David Grahame Shane
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, 2011, Engish
Nonfiction, Urban Design
6.7 x 0.9 x 8.7 inches, paperback, 360 pages
ISBN: 9780470515266
Suggested Retail Price: $45.00

From the Publisher. Urban Design Since 1945: A Global Perspective reviews the emergence of urban design as a global phenomenon. The book opens with the urgent need to rebuild cities and re-house the millions of refugees living in camps and shantytowns at the end of the Second World War. Against this background, the book traces the collapse of the modernist, comprehensive state-planning schemes on both sides of the Iron Curtain as global corporations emerged, concentrating on networks and enclaves. It describes how Latin America and then Asia began a rapid urbanization process, shifting the global urban center away from Europe and overturning existing urban design models. This resulted in global megacities of an unprecedented scale, often with large associated shantytowns.

By outlining the dominant models in urban design over the last sixty years—the metropolis, the megalopolis, the fragmented metropolis, and the global megacity—the book provides an essential framework for students of the subject.

On 1 book list
John Hill

Shane’s second book on urban design presents four models of the city since World War II: the metropolis, the megalopolis, the fractured metropolis, and the megacity/metacity. Loaded with case studies that illustrate the characteristics of each model, the book is a solid history of urban design as well as a snapshot of cities today and advice on how we move forward.

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