Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century

Peter Hall

ISBN 10: 0631175679 / ISBN 13: 9780631175674

Published by Blackwell*publishers, 1991

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0631175679I4N00

Synopsis:

This is a history of the ideas, events and personalities that shaped the cities of the world during the twentieth century. Peter Hall shows the benevolent influence of the anarchist ideals of Reclus and Kropotkin in the work of Howard, Geddes and Lloyd Wright, which found expression in garden cities and community planning. He contrasts this with the totalitarian vision of Le Corbusier which, spurned by Mussolini and Stalin, was enthusiastically taken up by countless city authorities in Europe and America. He explores the nightmare cities of Brasilia and Chandigarh and seeks the origins of the high-rise slums and vandalized spaces that afflict the lives of so many people. Planners have become the handmaidens of business, architects the designers of spectacle: both have retreated from any active interest in real, social achievement. Meanwhile the threat to civilized life represented on the one hand by the despair and resentment of the urban underclass and on the other by uncontrolled demolition and development, remains as real and as intractable as ever. Peter Hall is author of over 20 books on planning and related subjects including "London 2000", "The World Cities" "Great Planning Disasters" and "High Tech America". He has been credited with the invention of the "urban enterprise zone" concept. He is widely known throughout the west for his contributions both to the practice and to the theory of city and regional planning.

Review: Cities of Tomorrow remains the definitive story of modern Euro–American planning. The seamless integration of new information and perspectives in this latest edition reaffirms its status as a classic, compelling and extraordinarily readable synthesis. Robert Freestone, University of New South Wales "Peter Hall′s new edition of Cities of Tomorrow is better than ever. With extraordinary skill he weaves the separate strands of planning of the last century into a rich tapestry that vividly displays its intricate links, perceptively portrays the foundations of today′s profession yet cleverly reveals the field′s enduring questions and concerns. To do this in one volume is a work of genius!" Genie Birch, University of Pennsylvania "This classic history of modern urban planning has now been updated for the new century with a third edition. Cities of Tomorrow is an excellent guide to the urban development of the 20th century, and a good platform from which to view the evolution of the 21st."   Amanda Huron, Urban Land

Bibliographic Details

Title: Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History ...
Publisher: Blackwell*publishers
Publication Date: 1991
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket