Europe 2008

Europe 2008
Author: Let's Go, Inc. Staff
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 1316
Release: 2007-11-27
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 9780312378585

Offering a comprehensive guide to economical travel in diverse regions of the world, these innovative new versions of the popular handbooks feature an all-new look, sidebars highlighting essential tips and facts, information on a wide range of itineraries, transportation options, off-the-beaten-path adventures, expanded lodging and dining options in every price range, additional nightlife options, enhanced cultural coverage, shopping tips, maps, 3-D topographical maps, regional culinary specialties, cost-cutting tips, and other essentials.

State of the World's Cities 2008/9

State of the World's Cities 2008/9
Author: Un-Habitat
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2012-05-04
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1136556710

Cities are perhaps one of humanity's most complex creations, never finished, never definitive. They are like a journey that never ends. Their evolution is determined by their ascent into greatness or their descent into decline. They are the past, the present and the future. Cities contain both order and chaos. In them reside beauty and ugliness, virtue and vice. They can bring out the best or the worst in humankind. They are the physical manifestation of history and culture and incubators of innovation, industry, technology, entrepreneurship and creativity. Cities are the materialization of humanity's noblest ideas, ambitions and aspirations but when not planned or governed properly, can be the repository of society's ills. Cities drive national economies by creating wealth, enhancing social development and providing employment but they can also be the breeding grounds for poverty, exclusion and environmental degradation. The 21st Century is the Century of the City. Half of humanity now lives in cities, and within the next two decades, 60 per cent of the world's people will reside in urban areas. How can city planners and policymakers harmonize the various interests, diversity and inherent contradictions within cities? What ingredients are needed to create harmony between the physical, social, environmental and cultural aspects of a city and the human beings that inhabit it? This report adopts the concept of Harmonious Cities as a theoretical framework in order to understand today's urban world, and also as an operational tool to confront the most important challenges facing urban areas and their development processes. It recognizes that tolerance, diversity, social justice and good governance, all of which are inter-related, are as important to sustainable urban development as physical planning. It addresses national concerns by searching for solutions at the city level. For that purpose, it focuses on three key areas: spatial or regional harmony, which examines the main drivers of urban growth in the developing world and explores the spatial nuances of economic and social policies; social harmony, which presents and analyzes new data on urban inequalities worldwide and describes the types of shelter deprivations experienced by slum dwellers in developing world regions; and environmental harmony, which examines the role of cities in the climate change debate, and the impact of global warming on the most vulnerable cities. The report also assesses the various intangible assets within cities that contribute to harmony, such as cultural heritage, sense of place and memory and the complex set of social and symbolic relationships that give cities meaning. It argues that these intangible assets represent the soul of the city and are as important for harmonious urban development as tangible assets. Harmony within cities, argues the report, is both a journey and a destination. Published with UN-HABITAT

Cities of Europe

Cities of Europe
Author: Yuri Kazepov
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2011-07-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1444399497

Cities of Europe is a unique combination of book and CD-ROM examining the effects of recent socio-economic transformations on western European cities. A unique combination of book and CD-ROM examining the effects of recent socio-economic transformations on western European cities. Focuses on the interplay between segregation, social exclusion and governance issues in these cities. Takes a comparative approach by highlighting the specifics of European cities vis-à-vis other urban contexts and analysing the intra-European differences. The CD-ROM features a series of 2,000 photographs from seventeen cities (Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Bucharest, Helsinki, London, Milan, Naples, New York, Paris, Rotterdam, Tirana, Turin, and Utrecht). Also features 126 thematic maps, interviews with established scholars, and literature reviews. The book and the CD-ROM are linked through an extensive cross-referencing system.

Second Rank Cities in Europe

Second Rank Cities in Europe
Author: Roberto Camagni
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1317361075

Second-rank cities are back on the academic scene, capturing the interest of scholars with their unexpected recent performance with respect to first-rank cities. Looking at the data on average urban GDP growth in 139 European cities since 1996, the relatively strong position of large cities (over 1.5 million inhabitants) on national growth coincides with the periods of fastest expansion, while at times of slowdown second-rank cities prevail. Especially in the recent period of economic downturn, second-rank cities have recorded annual GDP growth rates much less negative than those of capital cities; and in some European countries, like Austria and Germany, all cities have outperformed their capitals. In explaining this phenomenon, linking urban dynamics to agglomeration theories seems the most interesting approach. However, merely to link agglomeration economies to urban size in order to interpret urban performance is neither convincing nor sufficient, and it calls for additional investigation into how agglomeration economies work. This volume claims that interpretation of the current dynamics in European urban systems – especially in the western part of Europe – would benefit from exploitation of the traditional concept of agglomeration economies. However, necessary for this purpose are more in-depth considerations on the nature, scope, intensity, and causes of agglomeration economies which do not relate their existence solely to urban size. And this is where the main challenge for scholars lies, in the interpretation of the missing link between agglomeration economies and urban dynamics. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Planning Studies.

A Modern History of European Cities

A Modern History of European Cities
Author: Rosemary Wakeman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2020-01-23
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 135001768X

Rosemary Wakeman's original survey text comprehensively explores modern European urban history from 1815 to the present day. It provides a journey to cities and towns across the continent, in search of the patterns of development that have shaped the urban landscape as indelibly European. The focus is on the built environment, the social and cultural transformations that mark the patterns of continuity and change, and the transition to modern urban society. Including over 60 images that serve to illuminate the analysis, the book examines whether there is a European city, and if so, what are its characteristics? Wakeman offers an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates concepts from cultural and postcolonial studies, as well as urban geography, and provides full coverage of urban society not only in western Europe, but also in eastern and southern Europe, using various cities and city types to inform the discussion. The book provides detailed coverage of the often-neglected urbanization post-1945 which allows us to more clearly understand the modernizing arc Europe has followed over the last two centuries.

