
Why Cities Look the Way They Do
Richard Williams(Author)
Polity Press
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 3. May 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-7456-9181-7 (ISBN)
Description
We tend to think cities look the way they do because of the conscious work of architects, planners and builders. But what if the look of cities had less to do with design, and more to do with social, cultural, financial and political processes, and the way ordinary citizens interact with them? What if the city is a process as much as a design? Richard J. Williams takes the moment construction is finished as a beginning, tracing the myriad processes that produce the look of the contemporary global city.
This book is the story of dramatic but unforeseen urban sights: how financial capital spawns empty towering skyscrapers and hollowed-out ghettoes; how the zoning of once-illicit sexual practices in marginal areas of the city results in the reinvention of culturally vibrant gay villages; how abandoned factories have been repurposed as creative hubs in a precarious postindustrial economy. It is also the story of how popular urban clichés and the fictional portrayal of cities powerfully shape the way we read and see the bricks, concrete and glass that surround us.
Thought-provoking and original, Why Cities Look the Way They Do will appeal to anyone who wants to understand the contemporary city, shedding new light on humanity's greatest collective invention.
Reviews / Votes
'Why Cities Look the Way They Do is a great read. It's comfortable in voice but provocative in uncovering harsh truths and filled with fascinating visuals. To walk the city and travel the world with Williams is to journey to the brutal core of the power of image and to understand its sway over bodies and minds.'Sharon Zukin, author of Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places
'Using our eyes to understand the social and psychological DNA of cities is the refreshing and important contribution of Richard J. Williams's new book. Read it and look around you with heightened vision!'
Richard Burdett, London School of Economics and Political Science
'<i>Why Cities Look the Way They Do</i> is a great read. It's comfortable in voice but provocative in uncovering harsh truths and filled with fascinating visuals. To walk the city and travel the world with Williams is to journey to the brutal core of the power of image and to understand its sway over bodies and minds.'
<b>Sharon Zukin, author of <i>Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places</i></b>
'Using our eyes to understand the social and psychological DNA of cities is the refreshing and important contribution of Richard J. Williams's new book. Read it and look around you with heightened vision!'
<b>Richard Burdett, London School of Economics and Political Science</b>
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
328 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7456-9181-7 (9780745691817)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Richard J. Williams
Why Cities Look the Way They Do
E-Book
08/2019
1st Edition
Wiley
€16.99
Available for download

Richard Williams
Why Cities Look the Way They Do
Book
05/2019
1st Edition
Polity Press
€60.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Richard J. Williams is Professor of Contemporary Visual Culture at the University of Edinburgh.