--Covers 16 countries including Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Australia, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Fiji, Nigeria, South Africa, and Peru. --University level courses: Local and regional development, Spatial planning, Socio-economic geography, Urban development, Rural development, Policy development. --will be interesting to the representatives of several disciplines: economists, geographers, urban planners and other researchers dealing with urban and rural local development

This book explores everyday walking in contemporary urban life. It brings together important theoretical and empirical insights to understand how the 'walkability' of urban spaces can be imagined, planned for, and experienced. The book focuses on the everyday experiences of the urban walker, the bodily experiences of walking, and different walking research methods. It goes beyond the conventional focus on walkable places by delving into the ways in which urban space is consumed and produced through different ways of walking. Drawing on fieldwork in the UK and international secondary sources, the book examines how walking is socially and materially co-produced, focusing on pedestrian practices, infrastructures, and the social nature of walking. Chapters in the book offer key explorations of the cultural and social inclusions and exclusions of navigating the city on foot. The book considers transport planning and policy promoting pedestrian movement, pedestrian infrastructures, the politics of walking, and social interactions of urban pedestrians. The book offers vital analyses of how different but overlapping dimensions of walking and their relationship with urban space are often overlooked, and the importance of centring the lived experiences of walking in understandings of pedestrian practices. This book provides a timely contribution to the field of mobilities due to a growing interest in urban walking. It will be of interest to students and scholars of urban studies, human geography, sociology, and public health.

Considering Asian cities ranging from Taipei, Hong Kong and Bangkok to Hanoi, Nanjing and Seoul, this collection discusses the socio-political processes of how neoliberalization entwines with local political economies and legacies of 'developmental' or 'socialist' statism to produce urban contestations centered on housing. The book takes housing as a key entry point, given its prime position in the making of social and economic policies as well as the political legitimacy of Asian states. It examines urban policies related to housing in Asian economies in order to explore their continuing alterations and mutations, as they come into conflict and coalesce with neoliberal policies. In discussing the experience of each city, it takes into consideration the variegated relations between the state, the market and the society, and explores how the global pressure of neoliberalization has manifested in each country and has influenced the shaping of national housing questions.

Cities are constructed and organized by people, and in turn become an important factor in the organization of human life. They are sites of both social encounter and social division and provide for their inhabitants "a sense of place". This book explores the nature of Russian cities, outlining the role played by various Russian cities over time. It focuses on a range of cities including provincial cities, considering both physical, iconic, created cities, and also cities as represented in films, fiction and other writing. Overall, the book provides a rich picture of the huge variety of Russian cities.

1. Offers an introduction and overview of key contemporary essays and topics that students of literature/culture/humanities need to be aware of 2. Knowledge of these debates is essential for advanced undergrad/postgrad work in the humanities but the essays themselves can be complex or assume a certain level of knowledge - this book fills in those gaps 3. There is no other book that looks at the most current and contemporary essays in relation to literary theory

This book critically assesses the complex urban issues, planning challenges and development opportunities of rapidly growing cities, using Addis Ababa as a case study. Just like other developing cities, Addis Ababa is undergoing numerous natural and policy-driven changes. This book analyses the effect of these changes on urban management to allow better understanding of the conceptual frameworks that define the everyday functions of rapidly growing cities. It demonstrates that rapid urban growth has simultaneously created opportunities for economic development in the developing world as well as social, environmental and cultural challenges causing a mismatch between demand and the supply of services. The author argues that, by combining indigenous knowledge and practices and contemporary planning principles, developing countries can overcome challenges concerning environmental and public health, transport congestion, rising rents and house prices and lack of open space. Foregrounding the experience of everyday citizens of the city, this book aids our understanding of the nature of rapidly growing cities and outlines what needs to be done so that the city meets the needs of the people. A unique contribution to the literature on cities of the developing world, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Urban Studies, Planning, Development Studies and African Studies.

