Alan Latham – författare

"This extraordinary collage of sophisticated essays on key terms in urban geography both provides a conventional basis to and recasts innovatively a burgeoning field in the discipline." - Roger Keil, co-Editor, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research

"The city is an obvious but confounding object of geographical analysis; urban structure and life are shaped by an astounding array of social, economic, and political dynamics. This volume embraces these complexities of city form in a wide-ranging, readable, well-informed, and highly interdisciplinary analysis of key topics in urban studies. With its fresh approach, this book provides an accessible entry point for the newcomer to urban geography, yet also delivers creative insights for those with greater familiarity." - Professor Steven K. Herbert, University of Washington

Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Urban Geography provides a cutting-edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in urban geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes:An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field.Over 20 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject.A glossary, figures, diagrams and suggested further reading.

This is an ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in urban geography and covers the expected staples of the subdiscipline from global cities and urban nature to transnational urbanism and virtuality.

"This extraordinary collage of sophisticated essays on key terms in urban geography both provides a conventional basis to and recasts innovatively a burgeoning field in the discipline." - Roger Keil, co-Editor, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research

"The city is an obvious but confounding object of geographical analysis; urban structure and life are shaped by an astounding array of social, economic, and political dynamics. This volume embraces these complexities of city form in a wide-ranging, readable, well-informed, and highly interdisciplinary analysis of key topics in urban studies. With its fresh approach, this book provides an accessible entry point for the newcomer to urban geography, yet also delivers creative insights for those with greater familiarity." - Professor Steven K. Herbert, University of Washington

Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Urban Geography provides a cutting-edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in urban geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes:An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field.Over 20 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject.A glossary, figures, diagrams and suggested further reading.

This is an ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in urban geography and covers the expected staples of the subdiscipline from global cities and urban nature to transnational urbanism and virtuality.

Key Thinkers on Cities provides an engaging introduction to the dynamic intellectual field of urban studies. It profiles the work of 40 innovative thinkers who represent the broad reach of contemporary urban scholarship and whose ideas have shaped the way cities around the world are understood, researched, debated and acted upon. Providing a synoptic overview that spans a wide range of academic and professional disciplines, theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, the entry for each key thinker comprises:

A succinct introduction and overview Intellectual biography and research focus An explication of key ideas Contributions to urban studies

The book offers a fresh look at well-known thinkers who have been foundational to urban scholarship, including Jane Jacobs, Henri Lefebvre, Manuel Castells and David Harvey. It also incorporates those who have helped to bring a concern for cities to more widespread audiences, such as Jan Gehl, Mike Davis and Enrique Peñalosa. Notably, the book also includes a range of thinkers who have more recently begun to shape the study of cities through engagements with art, architecture, computer modelling, ethnography, public health, post-colonial theory and more.

With an introduction that provides a mapping of the current transdisciplinary field, and individual entries by those currently involved in cutting edge urban research in the Global North and South, this book promises to be an essential text for anyone interested in the study of cities and urban life. It will be of use to those in the fields of anthropology, economics, geography, sociology and urban planning. 

Key Thinkers on Cities provides an engaging introduction to the dynamic intellectual field of urban studies. It profiles the work of 40 innovative thinkers who represent the broad reach of contemporary urban scholarship and whose ideas have shaped the way cities around the world are understood, researched, debated and acted upon. Providing a synoptic overview that spans a wide range of academic and professional disciplines, theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, the entry for each key thinker comprises:

A succinct introduction and overview Intellectual biography and research focus An explication of key ideas Contributions to urban studies

The book offers a fresh look at well-known thinkers who have been foundational to urban scholarship, including Jane Jacobs, Henri Lefebvre, Manuel Castells and David Harvey. It also incorporates those who have helped to bring a concern for cities to more widespread audiences, such as Jan Gehl, Mike Davis and Enrique Peñalosa. Notably, the book also includes a range of thinkers who have more recently begun to shape the study of cities through engagements with art, architecture, computer modelling, ethnography, public health, post-colonial theory and more.

With an introduction that provides a mapping of the current transdisciplinary field, and individual entries by those currently involved in cutting edge urban research in the Global North and South, this book promises to be an essential text for anyone interested in the study of cities and urban life. It will be of use to those in the fields of anthropology, economics, geography, sociology and urban planning. 

These four volumes present a series of thematic explorations of key developments and debates on the topic of cities and city life in a post-modern context. Arranged thematically, the volumes draw together articles exploring: the relationship between the dynamics of contemporary globalisation, post-modernity, and urban development; the ways in which many contemporary cities are increasingly defined as centres of consumption rather than production; the multiple modernities defining contemporary city life around the world; and recent attempts to rethink our understandings of the materiality and complexity of cities. This collection has been built on the premise that cities need to be understood as interdisciplinary objects of study, and the contents have been drawn from a wide variety of sources with roots in areas such as urban anthropology, development studies, economics, history, geography and sociology. The result is a unique and valuable resource for scholars based in a variety of social science and humanities disciplines.

This four-volume Major Work brings together key literatures which offer perspectives on the emergence of the modern city and its connection with the project of modernity. The volumes explore the historical rise of the modern city and theorisations of the dynamics of city-based economic development; the nature of modernist city planning, governance and design; the role that the modern city has played in the rise of societies based on mass consumption; and the intertwining of expression, art and experience in the modern city.This collection has been built on the premise that cities need to be understood as interdisciplinary objects of study, and the contents have been drawn from a wide variety of sources with roots in areas such as urban anthropology, development studies, economics, history, geography and sociology. The result is a unique and valuable resource for scholars based in a variety of social science and humanities disciplines. Volume I: The Modern city: Evolution and DevelopmentVolume II: Planning, Governing and Designing the Modern CityVolume III: Consumption, Politics and Popular culture in the Modern CityVolume IV: Modernity, Representation and the City

Cities are sites of great wealth and poverty, of hope and despair, of social and economic dynamism, as well as tradition and established power. Social scientists and humanities scholars have over the past three decades generated an impressive range of perspectives for making sense of the vast complexities of cities. These perspectives tell both of the economic, social and political dynamism cities generate, and point to possible lines of future development. This 8-volume benchmark collection brings together a hugely diverse collection of the most influential and important papers on this topic. The first four volumes, The City: Modernity, focus on the emergence of the modern city and its connection with the project of modernity. The final four volumes, The City: Post-Modernity, will focus more exclusively on the contemporary city, looking at the subject through the lenses of globalization and post-colonialism, amongst others.

From parks and libraries to pubs and schools, social infrastructures are the everyday places that bring people together, support community life, and foster connection. As interest in the concept grows, this timely and accessible edited collection offers a comprehensive overview of social infrastructure—its origins, development, and practical impact. Packed with innovative case studies from the UK, Europe, Australia, and the US, it highlights how these shared spaces can shape urban life and wellbeing. Featuring contributions from leading scholars, the book provides a vital framework for understanding and researching places that support social connection in an increasingly fragmented world.

Do you want to study what people do, the things they say, or what they think?

This book offers a lively and questioning account of the essential elements of social research, from defining your research purpose to producing the right output for your audience.

Fostering inquisitiveness and ingenuity and drawing on lots of examples and experiences, it will inspire you to think afresh about the various things you might do as a social researcher.

It will also:

Reveal the lived realities of research, sharing honest and illuminating stories along the way; Draw on plenty of past exercises with students to consider how different activities workDemystify the process so you can think for yourself about how to do effective projects.

Original, engaging and candid, this book will help any undergraduate or postgraduate navigate the dynamic and challenging landscape of social research with confidence and creativity.