Urban Life and Society

Book excerpt: Urban Life and Society is a comprehensive and readable overview of the entire field of urban sociology. It provides a very well balanced introduction to all of the major approaches and perspectives. The book pays homage to the traditional "classic" works in the field, while also focusing on some of the most recent theoretical and empirical work available. Updated materials, from the perspective of the NEW URBAN SOCIOLOGY, or THE POLITICAL ECOMOMY APPROACH, as it is increasingly coming to be called, are most directly represented in the two separate chapters on urban economic institutions and political institutions, but also material on the new urban sociology approach is integrated into the most relevant sections. A historical perspective provides the reader with a clear picture of the process of urbanization process--past, present, and future: from the first cities to the emergence of the early Egyptian, Greek, Roman civilizations; continuing through urban developments throughout the feudal, medieval, and renaissance periods of European urbanization. For anyone interested in urban sociology.