This book examines the politics and economics of infrastructure development in Nigeria from Independence in 1960 up to 2015, and the role of good governance in promoting the socioeconomic wellbeing of citizens. Arguing for the need for transformational leadership in infrastructure development, the chapters examine policy issues and survey the various administrative, economic, and social-political reforms that have impacted infrastructure development in Nigeria. The author also discusses current national development plans and Vision 20:2020; challenges to infrastructure development, including corruption; and the future potential of a strong infrastructure network for the economy and citizens. Drawing upon his experience within government departments, as well as existing models of leadership and governance, the author explores the role of infrastructure development in promoting the wellbeing and growth of Nigeria. Combining theory with practical examples of good governance, this book will be of interest for students and researchers of political science and infrastructure development in Africa.

Traditional valuation approaches are increasingly recognised as being insufficient to address the wicked valuation problems of the diverse peoples and groups that inhabit the globe from north, south, east to west. This book demonstrates the limitations of science and, in particular economics, as the foundation on which valuations are traditionally based. It demonstrates the importance of and provides justification for the personal, cultural values and norms which underpin our assessment of "value", and the fact that these vary across the world. In Wicked Valuations Michael McDermott develops a means of engaging with highly complex valuation problems. His autoethnography provides a lens to draw on knowledge and experience from his 40 years in land valuation in Africa and the Asia-Pacific, while documentary analysis is used to draw in the views of other valuation practitioners and scholars who are becoming increasingly aware of the need to develop ways to adapt land valuation processes to the complexity of our contemporary landscapes.

In Living Detroit, Brandon M. Ward argues that environmentalism in postwar Detroit responded to anxieties over the urban crisis, deindustrialization, and the fate of the city. Tying the diverse stories of environmental activism and politics together is the shared assumption environmental activism could improve their quality of life. Detroit, Michigan, was once the capital of industrial prosperity and the beacon of the American Dream. It has since endured decades of deindustrialization, population loss, and physical decay - in short, it has become the poster child for the urban crisis. This is not a place in which one would expect to discover a history of vibrant expressions of environmentalism; however, in the post-World War II era, while suburban, middle-class homeowners organized into a potent force to protect the natural settings of their communities, in the working-class industrial cities and in the inner city, Detroiters were equally driven by the impulse to conserve their neighborhoods and create a more livable city, pushing back against the forces of deindustrialization and urban crisis. Living Detroit juxtaposes two vibrant and growing fields of American history which often talk past each other: environmentalism and the urban crisis. By putting the two subjects into conversation, we gain a richer understanding of the development of environmental activism and politics after World War II and its relationship to the crisis of America's cities. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in environmental, urban, and labor history.

In Living Detroit, Brandon M. Ward argues that environmentalism in postwar Detroit responded to anxieties over the urban crisis, deindustrialization, and the fate of the city. Tying the diverse stories of environmental activism and politics together is the shared assumption environmental activism could improve their quality of life. Detroit, Michigan, was once the capital of industrial prosperity and the beacon of the American Dream. It has since endured decades of deindustrialization, population loss, and physical decay - in short, it has become the poster child for the urban crisis. This is not a place in which one would expect to discover a history of vibrant expressions of environmentalism; however, in the post-World War II era, while suburban, middle-class homeowners organized into a potent force to protect the natural settings of their communities, in the working-class industrial cities and in the inner city, Detroiters were equally driven by the impulse to conserve their neighborhoods and create a more livable city, pushing back against the forces of deindustrialization and urban crisis. Living Detroit juxtaposes two vibrant and growing fields of American history which often talk past each other: environmentalism and the urban crisis. By putting the two subjects into conversation, we gain a richer understanding of the development of environmental activism and politics after World War II and its relationship to the crisis of America's cities. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in environmental, urban, and labor history.

Thirty-five years after this landmark of urban history first captured the rise, fall, and rebirth of a once-thriving New York City borough-ravaged in the 1970s and '80s by disinvestment and fires, then heroically revived and rebuilt in the 1990s by community activists-Jill Jonnes returns to chronicle the ongoing revival of the South Bronx. Though now globally renowned as the birthplace of hip-hop, the South Bronx remains America's poorest urban congressional district. In this new edition, we meet the present generation of activists who are transforming their communities with the arts and greening, notably the restoration of the Bronx River. For better or worse, real estate investors have noticed, setting off new gentrification struggles.

