Voices of Decline: The Postwar Fate of US Cities / Edition 2

by Robert A. Beauregard

Overview

[FOR HISTORY CATALOGS]Drawing on the pronouncements of public commentators, this book portrays the 20th century history of U.S. cities, focusing specifically on how commentators crafted a discourse of urban decline and prosperity peculiar to the post-World War II era. The efforts of these commentators spoke to the foundational ambivalence Americans have toward their cities and, in turn, shaped the choices Americans made as they created and negotiated the country's changing urban landscape. [FOR GEOG/URBAN CATALOGS]Freely crossing disciplinary boundaries, this book uses the words of those who witnessed the cities' distress to portray the postwar discourse on urban decline in the United States. Up-dated and substantially re-written in stronger historical terms, this new edition explores how public debates about the fate of cities drew from and contributed to the choices made by households, investors, and governments as they created and negotiated America's changing urban landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415932387
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/25/2002
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Robert Beauregard is Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Public and Urban Policy at the Milano School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University. He is the author of numerous articles and books.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements.

Preface.

1. Themes and Texts.

2. Representing Urban Decline.

3. The Cities Wholesome and Good.

4. Not Those of Decadence.

5. The Unhappy Process of Changing.

6. On the Verge of Catastrophe.

7. Every Problem a Racial Dimension.

8. Crisis of Our Cities.

9. Rising from the Ashes.

10. Not Excessively Inconvenienced.

11. Intersections, Displacements, Absences.

12. Legitimating the Siting of Decline.

Bibiliographic Essay.

Methodological Note.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Since the late 1800s, cities have become the measure of American progress. Their rise and decline has been touted as the driving force in the changes of American commerce and society. Beauregard (Univ. of Pittsburgh) draws his thesis from the discourse of the popular press: mass-market magazines, national newspapers, government reports, and other public forums. The bulk of the volume takes a chronological approach. Beauregard concludes that capitalism does not require ``functioning cities'' and that city decline need not be inevitable or permanent. This interdisciplinary examination is excellent intellectual history. However, because of its dense prose, it will be most useful to scholars and specialists.-- Jenny Presnell, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, Ohio

Library Journal

"Since America became an urban society, its cities have been a source of heated debate. Their condition has resulted not just from the unfolding of economic forces but also from policies rooted in a mentality that has regarded urbanism as threatening. In this highly original work Bob Beauregard ferrets out the history of the American city as it existed in the popular imagination. His brilliant - and entertaining - investigation reveals the mind set that has defined America's urban problems and thereby seriously limited the possibilities for addressing them." Susan S. Fainstein, Rutgers University

"An original and authoritative look at the place of cities in twentieth century American culture. The catalogue of different voices that Beauregard uncovers will force us into new ways of seeing the 'decline' of U. S. cities." Professor J. Dear, University of Southern California

"Voices of Decline is a solid, original contribution - well-written, insightful, provocative, and instructive. The book accomplishes it goals admirably, providing the best work I have seen on methodology of 20th century U. S. urban study. I am pleased to recommend it with enthusiasm." John S. Adams, University of Minnesota

"A solid, original contribution, well written, insightful, provocative, and instructive. The book accomplishes its goals admirably, providing the best work I have seen on methodology of 20th century US urban study. I am pleased."

From the Publisher