Cities, Politics & Power / Edition 1

by Simon Parker

Overview

Traditionally, the study of 'power in the city' was confined to the institutions of urban government and the actors involved in contesting and making political decisions in and for metropolitan societies. Increasingly, however, attention has turned to the function of the city not only as a centre of urban governance but as a major economic, social, cultural and strategic force in its own right.

Cities, Politics and Power combines this traditional concern with how the cities in which we live are organized and run with a broader focus on cities and urban regions as multiple sites and agents of power. This book is divided into five sections, with a short introduction outlining the argument and organisation of the text. Part two charts the development of the urban polity and considers the ways in which coercion and force continue to be used to segregate, oppress and annihilate urban populations. Part three critically examines the key collective actors and processes that compete for and organise political power within cities, and how urban governance operates and interacts with lesser and greater scales of government and networks of power. Part four then explores the ways in which 'the political' is constituted by urban inhabitants, and how social identity, information and communication networks, and the natural and built environment all comprise intersecting fields of urban power. The conclusion calls for a broader theoretical and thematic approach to the study of urban politics.

This book makes extensive use of comparative and historical case studies, providing broad coverage of politics and urban movements in both the Global North and the Global South, with a particular focus on the UK, USA, Canada, Latin America and China. It is written in an accessible and lucid style and provides suggestions for further reading at the end each chapter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415365802
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/01/2010
Series:	Routledge Critical Introductions to Urbanism and the City
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Simon Parker is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of York where he teaches urban theory and comparative politics. He is the author of Urban Theory and the Urban Experience: Encountering the City (Routledge, 2004).

Table of Contents

Figures ix

Acknowledgements xi

Part I Introduction 1

1 Making sense of urban power 3

Part 11 The political life of cities 11

2 The civic city: the emergence of urban societies 13

3 The uncivil city: violence, conflict and resistance 33

Part III Urban governance 53

4 Political organisations and the quest for urban power 55

5 The government of cities 75

6 The confines of power: cities, regions and states in a global perspective 95

Part IV Identity, communication and space 117

7 The politics of urban identify 119

8 Information, communication and the networks of urban power 132

9 The landscapes of urban power 146

Part V Conclusion 163

10 Power and politics in the city 165

Notes 171

Bibliography 176

Index 197

Editorial Reviews

'Simon Parker brings a remarkable breadth of intellect and a keen sense of the multiple dimensions of power to this wide-ranging examination of cities. He makes startling connections between seemingly disparate urban practices and provides a richer agenda for the study of urban politics.' Associate Professor William Sites, University of Chicago.

'This extra-ordinarily wide-ranging and richly-referenced book charts the rise of the city in human history and uncovers the myriad ways in which politics and the exercise of power have shaped urban life, for good and ill. This is an insightful introduction to the breadth and dynamism of contemporary urban studies and a very timely challenge to anyone who thinks that urban politics begins and ends at the door of the town hall.' Professor Alan Harding, University of Manchester.

From the Publisher