challenges the conventional wisdom that urban decline is the product of the social programs and racial fissures of the 1960s.

She survived. That's not good enough. When Ebola struck Manhattan, Ava was a bright high school sophomore. Two years later, she's still kicking. Also hitting, biting, and gouging eyes. Nine out of ten didn't make it. Half the survivors are feral teens like Ava. During the Starve, their gangs terrorized the city. The Army finally stopped the dying, and resettled desirable refugees into the countryside. But no one wants the gang rats, least of all the adults in the city. The generations loathe each other. The new nation of Hudson hopes Army discipline can salvage these problematic young ...

What would you do if the world as you knew it suddenly came crashing down around you? A financial system in shambles, America slowly slips closer and closer toward collapse. As everything is in ruin, a suburban city burns. As small group of unlikely survivors bands together to weather the storm. A few well prepared, well-armed, and well-trained friends band together. Police Officer John Gonzalez, recently wounded in the line of duty, rallies his group of thrown-together friends into a tight group to survive the end of the world as we know it in the City of Kankakee, an hour South of Chicago.

Race for Profit uncovers how exploitative real estate practices continued well after housing discrimination was banned. The same racist structures and individuals remained intact after redlining's end, and close relationships between regulators and the industry created incentives to ignore improprieties. Meanwhile, new policies meant to encourage low-income homeownership created new methods to exploit Black homeowners.

Cities and the Creative Class gathers in one place for the first time the research leading up to Richard Florida's theory on how the growth of the creative economy shapes the development of cities and regions. In a new introduction, Florida updates this theory and responds to the critics of his 2002 best seller, The Rise of the Creative Class.

Dive into the pulse of modern cities with "Building Prosperity," a riveting eBook that unravels the complexities of urban growth and housing affordability. This cutting-edge read offers an essential deep dive into the factors shaping the future of our cities and provides insightful analysis on how to forge a path towards sustainable and inclusive urban development. Imagine a world where urban growth equates to widespread prosperity—a vision this book explores with meticulous detail. Each chapter weaves through the intricacies of urban economics, the historical contexts of housing crises, ...

A pioneering urban farmer and MacArthur "Genius Award" winner points the way to building a new food system that can feed - and heal - broken communities. An eco-classic in the making, The Good Food Revolution is the story of Will's personal journey, the lives he has touched, and a grassroots movement that is changing the way our nation eats.

Do they dare to save a dying city? New York is hopeless. When the Ebola epidemic broke out, the Calm Act sealed the city behind armed borders. Otherwise contagious refugees could flee and devastate the Northeast. The survivors outside struggle to make ends meet in a chaotic climate and collapsed economy. They’re grateful for protection from the epidemic. But they feel guilty as sin. The agony of New York weighs on the regional conscience. Tech whisperer Dee Baker, and her partner Army Major Emmett MacLaren, propose a plan to save the city. Dee leads the Amenac Internet empire, bypassing ...

Visionary physicist Geoffrey West is a pioneer in the field of complexity science, the science of emergent systems and networks. The term complexity can be misleading, however, because what makes West's discoveries so beautiful is that he has found an underlying simplicity that unites the seemingly complex and diverse phenomena of living systems, including our bodies, our cities, and our businesses.

In Homelessness Is a Housing Problem, Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern seek to explain the substantial regional variation in rates of homelessness in cities across the United States. In a departure from many analytical approaches, Colburn and Aldern shift their focus from the individual experiencing homelessness to the metropolitan area. Using accessible statistical analysis, they test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given city and find that none explain the regional variation observed across the country.

In recent years the young, educated, and affluent have surged back into cities, reversing decades of suburban flight and urban decline. And yet all is not well, Richard Florida argues in The New Urban Crisis. Florida demonstrates how the same forces that power the growth of the world's superstar cities also generate their vexing challenges: gentrification, unaffordability, segregation, and inequality.

**Vertical Villages The Revolution of High-Rise Homesteading** Discover the future of urban living with "Vertical Villages," the transformative guide that will elevate your approach to city life and sustainability. In a world where space is at a premium and the call to reconnect with nature grows ever louder, this trailblazing eBook offers a bold vision for harmonizing high-rise living with the principles of homesteading, cultivating communities, and fostering environmental stewardship. Embark on an enlightening journey through the art and science of creating lush, productive homesteads in ...