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Cities in civilization

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  • Author: Hall, Peter
    Date:
    Copyrighted
    1998
    Summary:

    Drawing on the contributions of economists and geographers, of cultural, technological, and social historians, Sir Peter Hall examines twenty-one cities at their greatest moments. Hall describes the achievements of these golden ages and outlines the precise combinations of forces - both universal and local - that led to each city's belle epoque. Hall identifies four distinct expressions of civic innovation: artistic growth, technological progress, the marriage of culture and technology, and solutions to evolving problems. Descriptions of Periclean Athens, Renaissance Florence, Elizabethan London, and nineteenth-century Vienna bring to life those seedbeds of artistic and intellectual creativity. Explorations of Manchester during the Industrial Revolution, of Henry Ford's Detroit, and of Palo Alto at the dawn of the computer age highlight centers of technological advances. Tales of the creation of Los Angeles' movie industry and the birth of the blues and rock 'n' roll in Memphis depict the marriage of culture and technology. Finally, Hall celebrates cities that have been forced to solve problems created by their very size.

    Contents:
    • 1. Great Cities in their Golden Ages
    • 2. Fountainhead: Athens 500-400 BC
    • 3. Rediscovery of Life: Florence 1400-1500
    • 4. World as Stage: London 1570-1620
    • 5. City as Pleasure Principle: Vienna 1780-1910
    • 6. Capital of Light: Paris 1870-1910
    • 7. Invention of the Twentieth Century: Berlin 1918-1933
    • 8. Key to Creativity
    • 9. Innovative Milieu
    • 10. First Industrial City: Manchester 1760-1830
    • 11. Conquest of the Oceans: Glasgow 1770-1890
    • 12. Pioneer Technopolis: Berlin 1840-1930
    • 13. Mass Production of Mobility: Detroit 1890-1915
    • 14. Industrialization of Information: San Francisco/Palo Alto/Berkeley 1950-1990
    • 15. State as Permanent Innovator: Tokyo-Kanagawa 1890-1990
    • 16. Innovative Essence
    • 17. Invention of Mass Culture
    • 18. Dream Factory: Los Angeles 1910-1945
    • 19. Soul of the Delta: Memphis 1948-1956
    • 20. Secret of the Marriage
    • 21. Challenge to the Urban Order
    • 22. Imperial Capital: Rome 50 BC-AD 100
    • 23. Utilitarian City: London 1825-1900
    • 24. City of Perpetual Public Works: Paris 1850-1870
    • 25. Apotheosis of the Modern: New York 1880-1940
    • 26. City as Freeway: Los Angeles 1900-1980
    • 27. Social Democratic Utopia: Stockholm 1945-1980
    • 28. City of Capitalism Rampant: London 1979-1993
    • 29. Achievement of the Urban Order
    • 30. City of the Coming Golden Age.
    Original Publisher: New York, Pantheon Books
    Language(s): English
    ISBN: 0394587324