Forthcoming Books in the City in the 21st Century Series

The City in the 21st Century series is looking forward to adding its 50th book. We are proud of this achievement and looking forward to what’s next. Read on for a preview of what’s to come in this cross-disciplinary series edited by Penn IUR Co-Directors Eugénie Birch and Susan Wachter and published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

The series, which currently includes 45 published volumes, explores the depth and breadth of contemporary urban scholarship across a wide range of disciplines. “Cities are complex, and research on cities is by nature interdisciplinary,” says Wachter. “We together with Penn Press created this series to fill a need for books specifically focused on integrating urban knowledge across disciplines.”

The next book in the series, The Paradox of Urban Revitalization: Progress and Poverty in America’s Post-Industrial Era, by Howard Gillette, Professor of History Emeritus at Rutgers University-Camden, will be released later this month. Gillette examines the phenomenon in which postindustrial cities have reversed their decline and become more prosperous—but also more unequal. Tracing the origins and effects of uneven revitalization, Gillette examines the genesis of America's second urban crisis and prospects for an equitable resolution.

In another soon to be forthcoming volume, Urban Planning in a World of Informal Politics, by Chandan Deuskar, Urban Development Consultant, World Bank and Penn IUR Emerging Scholar, examines how local politics in many rapidly urbanizing countries can undermine the effectiveness of urban planning. Dueskar explores how politicians in developing democracies provide urban land and services to the urban poor in exchange for their immediate political support, demonstrates how this can adversely impact sustainable and equitable urban growth, and suggests ways in which urban planners can be more effective in this challenging political context. The book is scheduled for publication this fall.

The volume China Urbanizing: Impacts and Transitions, edited by Weiping Wu, Interim Dean, Professor of Urban Planning, and Director of the Urban Planning programs, Columbia GSAPP and Qin Gao, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work, Columbia University School of Social Work and Founding Director, Columbia University’s China Center for Social Policy, is also scheduled for publication in the fall. This book situates China’s dramatic urbanization within the interconnected forces of historical legacies, contemporary state interventions, and human and ecological conditions. The volume provides new perspectives on the transitions underway, particularly in the context of demographic shifts and climate change.

The Nation’s Metropolis, by Royce Hanson, Research Professor, George Washington Institute of Public Policy, and Hal Wolman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Research Professor, George Washington Institute of Public Policy, will come out next spring. It describes how the D.C. region functions as both a national capital region and a metropolitan political economy, employing an interdisciplinary approach that draws from economics, political science, sociology, geography, and history. The manuscript by Jovanna Rosen, tentatively titled Left at the Table: The Fight for Equitable Urban Development, is next up on the publication docket, with several more volumes at stages in the editorial review process.

“Perhaps the most vital thing to know about the series is that we intentionally cultivate an eclectic list of authors that include practitioners from various fields and scholars both senior and junior,” said Robert Lockhart, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Penn Press.

Birch echoed this sentiment, noting that “one of the most exciting aspects of our partnership with Penn Press is that they have encouraged publishing the full range of pioneering urban knowledge-building work from successful dissertations to advanced monographs to practitioner reflections to edited collections.”

According to Lockhart, several titles in the series’ back catalog continue to be frequently used in courses. These include both edited volumes, including Birch and Wachter’s Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster; texts by senior scholars such as Elijah Anderson’s Against the Wall; and practical, policy-oriented volumes such as Birch and Wachter’s Growing Greener Cities and Peter Hendee Brown’s How Real Estate Developers Think. 

Books written by prominent figures reflecting on their practical experiences in the world of urban governance and policy are also perennially popular. These volumes include Judith Rodin’s The University and Urban Revival, John Timoney’s Beat Cop to Top Cop, Manny Diaz’s Miami Transformed, and Michael Nutter’s Mayor. 

To access the full list of books in the series, visit the Penn Press website or the Penn IUR website.