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Social Science Urban

Building Cities That Work

by (author) Edmund P. Fowler

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Dec 1993
Category
Urban, City Planning & Urban Development
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780773511835
    Publish Date
    Dec 1993
    List Price
    $40.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773508200
    Publish Date
    Jul 1990
    List Price
    $110.00

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Description

Using Jane Jacobs' critique of postwar city-building as a starting point, Fowler shows that recent North American urban development has been characterized by development projects on a massive scale, an indiscriminate use of vast areas of land, and an increasingly evident homogeneity. These are characteristics, Fowler argues, of a perverse and unnatural way of building that is wrecking the planet and enfeebling our social and political networks. In exploring how the built environment contributes to social problems, Fowler used Toronto as a case study, conducting extensive field work in nineteen areas of the city. He shows not only that postwar building was the result of conscious public policy but goes further, arguing that our cities reflect deep-seated insecurities and cultural malaise in surprisingly direct ways.

About the author

Editorial Reviews

"The book is splendidly polemical, highly committed and passionate, while at the same time it brings to bear an impressive weight of empirical research, largely North American, about how cities function." Caroline Andrew, Canadian Forum.