The New Urban Sociology

Gottdiener (sociology, State U. of New York-Buffalo) in the 1994 first edition, with Hutchison (urban and regional studies, U. of Wisconsin-Green Bay), offer a paradigm of urban ecology based on an economy and political system hegemonically controlled by large, powerful interests that move to make their concerns the most important in the mixed economy where government intervention usually favors those powerful interests. The approach is still new, they say, because there remain individuals and schools promulgating the old view that multiple buyers and sellers reign supreme, and promoting neo-liberal political and planning prescriptions that weight market solutions heavily despite government subsidies. Their textbook discusses such topics as the origins of urban life, the rise of urban sociology, urbanization in the US, people and lifestyles in the metropolis, metropolitan problems, urbanization in the developed nations and in the developing world, metropolitan planning and environmental issues, and the future of urban sociology. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)