Cities in Modernity: Representations and Productions of Metropolitan Space, 1840-1930 / Edition 1

by Richard Dennis

Overview

What made cities 'modern' in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Cities in Modernity explores connections between culture, economy and built environment in cities of this period, drawing its evidence principally from London, New York and Toronto. The book discusses both the cultural experience of modernity and the material modernization of cities, placing special emphasis on their historical geographies, on the production, representation and use of urban space. The opening chapters present new ways of seeing cities in political and religious discourse, social survey, mapping, art and literature. The book then concentrates on new kinds of public and private spaces, such as apartment buildings, office blocks and department stores, and the networks of communication between them. An important theme throughout is the gendered experience of the new types of environment. The book will appeal to scholars and students of historical geography, urban history and cultural studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521468411
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/28/2008
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography , #40
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	458
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Richard Dennis is Reader in the Department of Geography, UCL. He is associate editor of the Journal of Urban History and the author of English Industrial Cities of the Nineteenth Century: A Social Geography (1984).

Table of Contents

1. Building bridges; 2. The idea of progress; 3. Surveying the city; 4. Writing and picturing the city; 5. Improving streets; 6. Public spaces - practised places; 7. Building suburbia; 8. Consuming suburbia; 9. Mansion flats and model dwellings; 10. Geographies of downtown: office spaces; 11. Geographies of downtown: the place of shopping; 12. Networked cities.

Editorial Reviews

"a very erudite and incisive piece of work, which draws strength from the rich and diverse research that informs it. It expertly negotiates and synthesizes work within architectural history, geography, building, cultural and feminist studies, sociology, business, and finance, creating an accessible, engaging, and informative work, of interest to a broad spectrum of scholars, researchers, and students." -Angharad Saunders, H-HistGeog

"Geographer Dennis...provides a nuanced and thought-provoking overview that charts crucial social and cultural transformations in modern urban space. Recommended." -Choice

"...a wide-ranging and impressive synthesis..." -Roger D. Simon, Techonology and Culture

"Dennis's work will instruct and provoke in equal measure, and is set to become a key reference for students of modern urban history in Britain and North America." -Felix Driver, American Historical Review

"With its subtle argumentation and rich use of sources, Cities in Modernity is sure to be of interest to students and specialists of urban history, geography, and culture, and will undoubtedly become an essential reference for those interested in the tensions and contradictions that make urban modernity so pervasive an object of inquiry. -Nicolas Kenny, H-Urban

From the Publisher