This volume uses the travels of Roman governors to explore how authority was defined in and by the public places of Greek cities. By demonstrating that the places where imperial officials and local notables met were integral to the strategies by which they communicated with one another, Greek Cities and Roman Governors sheds new light on the significance of civic space in the Roman provinces. It also presents a fresh perspective on the monumental cityscapes of Roman Asia Minor, epicenter of the greatest building boom in classical history. Though of special interest to scholars and students of Roman Asia Minor, Greek Cities and Roman Governors offers broad insights into Roman imperialism and the ancient city.

Radical Communications explores unauthorized messages we see in the cities we live in and their impact on the construction of social reality. Michael Tsangaris treats the city as a text and examines the political slogans, graffiti, and street art of Athens as complex visual signs in an alternative communication system. He argues that the legitimacy, aesthetic value, and social acceptability of these expressions depend on the time, place, and social group or individual that interprets them. Finally, his analysis reveals the contradictory character of the contemporary city. It shows a city of social inequalities, cultural diversity, multinational encounters; of conflicts between age groups and political, economic, and epidemic crises; a city of one-dimensional thinking, apathy, and consumer fetishism but also a city that aspires to the dream of a better society and holds utopian promise.

This book critically examines the philosophy of the term 'transgression' and how it shapes the utopian vision of contemporary urban design scenarios. The aim of this book is to provide scholarly yet accessible graphic novel illustrations to inform narratives of urban manifestos. Through four select case studies from the UK, Cyprus and Germany, the book highlights the paradoxes and contradictions in architecture and provides detailed evaluation of the limits and contemporary forms of sustainable urban regeneration. The book proposes an 'utopian urban vision' approach to social, political and cultural relations, trends and tensions both locally and globally, and seeks to inspire an awakening in architectural discourse. The book argues that the philosophical undermining of transgression is the result of a phenomenon from a different perspective - its philosophical background, its social construction, its experimental research process and its design implications on the city. As such, the book provides a critical examination of how architectural design interventions contribute to sustainable urban regeneration, gentrification and can impact local communities. This book provides a significant contribution to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as early career researchers working in architecture, planning and sustainable urban design. It offers effective guidance on adopting the state-of-the-art graphical illustrations into their own design projects, while considering contradictions between architectural discourse and the philosophy of transgression.

This original social science text approaches marathon running as an everyday practice and a designed event, to draw upon and contribute to the literature on practice theory, urban events, rhythmanalysis and mobility. It bridges sport studies and discussions within sociology and geography about practice, movement and the city. Inspired by theoretical debates about embodied and multi-sensuous mobilities, social and material practices, and urban rhythms, this book explores the characteristics of marathon running as a bodily practice on the one hand and, on the other, marathon training grounds and events as unique places. This account takes marathon running seriously, using sociological and geographical theory to understand the practice in and of itself. Based on original empirical research and accessible to readers, taking them to training sessions in Copenhagen and to marathons in Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin, Frankfurt, Valencia and Copenhagen, it draws out the globalised, codified and generic nature of marathon practices and design, yet also brings out the significant local differences. The book examines in ethnographic detail how marathon practices and places are produced by various materialities, cultural scripts, experts, runners and spectators, and practiced in embodied, multi-sensuous and 'emplaced' ways by ordinary runners. It develops a sociological practice approach to marathon running and geographical understanding of marathon places and rhythms. It demonstrates that marathon running is of broad interest because it calls for and allows lively and expressive ways of conducting and writing research and understanding the becoming of bodies, the intertwining of biological and mechanical rhythms, and the eventful potential of streets. It will appeal to postgraduate students and scholars in sport studies, geography and sociology interested in running, active mobility and ethnography, as well as tourism and urban events. The book will also appeal to general readers with an interest in marathon running.

