Summary
Contents
Subject index
The last two decades have been an exciting and richly productive period for debate and academic research on the city. The SAGE Handbook of New Urban Studies offers comprehensive coverage of this modern re-thinking of urban theory, both gathering together the best of what has been achieved so far, and signalling the way to future theoretical insights and empirically grounded research. Featuring many of the top international names in the field, the handbook is divided into nine key sections: SECTION 1: THE GLOBALIZED CITY SECTION 2: URBAN ENTREPRENEURIALISM, BRANDING, GOVERNANCE SECTION 3: MARGINALITY, RISK AND RESILIENCE SECTION 4: SUBURBS AND SUBURBANIZATION: STRATIFICATION, SPRAWL, SUSTAINABILITY SECTION 5: DISTINCTIVE AND VISIBLE CITIES SECTION 6: CREATIVE CITIES SECTION 7: URBANIZATION, URBANITY AND URBAN LIFESTYLES SECTION 8: NEW DIRECTIONS IN URBAN THEORY SECTION 9: URBAN FUTURES This is a central resource for researchers and students of Sociology, Cultural Geography, and Urban Studies.
Distinctive and Visible Cities
Globalization and rising inter-urban competition has stimulated cities to seek out new strategies for increasing their attractiveness, distinction and visibility. Many cities have sought to do this through improving their physical environment, often with spectacular buildings and architectural masterplans, as described by Ponzini et al. (2016). However, the proliferation of ‘starchitects’ and their iconic buildings underlines the fact that these features are no longer as distinctive as they once were. They also tend to be expensive, and their iconic value often only lasts until another city creates a more interesting icon.
One of the defining characteristics of urban development in recent years has therefore been the search for more flexible strategies that produce rapid economic and political returns. ...
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