City
Subtitle: a guidebook for the urban age
By: P.D. Smith
Edition: 1st U.S. ed.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 383
ISBN-13: 9781608196760
Subjects: Cities and towns; History; City life; Urban Sociology
Description: Acclaimed author and independent scholar P. D. Smith explores what it was like to live in the first cities, how they have evolved, and why in the future, cities will play an even greater role in human life.

"For the first time in the history of our planet, more than half the population-3.3 billion people-is now living in cities. City is the ultimate guidebook to our urban centers-the signature unit of human civilization. With erudite prose and carefully chosen illustrations, this unique work of metatourism explores what cities are and how they work. It covers history, customs and language, districts, transport, money, work, shops and markets, and tourist sites, creating a fantastically detailed portrait of the city through history and into the future.   The urban explorer will revel in essays on downtowns, suburbs, shantytowns and favelas, graffiti, skylines, crime, the theater, street food, sport, eco-cities, and sacred sites, as well as mini essays on the Tower of Babel, flash mobs, ghettos, skateboarding, and SimCity, among many others." -- Publishers description
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.