City Life

By Adrian Franklin

Cities are more important as cultural entities than their mere function as dormitories and industrial sites. Yet, the understanding of what makes a city ′alive′ and appealing in cultural terms is still hotly contested - why are some cities so much more interesting, popular and successful than others?

In this engaging discussion in the text City Life, Adrian Franklin takes the reader on a tour of contemporary western cities exploring their historical development and arguing that it is the transformative, ritual and performative qualities of successful cities that makes a difference.

Here is a new urban culture characterized by ecological frames of reference; tracking the making of contemporary city life from traditional times, through early modern, mechanic and modernized stages of development.

Adopting dynamic narrative structures and stories to develop its critical position, this book creates a vibrant synthesis of city life from its key components:

leisure and tourismrecreation and play arts and culturenature and environment architecture and public space

Emphasising the importance of experience, the book represents the fluid complexity of the city as a living space, an environment and a posthumanist space of transformation. It will be of interest to all those engaging with the difficulties of urban life in sociology, human geography, tourism and cultural studies departments.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761944761
• ISBN13: 9780761944768
• Release Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.6" x 9.4"