Cities and Urban Life / Edition 7

by John Macionis, Vincent Parrillo

Overview

For courses in Urban Sociology

A comprehensive overview of classic and contemporary urban sociology.
Cities and Urban Life provides an introduction to the study of urban environments around the world. Using an approach that is multidisciplinary but fundamentally sociological, authors John Macionis and Vincent Parrillo help students see how cities have evolved over time, how cities reflect culture, and where the urban story may take us next. The inclusion of the latest data and research references throughout the seventh edition, as well as updated case studies on a variety of cities, ensures that students come away with an up-to-date understanding of contemporary urban life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780133869804
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	01/06/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John J. Macionis (pronounced “ma-SHOWnis”) has been in the classroom teaching sociology for more than forty years. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, majoring in sociology, and then completed a doctorate in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

His publications are wide-ranging, focusing on community life in the United States, interpersonal intimacy in families, effective teaching, humor, new information technology, and the importance of global education. In addition to authoring this best-seller, Macionis has also written Society: The Basics, the most popular paperback introductory text in the field, now in its fourteenth edition. John has also authored Sociology, the most popular full-sized introductory text, now in its sixteenth edition. He collaborates on international editions of the texts: Sociology: Canadian Edition; Society: The Basics, Canadian Edition; and Sociology: A Global Introduction. All of his texts, including Cities and Urban Life are available for high school students and in various foreign-language editions. In addition, Macionis edited the best-selling anthology Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, also available in a Canadian edition. Macionis is also the author of Social Problems, now in its sixth edition and the leading book in this field.

The Macionis introductory and social problems texts are now available in low-cost electronic editions in the REVEL program. These exciting programs offer an interactive learning experience. Unlike other authors, John takes personal responsibility for writing all electronic content, just as he authors all the supplemental material. John proudly resists the trend toward “outsourcing” such material to non-sociologists.

John Macionis recently retired from full-time teaching at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he was Professor and Distinguished Scholar of Sociology. During that time, he chaired the Sociology Department, directed the college’s multidisciplinary program in humane studies, presided over the campus senate and the college’s faculty, and taught sociology to thousands of students.

In 2002, the American Sociological Association presented Macionis with the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching, citing his innovative use of global material as well as the introduction of new teaching technology in his textbooks.

Professor Macionis has been active in academic programs in other countries, having traveled to some fifty nations. He writes, “I am an ambitious traveler, eager to learn and, through the texts, to share much of what I discover with students, many of whom know little about the rest of the world. For me, traveling and writing are all dimensions of teaching. First, and foremost, I am a teacher—a passion for teaching animates everything I do.”

At Kenyon, Macionis taught a number of courses including Urban Sociology, Introduction to Sociology, and Social Problems. He continues to enjoy extensive contact with students across the United States and around the world.

John now lives near New York City. In his free time, Macionis enjoys tennis, swimming, hiking, and playing oldies rock-and-roll. Macionis is as an environmental activist in the Lake George region of New York’s Adirondack Mountains, where he wo

Read an Excerpt

PREFACE:

PREFACE

As we begin a new century—indeed, a new millennium—the world stands on the brink of a historic landmark: In a few years, a majority of the planet's people will live in cities. Urban living is rapidly becoming the norm for members of our species. Surely, there is no more compelling reason to undertake the study of cities and urban life.

THE BASIC APPROACH

The approach of this text is multidisciplinary but fundamentally sociological. Readers will find here the enduring contributions of the classical European social thinkers, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, Ferdinand Tönnies, Georg Simmel, and Emile Durkheim, as well as those of early pioneers in North America, including Robert Park and Louis Wirth. Of course, many men and women have stood on the shoulders of these giants and extended our understanding. Thus, this text also considers the ideas of a host of contemporary urbanists, including Henri Lefebvre, Jane Jacobs, Manuel Castells, John Logan, Harvey Molotch, Kevin Lynch, Lyn Lofland, Carol Stack, and Herbert Gans.

