The City

PD Dr. phil. habil. Uwe Prell holds a doctorate in political science, is a habilitated historian and author, and works as a private lecturer in Berlin, Germany.

THE CITY IS THE ANSWER. BUT WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?
NOTE ON THE ENGLISH EDITION

I. THE DIFFICULTIES OF INTERDISCIPLINARITY

II. ON THE BENEFITS OF A TOOL

III. THEORY

A. The science of the city
1. The big picture (urbanism)
2. City as society (sociology and urban sociology)
3. City as market (economics and urban economics)
4. City as natural environment ((urban) geography, urban environmental management, and climate research)
5. City as design space (spatial planning, urban planning, architecture, and urban morphology)
6. City as policy (law)
7. City as memory space (history)
8. City as hope and disappointment (philosophy)
9. Ways out of no man’s land (political science)
10. The city: a puzzle

B. The grand narratives
1. The good city (Aristotle)
2. The multifunctional city (Werner Sombart)
3. Politics, the market, and city types (Max Weber)
4. The blasé city dweller (Georg Simmel)
5. The dense city (Lewis Wirth and the Chicago School)
6. No city (Jürgen Friedrichs)
7. The global city (Saskia Sassen)
8. The ordinary city (Ash Amin and Stephen Graham)
9. The open city (Richard Sennett)
10. The experts’ insights

C. The wisdom of languages: the city is…
1. The city is dense infrastructure (Egyptian)
2. The city is citizenship (Greek)
3. The city is power politics (Latin)
4. The city is structured densification (Spanish)
5. The city is lifestyle (French)
6. The city is relevance (English)
7. The city is rights (German)
8. The city is the centre (Russian)
9. The city is civilization (Arabic)
10. The city is prosperity (Hindi)
11. The city is the economy (Chinese)
12. The city is a hub (Japanese)
13. The genes of the city

IV. PRACTICE

A. Zooming in

B. Terms, concepts, and city types
1. Megacity
2. Global city
3. Capital city
4. Arrival city
5. Smart city
6. Neoliberal city
7. Virus city
8. Shrinking city and lost city
9. Terms, concepts, and city types: valuable patterns?
C. Urban issues
1. Immigration and emigration
2. Housing and living
3. Society and the economy
4. Movement and standstill
5. Analogue and digital
6. City and countryside
7. City and world
8. City and environment
9. Diversity and reciprocities

V. OUR FUTURE WILL BE DECIDED IN AND WITH THE CITY
Literature
Index

Nicht nur ist das Buch von Uwe Prell empfehlenswert, aus meiner Sicht ist es ein sehr aktuelles Standardwerk zu den Thematiken der Stadt, vor allem dank des interdisziplinären Ansatzes für mich ein „Augenöffner“.
Günther Bachmann, Stadtforschung und Statistik 1/2023