How Cities Matter

This Element examines why we should care how cities matter, and what difference does it make to our daily lives.

Richard Harris (Author)

9781108749268, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 August 2021

75 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.5 cm, 0.151 kg

'How Cities Matter explains the ways in which urban settings shapes people's lives since the industrial revolution: the agglomerations of citizens, travellers, and workers, and, consequently, their social, economic, and cultural affairs. Scrutinizing these ways, this book makes a key contribution to the field of urban history.' Federico Camerin, MIT Press

Most historians and social scientists treat cities as mere settings. In fact, urban places shape our experience. There, daily life has a faster, artificial rhythm and, for good and ill, people and agencies affect each other through externalities (uncompensated effects) whose impact is inherently geographical. In economic terms, urban concentration enables efficiency and promotes innovation while raising the costs of land, housing, and labour. Socially, it can alienate or provide anonymity, while fostering new forms of community. It creates congestion and pollution, posing challenges for governance. Some effects extend beyond urban borders, creating cultural change. The character of cities varies by country and world region, but it has generic qualities, a claim best tested by comparing places that are most different. These qualities intertwine, creating built environments that endure. To fully comprehend such path dependency, we need to develop a synthetic vision that is historically and geographically informed.

1. Introduction
2. Historians and the Urban Question
3. The Economic Significance of Cities
4. Urbanism As Ways of Life
5. 'Urban' Problems and Governance
6. Beyond City Limits: Connections and Comparisons
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Urban & municipal planning [RPC], Urban communities [JFSG]