Urban Sociology: Images and Structure [Hardcover]

Flanagans approach provides a richly historical and social theoretical view for understanding urban development. This book provides students with understanding both the changing urban form and the power of cities in societies, from early settlements to world urbanization. This accessible, yet sophisticated account of major debates in urban sociology is a wonderful teaching tool and reference guide. Readers can learn of key trends in urban development, in the intellectual understanding of the city, and in the policy responses that have been attempted by individuals and social groups to organize urban life through community development, social networks, economic institutions, and political agencies, such as national governments. The grand scope that Flanagan provides on urban growth and transformations allows students to imagine the urban world of the past as well as the future. This is an excellent foundational source for students.The fifth edition of this book extends the discussion of the challenges faced by urban sociology in the global age, while covering the issues traditionally associated with urban sociology. It presents a balanced review of the ecological perspective and the political and economic contexts of the urban environment. Topics include communities in cities, minority and ethnic groups, poverty, power, crime, cities in economic development and underdevelopment, metropolitanization and urban sprawl, and urban policy and planning. The final chapter explores the significance of cyberspace, transnationalism, and global terrorism for the future of urban sociology.The fifth edition of this text presents a balanced review of the ecological arguments that the urban arena produces unique experiential and urban-based cultural effects while exploring the broader political and economic contexts that produce and modify the urban environment. In addition to examining the urban dimensions of such topics as community formation and continuity, minority and majorityl3ã