This original social science text approaches marathon running as an everyday practice and a designed event, to draw upon and contribute to the literature on practice theory, urban events, rhythmanalysis and mobility. It bridges sport studies and discussions within sociology and geography about practice, movement and the city. Inspired by theoretical debates about embodied and multi-sensuous mobilities, social and material practices, and urban rhythms, this book explores the characteristics of marathon running as a bodily practice on the one hand and, on the other, marathon training grounds and events as unique places. This account takes marathon running seriously, using sociological and geographical theory to understand the practice in and of itself. Based on original empirical research and accessible to readers, taking them to training sessions in Copenhagen and to marathons in Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin, Frankfurt, Valencia and Copenhagen, it draws out the globalised, codified and generic nature of marathon practices and design, yet also brings out the significant local differences. The book examines in ethnographic detail how marathon practices and places are produced by various materialities, cultural scripts, experts, runners and spectators, and practiced in embodied, multi-sensuous and 'emplaced' ways by ordinary runners. It develops a sociological practice approach to marathon running and geographical understanding of marathon places and rhythms. It demonstrates that marathon running is of broad interest because it calls for and allows lively and expressive ways of conducting and writing research and understanding the becoming of bodies, the intertwining of biological and mechanical rhythms, and the eventful potential of streets. It will appeal to postgraduate students and scholars in sport studies, geography and sociology interested in running, active mobility and ethnography, as well as tourism and urban events. The book will also appeal to general readers with an interest in marathon running.

This book provides a framework to rethink postcoloniality and urbanism from African perspectives. Bringing together multidisciplinary perspectives on African crises through postmillennial films, the book addresses the need to situate global south cultural studies within the region. The book employs film criticism and semiotics as devices to decode contemporary cultures of African cities, with a specific focus on crisis. Drawing on a variety of contemporary theories on cities of the global south, especially Africa, the book sifts through nuances of crisis urbanism within postmillennial African films. In doing so the book offers unique perspectives that move beyond the confines of sociological or anthropological studies of cities. It argues that crisis has become a mainstay reality of African cities and thus occupies a central place in the way these cities may be theorized or imagined. The book considers crises of six African cities: nonentity in post-apartheid Johannesburg, laissez faire economies of Kinshasa, urban commons in Nairobi, hustlers in postwar Monrovia, latent revolt in Cairo, and cantonments in postwar Luanda, which offer useful insights on African cities today. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of urban studies, urban geography, urban sociology, cultural studies, and media studies.

This is the first book to fully present, analyse and interpret the Dubai real estate market. Dubai is fast becoming one of the world's most attractive places to invest in real estate and this book examines the market from three interlinked sectors that drive its performance: occupiers, investors, and developers. It examines the market's historical growth and lays the foundations to examine future trends. The book provides a synopsis of Dubai's market practices, economic trends and social change that impacts the value of real estate. Chapters also debate issues such as: property investment, house price performance, local valuation practices, spatial planning, the economics of the city, market practices and regulation, property-led economic growth and future trends such as sustainability and digitalisation. This book offers a comprehensive, in-depth and up-to-date account of the Dubai property market and presents a full assessment of the investment potential of Dubai real estate. It is a must read for students, academics and real estate professionals interested in this fascinating real estate market that has implications for both Dubai and wider GCC markets as well as the international investment market and senior professionals who come to work in the region.

What does gentrification look like? Can we even agree that it is a process that replaces one community with another? It is a question of class? Or of economic opportunity? Who does it affect the most? Is there any way to combat it? Leslie Kern, author of the best selling Feminist City, travels from Toronto, New York, London, Paris and San Francisco and scrutinises the myth and lies that surround this most urgent urban crisis of our times. First observed in 1950s London, and theorised by leading thinkers such as Ruth Glass, Jane Jacobs and Sharon Zukin, this devastating process of displacement now can be found in every city and most neighbourhoods. Beyond the Yoga studio, farmer's market and tattoo parlour, gentrification is more than a metaphor, but impacts the most vulnerable communities. Kern proposes an intersectional way at looking at the crisis that seek to reveal the violence based on class, race, gender and sexuality. She argues that gentrification is not natural That it can not be understood in economics terms, or by class. That it is not a question of taste. That it can only be measured only by the physical displacement of certain people. Rather, she argues, it is an continuation of the setter colonial project that removed natives from their land. And it can be seen today is rising rents and evictions, transformed retail areas, increased policing and broken communities. But if gentrification is not inevitable, what can we do to stop the tide? In response, Kern proposes a genuinely decolonial, feminist, queer, anti-gentrification. One that demands the right to the city for everyone and the return of land and reparations for those who have been displaced.

1) This is a comprehensive volume on the rise of the new middle class in India. 2) It contains case studies from all major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Patna, and, Surat in India. 3) This will be of interest to departments of South Asian studies across UK.

