On the Nature of Cities: Toward Enduring and Creative Human EnvironmentsiUniverse, 2003 - 384 pages Kenneth Schneider's achievement . . . is to have written a highly intelligent book that is at the same time both stimulating and readable---a rare occurrence. Overall, this is one of the most thought-provoking books that I have read on our modern business-created society and the individual's place within this society. It is a very good book indeed. . .Schneider has managed to choose most of the basic issues confronting our political order: these are the issues people ought to be thinking about. He has also managed to infuse each one with a high ethical content---something quite rare in the ordinary approach to these topics. The result is a serious, informed discussion that often achieves the level of what in olden times was honorably known as 'practical philosophy.' . . . There is an inarticulate demand for just this sort of thing. The book reflects the author's unusual breadth of interest and reading, and his uncommon ability to synthesize. His topic is significant. . . . He also shows insight into some complex and important problems. I was especially impressed by his reflections on the notion of community. |
Contents
Getting on Top of the Revolution | 7 |
Urban Destruction by Development | 21 |
The American Way of Citymaking | 45 |
The Strategy of Urban Defeat | 72 |
The Environmental Toll | 130 |
The Economic Toll | 154 |
The Human Toll | 184 |
Unkind Traditions | 220 |
The Urban Implosion of the Population Bomb | 261 |
Can We Build Good Cities? | 287 |
The Urban Future | 320 |
References | 334 |