Books like Cities by Monica L. Smith

Jane Jacobs’ seminal work argues that diverse, vibrant street life sustains cities, challenging conventional plans that favor large developments and uniformity.

A scholarly examination of Robert Moses, the powerful New York City planner whose initiatives shaped the city’s infrastructure and symbolized the concentration of municipal authority.

Lewis Mumford’s comprehensive study of urban evolution, tracing city development from antiquity through the modern era.

Mike Davis explores how the world’s urban tide will swell in the coming decades, warning that most growth will be unindustrialized and accompanied by rising poverty rather than economic benefit.

"This edition of the text has been rewritten and re-illustrated to take account of the extensive new excavations and interpretations that have taken place since the book was first published twenty years ago. The central section of the text covers the origin, development, public and private buildings, fortifications, character and demise of each of the twenty-one major towns of the province: the provincial capital of London; the coloniae - Colchester, Lincoln, Gloucester and York; the first civitas capitals - Canterbury, Verulamium and Chelmsford; from client kingdoms to civitas - Caister-by-Norwich, Chichester, Silchester and Winchester; Flavian expansion - Cirencester, Dorchester, Exeter, Leicester and Wroxeter; and Hadrianic stimulation - Caerwent, Carmarthen, Brough-on-Humber and Aldborough. The introductory chapters address the general questions of definition and urbanization, while the concluding chapter examines the reasons for the decay and final demise."--Provided by publisher.