Author Description

This Is A Book About How To Read Cities. Cities Reflect Social Values And Priorities, And We Can Learn To Understand What They Say. Cities Are The Result Of A Wide Range Of Intentional Acts, From The Minute To The Grandiose, From The Desires Of The Homebuilder To Those Of The Reigning Despot. City Patterns And Forms Are Sometimes A Product Of Blueprints, Sometimes A Product Of Gradual Accretion, And Sometimes The Product Of Violent Change. Forms And Patterns Might Reflect The Highest Aspirations, Or They Might Simply Be Responses To Mundane, Utilitarian Needs. In Any Of These Cases, It Is Possible To Develop A Language Of Interpretation-and An Understanding Of Meaning. Using Samples Of Cities From All Time Periods And Places, I Work To Understand Motive And Meaning. I Present 35 Distinct City Patterns And Forms, Summarizing Their Interpretations. The Topics Generally Progress From Larger To Smaller Scale, From Complete Cities And Towns To Plazas And Squares. I Also Include A Set Of Evaluative Questions That Summarize How To Read Cities. The Aim Of The Book Is To Help Craft Better Arguments In The Public Discourse About Why One Type Of Pattern Or Form Might Be Better Than Another In A Given Place. Knowing What Kinds Of City Patterns And Forms We Want Requires First Knowing What City Patterns And Forms Mean To Us. By Exposing These Meanings, I Believe We Will Be In A Stronger Position To Articulate, And Argue For, The Kinds Of Cities We Want-- Emily Talen. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.