Beschreibung

This book presents the current state of urban research across various disciplines. The author offers insights into the views of those key disciplines that deal with urbanism, such as sociology, geography, spatial and urban planning, history, philosophy, and political science. He also takes language philosophy into account and shows the different meanings of concepts related to cities in a dozen word languages. An overview of central approaches and theories as well as of their practical application enables readers to see a familiar topic in a new light.

For which problem is the city a solution? This guiding question follows the assumption that the city can be understood as a tool to increase one’s own and common possibilities.
The book begins with an explanation of why the city as a tool is so important. This is followed by a survey of key disciplines about their views. Some texts are ubiquitous in this process. Therefore, a „speed dating“ with authoritative experts offers insights into their thinking. Both are essential, but do not lead to a convincing result. A new approach offers that. Relying on the cleverness of languages, the word city and the meanings embodied in it are considered in a dozen world languages. This idea, following the philosophy of language, reveals something that can be called the „genes“ of the city.
In practice, this foundation makes it possible to look at the numerous city terms, concepts, and types in a way that clarifies their meaning. The picture is completed with an overview of some issues important to cities. Finally, there is a look into the future, of which so much is certain, that it will be decided in and with the city – whether we are interested in it or not.

Table of contents + reading sample

Interview with the author, Uwe Prell

The author:
Dr. habil. Uwe Prell,  political scientist and historian, lecturer, Berlin, Germany

You can download this title’s publicity leaflet (PDF) here.

The target group:
Researchers, lecturers, and students of urban studies, sociology, political science, and geography

Zusätzliche Informationen

Autor*innen

Uwe Prell

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Keywords

architecture, center, city, dense city, Geography, global city, open city, philosophy, Political Science, smart city, Social Sciences, sociology, town, urban history, urban research, urban studies, urban theory, urbanism

Pressestimmen

Nicht nur ist das Buch von Uwe Prell empfehlenswert, aus meiner Sicht ist es ein sehr aktuelles Standardwerk zu den Thematiken der Stadt, vor allem dank des interdisziplinären Ansatzes für mich ein „Augenöffner“.

Günther Bachmann, in: Stadtforschung und Statistik, 1/2023