Triumph of the City How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier

by Glaeser, Edward

• ISBN13: 9780143120544
• ISBN10: 0143120549
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781101475676
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-31
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• More Book Details

Summary

A pioneering urban economist presents a myth-shattering look at the majesty and greatness of cities. America is an urban nation, yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, environmentally unfriendly . . . or are they? In this revelatory book, Edward Glaeser, a leading urban economist, declares that cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in both cultural and economic terms) places to live. He travels through history and around the globe to reveal the hidden workings of cities and how they bring out the best in humankind. Using intrepid reportage, keen analysis, and cogent argument, Glaeser makes an urgent, eloquent case for the city's importance and splendor, offering inspiring proof that the city is humanity's greatest creation and our best hope for the future.

Author Biography

Edward L. Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He studies the economics of cities, housing, segregation, obesity, crime, innovation and other subjects, and writes about many of these issues for Economix. He serves as the director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1992.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Our Urban Species	p. 1
What Do They Make in Bangalore?	p. 17
Ports of Intellectual Entry: Athens	p. 19
Baghdad's House of Wisdom	p. 21
Learning in Nagasaki	p. 23
How Bangalore Became a Boom Town	p. 24
Education and Urban Success	p. 27
The Rise of Silicon Valley	p. 29
The Cities of Tomorrow	p. 34
Why Do Cities Decline?	p. 41
How the Rust Belt Rose	p. 43
Detroit Before Cars	p. 46
Henry Ford and Industrial Detroit	p. 49
Why Riot?	p. 52
Urban Reinvention: New York Since 1970	p. 56
The Righteous Rage of Coleman Young	p. 58
The Curley Effect	p. 60
The Edifice Complex	p. 61
Remaining in the Rust Belt	p. 63
Shrinking to Greatness	p. 64
What's Good About Slums?	p. 69
Rio's Favelas	p. 72
Moving On Up	p. 76
Richard Wright's Urban Exodus	p. 79
Rise and Fall of the American Ghetto	p. 81
The Inner City	p. 85
How Policy Magnifies Poverty	p. 86
How Were the Tenements Tamed?	p. 93
The Plight of Kinshasa	p. 95
Healing Sick Cities	p. 97
Street Cleaning and Corruption	p. 101
More Roads, Less Traffic?	p. 104
Making Cities Safer	p. 106
Health Benefits	p. 114
Is London a Luxury Resort?	p. 117
Scale Economies and the Globe Theatre	p. 119
The Division of Labor and Lamb Vindaloo	p. 122
Shoes and the City	p. 126
London as Marriage Market	p. 127
When Are High Wages Bad?	p. 129
What's So Great About Skyscrapers?	p. 135
Inventing the Skyscraper	p. 136
The Soaring Ambition of A. E. Lefcourt	p. 140
Regulating New York	p. 142
Fear of Heights	p. 144
The Perils of Preservation	p. 148
Rethinking Paris	p. 152
Mismanagement in Mumbai	p. 157
Three Simple Rules	p. 161
Why Has Sprawl Spread?	p. 165
Sprawl Before Cars	p. 167
William Levitt and Mass-Produced Housing	p. 174
Rebuilding America Around the Car	p. 177
Welcome to The Woodlands	p. 180
Accounting for Tastes: Why a Million People Moved to Houston	p. 183
Why Is Housing So Cheap in the Sunbelt?	p. 188
What's Wrong with Sprawl?	p. 193
Is There Anything Greener Than Blacktop?	p. 199
The Dream of Garden Living	p. 202
Dirty Footprints: Comparing Carbon Emissions	p. 206
The Unintended Consequences of Environmentalism	p. 210
Two Green Visions: The Prince and the Mayor	p. 213
The Biggest Battle: Greening India and China	p. 217
Seeking Smarter Environmentalism	p. 220
How Do Cities Succeed?	p. 223
The Imperial City: Tokyo	p. 224
The Well-Managed City: Singapore and Gaborone	p. 227
The Smart City: Boston, Minneapolis, and Milan	p. 231
The Consumer City: Vancouver	p. 238
The Growing City: Chicago and Atlanta	p. 241
Too Much of a Good Thing in Dubai	p. 244
CONCLUSION: Flat World, Tall City	p. 247
Give Cities a Level Playing Field	p. 249
Urbanization Through Globalization	p. 251
Lend a Hand to Human Capital	p. 253
Help Poor People, Not Poor Places	p. 255
The Challenge of Urban Poverty	p. 257
The Rise of the Consumer City	p. 259
The Curse of NIMBYism	p. 260
The Bias Toward Sprawl	p. 264
Green Cities	p. 276
Gifts of the City	p. 268
Acknowledgments	p. 271
Notes	p. 275
Bibliography	p. 307
Index	p. 325
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