Yet, as this string of well-known names suggests, urban studies rests on research and theory developed within many disciplines. Cities and Urban Life, therefore, is truly a multidisciplinary text that draws together the work of historians (Chapter 2: "The Origins and Development of the World's Cities," and Chapter 3: "The Development of North American Cities"); sociologists (Chapter 4: "Cities and Suburbs of the Twenty-First Century," Chapter 5: "Urban Sociology: The Classic Statements," Chapter 10: "Social Class: Urban and Suburban Lifestyles,"Chapter 11: "Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Urban Diversity," and Chapter 12: "Housing, Education, Crime: Confronting Urban Problems"); social psychologists (Chapter 6: "Social Psychology: The Urban Experience"); geographers and urban ecologists (Chapter 7: "Geography and Ecology: Making Sense of Space"); political economists working within various disciplines (Chapter 9: "Structural Imperatives: Urban Political Economy"); anthropologists (Chapter 8: "Urban Anthropology: The City and Culture," and Chapter 13: "Developing World Cities"); and architects as well as city planners (Chapter 14: "Planning the Urban Environment").

THE ORGANIZATION
OF THIS TEXT

Part I of the text, "Understanding the City," introduces the main questions and themes that resonate throughout the book (Chapter 1). Part II, "History of Cities and New Trends," surveys the historical development of cities, noting how urban life has often differed in striking ways from contemporary patterns we take for granted (Chapters 2 and 3), and the current trends of sprawl, edge cities, and gated communities that are shaping the cities and suburbs of the new century (Chapter 4). Part III, "Disciplinary Perspectives," highlights the various disciplinary orientations that, together, have so advanced our understanding of cities (Chapters 5 through 9). Part IV, "The Anatomy of the City," focuses on the social organization of today's cities in North America, highlighting how urban living reflects the importance of social class (Chapter 10), race, ethnicity, and gender (Chapter 11), as well as forcing us to confront vexing problems such as housing, education, and crime (Chapter 12). Part V, "Global Urbanization," offers a look at the history and current urbanization in four major world regions: Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (Chapter 13). It is in these areas of the world that urbanization is now most rapid, with cities reaching unprecedented size. Finally, Part VI, ""The Planning and Evaluation of Cities," examines the architectural, social, and political dimensions of urban planning, as well as points out the problems that prevent cities from living up to their promise of improving everyone's lives (Chapter 14).

FOUR KEY THEMES

This attempt to tell the urban story will lead us to consider a wide range of issues and to confront countless questions. Yet four main themes guide this exploration, and it is useful to make these explicit. To put it another way, whatever else a student entering the field of urban studies might learn, he or she must pay attention to these themes:

1. Cities and urban life vary according to time and place. Since the idea of the city came to our ancestors some 10,000 years ago, the urban scene has been re-created time and again, all around the world, in countless ways. The authors—informed by their own travels to some 60 of the world's nations—have labored to portray this remarkable diversity throughout this text.
2. Cities reflect and intensify society and culture. Although cities vary in striking ways, everywhere they stand as physical symbols of human civilization. For example, nowhere do we perceive the inward-looking world of the Middle Ages better than in the walled medieval cities of that era. Similarly, modern U.S. cities are powerful statements about the contemporary forces of industrial capitalism.
3. Cities reveal the best and the worst about the human condition. Another way to "read" cities is as testimony to the achievements and failings of a way of life. Thus, while New York boasts some spectacular architecture, exciting public parks, vital art galleries, and vibrant concert halls, it also forces us to confront chronic prejudice, wrenching poverty, and sometimes explosive violence.
4. Cities offer the promise—but not always the reality—of a better life. At least since the time of the ancient Greeks, people have recognized that the city holds the promise of living " the good life." Yet all urban places fall short of this ideal in some ways, and in a number of today's cities, people are struggling valiantly simply to survive. The great promise of urban living, coupled with the daunting problems of actual cities, provokes us to ask how (or, indeed, if) we can intentionally and thoughtfully make urban places better. Although we are realistic about the problems, we remain optimistic about the possibilities.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE TEXT

Two special features warrant the attention of readers.