Capital Cities: Varieties and Patterns of Development and Relocation

Capital Cities: Varieties and Patterns of Development and Relocation
Author: Vadim Rossman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2018-03-12
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1317562844

The issue of capital city relocation is a topic of debate for more than forty countries across the world. In this first book to discuss the issue, Vadim Rossman offers an in-depth analysis of the subject, highlighting the global trends and the key factors that motivate different countries to consider such projects, analyzing the outcomes and drawing lessons from recent capital city transfers worldwide for governments and policy-makers. Capital Cities studies the approaches and the methodologies that inform such decisions and debates. Special attention is given to the study of the universal patterns of relocation and patterns specific to particular continents and mega-regions and particular political regimes. The study emphasizes the role of capital city transfers in the context of nation- and state-building and offers a new framework for thinking about capital cities, identifying six strategies that drive these decisions, representing the economic, political, geographic, cultural and security considerations. Confronting the popular hyper-critical attitudes towards new designed capital cities, Vadim Rossman shows the complex motives that underlie the proposals and the important role that new capitals might play in conflict resolution in the context of ethnic, religious and regional rivalries and federalist transformations of the state, and is seeking to identify the success and failure factors and more efficient implementation strategies. Drawing upon the insights from spatial economics, comparative federalist studies, urban planning and architectural criticism, the book also traces the evolution of the concept of the capital city, showing that the design, iconography and the location of the capital city play a critical role in the success and the viability of the state.

The Narcissism of Minor Differences

The Narcissism of Minor Differences
Author: Peter Baldwin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2009-11-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0199745781

There is much heated rhetoric about the widening gulf between Europe and America. But are the US and Europe so different? Peter Baldwin, one of the world's leading historians of comparative social policy, thinks not, and in this bracingly argued but remarkably informed polemic, he lays out how similar the two continents really are. Drawing on the latest evidence from sources such as the United Nations, the World Bank, IMF, and other international organizations, Baldwin offers a fascinating comparison of the United States and Europe, looking at the latest statistics on the economy, crime, health care, education and culture, religion, the environment, and much more. It is a book filled with surprising revelations. For most categories of crime, for instance, America is safe and peaceful by European standards. But the biggest surprise is that, though there are many differences between America and Europe, in almost all cases, these differences are no greater than the differences among European nations. Europe and the US are, in fact, part of a common, big-tent grouping. America is not Sweden, for sure. But nor is Italy Sweden, nor France, nor even Germany. And who says that Sweden is Europe? Anymore than Vermont is America? "Meticulous, insistent, and elegant." --John Lloyd, Financial Times "A must-read...filled with intriguing facts that add nuance to what can often be a black-and-white debate." --Foreign Affairs "An exhaustive and enthralling catalogue of our commonalities that begs a reconsideration of just what it means to be European or American." --Publishers Weekly

Urban Europe

Urban Europe
Author: Mariana M. Koceva
Publisher:
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2016
Genre: Cities and towns
ISBN: 9789279601408

Statistical information is an important tool for analysing changing patterns of urban development and the impact that policy decisions have on life in our cities, towns and suburbs. Urban Europe - statistics on cities, towns and suburbs provides detailed information for a number of territorial typologies that can be used to paint a picture of urban developments and urban life in the EU Member States, as well as EFTA and candidate countries. Each chapter presents statistical information in the form of maps, tables and figures, accompanied by a description of the policy context and a set of main findings. The publication is broken down into two parts : the first treats topics under the heading of city and urban developments, while the second focuses on the people in cities and the lives they lead. Overall there are 12 main chapters, covering : the urban paradox, patterns of urban and city developments, the dominance of capital cities, smart cities, green cities, tourism and culture in cities, living in cities, working in cities, housing in cities, foreign-born persons in cities, poverty and social exclusion in cities, as well as satisfaction and the quality of life in cities.

Cities and Power

Cities and Power
Author: Göran Therborn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 127
Release: 2017-10-02
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1317301579

What do cities tell us about power? How does power shape cities? These are the main questions answered by a multidisciplinary set of eminent urban scholar in crisp articles on capital cities from around the world, from Buenos Aires to Tokyo, from Jakarta to Moscow. Focus is on contemporary cities and their manifestations and representations of power, though often with a historical grounding, and the collection also includes an example of archaeological urban analysis, from northern Mesopotamia. Through its variety of approaches by leading scholars of the field, and its variety of cities with their different histories and their diverse national contexts and political organization the book gives a uniquely insightful and easily accessible world overview of cities of power. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Urban Sciences.

Embodiments of Power

Embodiments of Power
Author: Gary B. Cohen
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2008-07-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0857450506

The period of the baroque (late sixteenth to mid-eighteenth centuries) saw extensive reconfiguration of European cities and their public spaces. Yet, this transformation cannot be limited merely to signifying a style of art, architecture, and decor. Rather, the dynamism, emotionality, and potential for grandeur that were inherent in the baroque style developed in close interaction with the need and desire of post-Reformation Europeans to find visual expression for the new political, confessional, and societal realities. Highly illustrated, this volume examines these complex interrelationships among architecture and art, power, religion, and society from a wide range of viewpoints and localities. From Krakow to Madrid and from Naples to Dresden, cities were reconfigured visually as well as politically and socially. Power, in both its political and architectural guises, had to be negotiated among constituents ranging from monarchs and high churchmen to ordinary citizens. Within this process, both rulers and ruled were transformed: Europe left behind the last vestiges of the medieval and arrived on the threshold of the modern.