This book explores the resilience in urban neighborhoods affected by chronic conflict and violence, developing a new model for improving resilience policies. The neighborhood resilience approach is an inclusive form of building positive resilience, which recognizes that local communities possess valuable skills and experience of dealing with crises, and prioritizes the agency of local communities in the production of knowledge and developing practices. The book identifies and describes the repertoire of neighborhood resilience practices organized in four clusters: (1) addressing the structure of conflict; (2) increasing the effectiveness of external resources; (3) enhancing the community capacities; and (4) reflecting the dynamics of identity and power in neighborhoods. One of the key findings of the book is the nonlinear connections between structure and dynamics of conflict and neighborhood resilience practices represented in the Four Loops Model. The concentration on community-based practices addresses macro-level critiques of neo-liberalism in critical resilience studies and encourages rethinking the ways community-based indicators might operate in combination with existing macro indicators of resilience. The bottom-up indicators provide more specific details and essential localized experiences for improving resilience policies at the national level. This book will be of much interest to students of conflict resolution, resilience, urban studies, and US politics.

As China has undergone rapid urbanization and population aging in the past few decades, improving the welfare of older people in rural areas has become an ever more pressing issue. This title is the first book-length work to examine the influence of urbanization on the mental health of China's older population outside the city. Incorporating the theoretical framework of social ecology, the author analyzes the socio-cultural factors that have exerted an impact on participants' mental health, such as their personal life course transition, changes to family living arrangements and community restructuring. Moreover, he introduces several elderly mental health intervention models in China, while evaluating the policy initiatives that have developed based on China's local resource sufficiency, cultural customs, and older people's needs. The research findings not only facilitate a deeper understanding of China's welfare policy making, but also offers a useful reference for countries that are experiencing similar urbanization and population aging and that wish to formulate better social policies. Students and scholars of social policy, welfare, and gerontology will find this title to be essential reading.

The Classroom Library: A Catalyst for Literacy Instruction serves two purposes by first providing classroom teachers with a how-to guide in setting up and using the classroom library to support literacy. Next, it provides teachers with excerpts and stories of practicing teachers who have successfully used their classroom library to teach literacy. A wide array of photos, documents, tips, ideas, and descriptions lead teachers to create a classroom library that will scaffold students in the classroom library to establish and extend their literacy development. Several chapters specifically focus on working with under-served students, including students in urban settings, those who are learning English as a second language, and students without access to other libraries. Content in this book is easy to use to help teachers establish a library oasis in their classroom to support learners in preschool through grade eight classrooms. This book is a companion book to More Mirrors in the Classroom:Using Urban Children's Literature to Increase Literacy. Both volumes cover the selection of culturally responsive children's literature.

1) This is a comprehensive volume on the rise of the new middle class in India. 2) It contains case studies from all major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Patna, and, Surat in India. 3) This will be of interest to departments of South Asian studies across UK.

'Chinatowns' are familiar places in almost all major cities in the world. In popular Western wisdom, the restaurants, pagodas, and red lanterns are intrinsically equated with a self-contained, immigrant Chinese district, an alien enclave of 'the East' in 'the West'. By the 1980s, when these Western societies had largely given up their racially discriminatory immigration policies and opened up to Asian immigration, the dominant conception of Chinatown was no longer that of an abject ethnic ghetto: rather, Chinatown was now seen as a positive expression of multicultural heritage and difference. By the early 21st century, however, these spatial and cultural constructions of Chinatown as an 'other' space - whether negative or positive - have been thoroughly destabilised by the impacts of accelerating globalisation and transnational migration. This book provides a timely and much-needed paradigm shift in this regard, through an in-depth case study of Sydney's Chinatown. It speaks to the growing multilateral connections that link Australia and Asia (and especially China) together; not just economically, but also socially and culturally, as a consequence of increasing transnational flows of people, money, ideas and things. Further, the book elicits a particular sense of a place in Sydney's Chinatown: that of an interconnected world in which Western and Asian realms inhabit each other, and in which the orientalist legacy is being reconfigured in new deployments and more complex delimitations. As such, Chinatown Unbound engages with, and contributes to making sense of, the epochal shift in the global balance of power towards Asia, especially China.