Hyper City: The Symbols Side of Urbanism (Studies in Anthropology, Economy and Society) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0710312792 ISBN 13: 9780710312792

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

Synopsis

First published in 2006. Cities are sites of multiple meanings and symbols, ranging from statues and street names to festivals and architecture. Some­ times the symbolic side of urbanism is so strong that it outshines reality - then we speak of hypercity. Urban symbolic ecology and hypercity studies are relatively new fields that deal with the production, distribution and consumption of symbols and meanings in urban space, timely concerns in an era of increasing globalization and competition between mega-urban regions. This volume presents a detailed introduction to the new fields, followed by case studies of the cultural layer of symbolism in Brussels (Belgium), Cape Town (South Africa), Cuenca (Ecuador), Delft (The Netherlands), Kingston (Jamaica), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Paris (France) and cities in Italy and Indonesia. It amply demonstrates that the time has come for urban symbolic ecology and hypercity studies to be included in regular urban studies training in the fields of anthropology, sociology, social geography and architecture.

About this title

About the Author

Peter J. M. Nas is an urban anthropologist and Professor in the Socio-cultural Aspects of the Built Environment in Indonesia at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Annemarie Samuels is an MA student in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0710312792
• ISBN 13: 9780710312792
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 266
• Editor: Nas Peter J.M., Samuels Annemarie