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Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.

This insightful Advanced Introduction explores the key attributes of cities, identifying their five basic characteristics; innate complexity, the agglomeration of activities, inter-city connectivities, the projection of power, and relations to states. Peter J. Taylor gives a broad and engaging overview of how these characteristics work and relate to each other, supplemented by ten short city insights which offer readers specific examples of cities and themes.

Key features include:

* analysis of cities as the creative nodes of societies
* discussion of both contemporary and historical cities
* exploration of the different spaces created by cities and states
* identification of the demands of cities in relation to climate change.

This Advanced Introduction will be a valuable guide for scholars and advanced students of urban studies, cities, urban sociology, social geography, and urban and regional planning. 'This brilliant book, with its unique conceptual structure, accessible writing and innovative chapter format, featuring a kaleidoscope of "insights" from cities around the world, provides a comprehensive and succinct synthesis of Peter Taylor's unrivalled and systematic urban scholarship. The masterpiece checks off all registers of urban studies as we know them and still provides a pathbreaking perspective on one of humanity's oldest and most enduring achievements: the city.' -- Roger Keil, York University, Canada 'Peter Taylor's insightful new book provides an informed synopsis of current debates in urban theory while also taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of actual cities around the world at different historical moments. Theoretical ideas and empirical information are presented with admirable force and clarity. A notable strength of the book is the extended narratives on individual cities that accompany each chapter.' -- Allen J. Scott, University of California, Los Angeles, US

Advanced Introduction to Cities

Contents: Preface Preamble: academic literature on cities 1. City basics 2. Cities as the birth of civilizations 3. Busy cities 4. Cities connected 5. Demanding cities 6. Divided cities 7. Cities in states 8. Cities globalized 9. Cities in Nature Bibliographic notes and references Index