Boxes. First, each chapter contains several boxed inserts. These boxes are of five kinds. Critical Thinking boxes ask readers to grapple with a particular problem or question, assess some evidence, and reach a reasoned conclusion. Urban Living boxes provide a picture of the city "at street level"—that is, a close-up look at how people really live. Looking Back boxes amplify the historical content of the text, reminding us that our cities are built on the past, culturally and, indeed, literally. The City in Literature boxes are testimony to our belief that writers and poets (from Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, and T. S. Eliot to Paul Theroux, John Steinbeck, Tom Wolfe, James Baldwin, Elijah Anderson, and Francine Garcia-Hallcom) have special abilities to capture the sights and sounds—and sometimes even the soul—of cities. Finally, Cityscapes present an extended literary account or scholarly analysis of some significant dimension of urban life.

Case Studies. The text includes eight case studies that offer a broad sociohistorical look at major cities in various regions of the world as they illustrate a chapter's key points. The cities profiled in these case studies are London (Chapter 2), New York (Chapter 3), Portland, Oregon (Chapter 4), Ming Peking (Chapter 8), Hellenic Athens (Chapter 8), Communist Beijing (Chapter 8), Chicago (Chapter 11), and Toronto (Chapter 14).

WHAT'S NEW
IN THE SECOND EDITION

The second edition of this text reflects a number of basic changes.

First, Chapter 4 ( "Cities and Suburbs of the Twenty-First Century") is a new chapter that extends the historical development of cities into the current postindustrial era and considers at length issues such as urban sprawl.

Second, Chapter 8 ( "Urban Anthropology: The City and Culture") enhances the comparative theme of the text, showing how societies at different times and in different places shape cities and urban life in distinctive ways.

Third, Chapter 12 ("Housing, Education, Crime: Confronting Urban Problems") has been expanded to include a discussion of the problems and debates surrounding urban schools.

Fourth, Chapter 13 ( "Cities in the Developing World") is a new chapter that surveys global urban development and highlights how cities in economically developing nations differ from those in rich countries such as the United States and Canada.

In addition, the entire text has been rewritten and updated, with new statistical data, the results of research published in the last four years, a number of new boxes and other features, and a new photo program.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, and most important, the authors wish to acknowledge the role played by James L. Spates, of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in an earlier version of this book, titled The Sociology of Cities, coauthored by Jim Spates and John Macionis. Although Vince Parrillo and John Macionis have significantly revised that effort at many levels, Jim's ideas and enthusiasm for cities are still evident here.

Parrillo and Macionis wish to thank the editorial team at Prentice Hall for their efforts in making this text a reality. Particular thanks go to Nancy Roberts, publisher-sociology, for originally signing the project and helping to get the work under way, and to Sharon Chambliss, managing editor for sociology, for handling the review and production of this manuscript. Joan Stone did a masterful job in guiding the book through technical production and an on-time delivery date. We are grateful to Virginia Rubens for copyediting and to Melanie Belkin for preparing the index. Finally, we wish to thank Karen Pugliano for selecting the striking photographs that appear in the book.

For reviewing part or all of the manuscript and generously sharing their time and ideas with us, we gratefully acknowledge Ronald S. Edari, University of Wisconsin; Daniel Monti, Boston University; Leo Pinard, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo; David Prok, Baldwin Wallace College; and James D. Tasa, Erie Community College-North.

John J. Macionis
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio 43022
E-mail: [e-mail]
...

Table of Contents

1. Exploring the City
2. Evolution of the World’s Cities
3. Development of North American Cities
4. Today’s Cities and Suburbs

1. Urban Sociology: Classic and Modern Statements
2. Spatial Perspectives: Making Sense of Space
3. Critical Urban Sociology: The City and Capitalism
4. The Context of Cities
5. Comparative Urbanism: The City and Culture

1. Stratification and Social Class: Urban and Suburban Lifestyles
2. Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Urban Diversity
3. Housing, Education, Crime: Confronting Urban Problems

1. Global Urbanization
2. Urban Planning: Past, Present and Future

Preface

PREFACE:

PREFACE

As we begin a new century—indeed, a new millennium—the world stands on the brink of a historic landmark: In a few years, a majority of the planet's people will live in cities. Urban living is rapidly becoming the norm for members of our species. Surely, there is no more compelling reason to undertake the study of cities and urban life.

