Cities

Publishers Weekly

In his often captivating treatise on the city, Reader (Pyramids of Life) squelches the notion that country living is preferable to urban living, explaining in detail how cities actually maintain civilization and have done so since Sumerian times. More than half the world's population now lives in cities, compared with less than 10% in the 1700s. Cities provide more economic opportunities, and more intellectual and social stimulation than nonurban life. But the demands of their populations must be met from outside the city itself. (Cities cover only about 2% of the world's land mass, but require nearly three-quarters of its resources.) Thus, posits Reader, cities will need to improve for the quality of life of their inhabitants to improve-and to sustain themselves without damaging the rest of the planet with their heavy ecological footprints. He explores cities' historical and anthropological elements, focusing particularly on Europe and Africa (one of the book's flaws is the short shrift given to Asia, where overcrowding is phenomenal). Although heavy on statistics, this thorough and readable look at urban growth will interest historians, anthropologists, sociologists and urban dwellers. Illus. Agent, Jane Kirby. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

British photojournalist Reader (Africa: A Biography of the Continent) presents a chronological collection of thematic essays on urban life. Taking a global perspective, he looks at the functionality and ecological impact of cities, beginning each chapter with an inset paragraph that clearly summarizes its topic. The interaction of economics, politics, and religion, it arises, has influenced where these communities appear. Requirements for energy, water, and food, as well as waste disposal (for which increasingly revised provisions are required), are significant factors in civic development. The reader discovers the basic commonality of the human urban experience across time and cultures and the largely beneficial nature of cities. Supplying frequent first-person commentary and an optimism tempered by realism, Reader recognizes the dynamic interplay between commercial and public interests. Enhanced by over 80 illustrations, including Reader's own photographs, and with endnotes, a bibliography, and an index to satisfy scholarly users, this work has a place in all collections, as does Joel Kotkin's The City: A Global History.-Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A swift examination of the pleasures and problems of city life. With moderate success, British photojournalist Reader attempts to elbow his way into the very crowded room of urban historians. (His lengthy bibliography pays homage to many of them.) Declaring that the city is "the defining artifact of civilisation," he offers a variety of approaches. First he takes a long look back at the Sumerians, who, he reminds us, viewed Eden not as a garden but as a city. Reader notes that the centralization of craftsmen was a significant factor in the evolution of urban areas, as was the necessity to feed large numbers of people efficiently. He races through the streets of Greek, Roman and medieval cities, then on through the communities created and soiled by the Industrial Revolution. We see the effects of world wars and global economics (he takes a few swipes at Enron). Somewhere in the middle, Reader's text begins to resemble an undergraduate's research; many references, block quotations, and an occasional truism such as, "people flock to the cities in the hope of better prospects." The pace picks up again in the final 100 pages, the most compelling section. Reader examines water usage, public health and sanitation; his description of raw sewage in the 19thcentury Seine is both amusing and nauseating. Evaluating urban planning's successes and failures, he declares that the latter far outnumber the former. He offers closer looks at specific cities: Venice, Havana, Mexico City, Milan, Madrid, Cleveland, London (immediately after the Great Fire of 1666) and Berlin. He concludes that too many dark forecasts for the future of the city may have suspendedtemporarily, he hopesthe optimism needed to dealwith today's pervasive urban problems.

Worth plodding through the turgid mid-section following the lively early chapters for the thought-provoking conclusion.