City (Key Ideas in Geography)

City provides an accessible yet critical introduction to one of the key concepts in human geography. Always at the heart of discussions in social theory, the definition and specification of ‘the city’ nonetheless remains illusive. In this volume, Phil Hubbard locates the concept of ‘the city’ within current traditions of social thought, providing a basis for understanding its varying usages and meanings through a critical discussion of the contribution of key authors and thinkers.

Written in a lively and accessible style, the individual chapters of City offer a thematic overview of four dominant ways of approaching cities:

• as lived-in places
• as imagined spaces
• as networks of association
• as technologies of flow.

Drawing on a diverse range of literatures and case studies, the book spells out the importance of a geographical perspective on the city, suggesting that it is only by bringing these different ways of mapping the city together that we can begin to make sense of cities.