THE BASIC APPROACH

The approach of this text is multidisciplinary but fundamentally sociological. Readers will find here the enduring contributions of the classical European social thinkers, including Max Weber, Karl Marx, Ferdinand Tönnies, Georg Simmel, and Emile Durkheim, as well as those of early pioneers in North America, including Robert Park and Louis Wirth. Of course, many men and women have stood on the shoulders of these giants and extended our understanding. Thus, this text also considers the ideas of a host of contemporary urbanists, including Henri Lefebvre, Jane Jacobs, Manuel Castells, John Logan, Harvey Molotch, Kevin Lynch, Lyn Lofland, Carol Stack, and Herbert Gans.

Yet, as this string of well-known names suggests, urban studies rests on research and theory developed within many disciplines. Cities and Urban Life, therefore, is truly a multidisciplinary text that draws together the work of historians (Chapter 2: "The Origins and Development of the World's Cities," and Chapter 3: "The Development of North American Cities"); sociologists (Chapter 4: "Cities and Suburbs of the Twenty-First Century," Chapter 5: "Urban Sociology: The Classic Statements," Chapter 10: "Social Class: Urban and SuburbanLifestyles,"Chapter 11: "Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Urban Diversity," and Chapter 12: "Housing, Education, Crime: Confronting Urban Problems"); social psychologists (Chapter 6: "Social Psychology: The Urban Experience"); geographers and urban ecologists (Chapter 7: "Geography and Ecology: Making Sense of Space"); political economists working within various disciplines (Chapter 9: "Structural Imperatives: Urban Political Economy"); anthropologists (Chapter 8: "Urban Anthropology: The City and Culture," and Chapter 13: "Developing World Cities"); and architects as well as city planners (Chapter 14: "Planning the Urban Environment").

THE ORGANIZATION
OF THIS TEXT

Part I of the text, "Understanding the City," introduces the main questions and themes that resonate throughout the book (Chapter 1). Part II, "History of Cities and New Trends," surveys the historical development of cities, noting how urban life has often differed in striking ways from contemporary patterns we take for granted (Chapters 2 and 3), and the current trends of sprawl, edge cities, and gated communities that are shaping the cities and suburbs of the new century (Chapter 4). Part III, "Disciplinary Perspectives," highlights the various disciplinary orientations that, together, have so advanced our understanding of cities (Chapters 5 through 9). Part IV, "The Anatomy of the City," focuses on the social organization of today's cities in North America, highlighting how urban living reflects the importance of social class (Chapter 10), race, ethnicity, and gender (Chapter 11), as well as forcing us to confront vexing problems such as housing, education, and crime (Chapter 12). Part V, "Global Urbanization," offers a look at the history and current urbanization in four major world regions: Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (Chapter 13). It is in these areas of the world that urbanization is now most rapid, with cities reaching unprecedented size. Finally, Part VI, ""The Planning and Evaluation of Cities," examines the architectural, social, and political dimensions of urban planning, as well as points out the problems that prevent cities from living up to their promise of improving everyone's lives (Chapter 14).

FOUR KEY THEMES

This attempt to tell the urban story will lead us to consider a wide range of issues and to confront countless questions. Yet four main themes guide this exploration, and it is useful to make these explicit. To put it another way, whatever else a student entering the field of urban studies might learn, he or she must pay attention to these themes:

1. Cities and urban life vary according to time and place. Since the idea of the city came to our ancestors some 10,000 years ago, the urban scene has been re-created time and again, all around the world, in countless ways. The authors—informed by their own travels to some 60 of the world's nations—have labored to portray this remarkable diversity throughout this text.
2. Cities reflect and intensify society and culture. Although cities vary in striking ways, everywhere they stand as physical symbols of human civilization. For example, nowhere do we perceive the inward-looking world of the Middle Ages better than in the walled medieval cities of that era. Similarly, modern U.S. cities are powerful statements about the contemporary forces of industrial capitalism.
3. Cities reveal the best and the worst about the human condition. Another way to "read" cities is as testimony to the achievements and failings of a way of life. Thus, while New York boasts some spectacular architecture, exciting public parks, vital art galleries, and vibrant concert halls, it also forces us to confront chronic prejudice, wrenching poverty, and sometimes explosive violence.
4. Cities offer the promise—but not always the reality—of a better life. At least since the time of the ancient Greeks, people have recognized that the city holds the promise of living " the good life." Yet all urban places fall short of this ideal in some ways, and in a number of today's cities, people are struggling valiantly simply to survive. The great promise of urban living, coupled with the daunting problems of actual cities, provokes us to ask how (or, indeed, if) we can intentionally and thoughtfully make urban places better. Although we are realistic about the problems, we remain optimistic about the possibilities.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE TEXT

Two special features warrant the attention of readers.

Boxes. First, each chapter contains several boxed inserts. These boxes are of five kinds. Critical Thinking boxes ask readers to grapple with a particular problem or question, assess some evidence, and reach a reasoned conclusion. Urban Living boxes provide a picture of the city "at street level"—that is, a close-up look at how people really live. Looking Back boxes amplify the historical content of the text, reminding us that our cities are built on the past, culturally and, indeed, literally. The City in Literature boxes are testimony to our belief that writers and poets (from Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, and T. S. Eliot to Paul Theroux, John Steinbeck, Tom Wolfe, James Baldwin, Elijah Anderson, and Francine Garcia-Hallcom) have special abilities to capture the sights and sounds—and sometimes even the soul—of cities. Finally, Cityscapes present an extended literary account or scholarly analysis of some significant dimension of urban life.

Case Studies. The text includes eight case studies that offer a broad sociohistorical look at major cities in various regions of the world as they illustrate a chapter's key points. The cities profiled in these case studies are London (Chapter 2), New York (Chapter 3), Portland, Oregon (Chapter 4), Ming Peking (Chapter 8), Hellenic Athens (Chapter 8), Communist Beijing (Chapter 8), Chicago (Chapter 11), and Toronto (Chapter 14).

WHAT'S NEW
IN THE SECOND EDITION

The second edition of this text reflects a number of basic changes.

First, Chapter 4 ( "Cities and Suburbs of the Twenty-First Century") is a new chapter that extends the historical development of cities into the current postindustrial era and considers at length issues such as urban sprawl.

Second, Chapter 8 ( "Urban Anthropology: The City and Culture") enhances the comparative theme of the text, showing how societies at different times and in different places shape cities and urban life in distinctive ways.

Third, Chapter 12 ("Housing, Education, Crime: Confronting Urban Problems") has been expanded to include a discussion of the problems and debates surrounding urban schools.

Fourth, Chapter 13 ( "Cities in the Developing World") is a new chapter that surveys global urban development and highlights how cities in economically developing nations differ from those in rich countries such as the United States and Canada.

In addition, the entire text has been rewritten and updated, with new statistical data, the results of research published in the last four years, a number of new boxes and other features, and a new photo program.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, and most important, the authors wish to acknowledge the role played by James L. Spates, of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in an earlier version of this book, titled The Sociology of Cities, coauthored by Jim Spates and John Macionis. Although Vince Parrillo and John Macionis have significantly revised that effort at many levels, Jim's ideas and enthusiasm for cities are still evident here.

Parrillo and Macionis wish to thank the editorial team at Prentice Hall for their efforts in making this text a reality. Particular thanks go to Nancy Roberts, publisher-sociology, for originally signing the project and helping to get the work under way, and to Sharon Chambliss, managing editor for sociology, for handling the review and production of this manuscript. Joan Stone did a masterful job in guiding the book through technical production and an on-time delivery date. We are grateful to Virginia Rubens for copyediting and to Melanie Belkin for preparing the index. Finally, we wish to thank Karen Pugliano for selecting the striking photographs that appear in the book.

For reviewing part or all of the manuscript and generously sharing their time and ideas with us, we gratefully acknowledge Ronald S. Edari, University of Wisconsin; Daniel Monti, Boston University; Leo Pinard, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo; David Prok, Baldwin Wallace College; and James D. Tasa, Erie Community College-North.

John J. Macionis
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio 43022
E-mail: [e-mail]
...

Editorial Reviews

A textbook for a sociology course on city life, combining the ideas of classical European social thinkers such as Weber and Marx with the views of contemporary urbanists. Macionis (Kenyon College, Ohio) and Parrillo (William Paterson U., New Jersey) emphasize that cities and urban life vary according to time and place, that cities reflect and intensify society and culture, that cities reveal the best and worst about the human condition, and that cities offer the promise but not always the reality of a better life. The 1998 first edition is here rearranged and updated with recent statistics and research findings. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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