The Rise of Cities

The year 2007 marks a new epoch when the majority of human beings on the planet live in cities. What this work explores is how cities coalesce, develop, and thrive, and how they remake themselves for better or worse. The parasitic relationship cities have with nature, the webs of trade and immigration they rely upon to survive, how they feed and water themselves, and how they dispose of waste are examined in a sweeping exploration of what the city is. This book will stand alongside other comparable major studies for many years to come.What is offered is an explanation of cities in crisis. Dimitrios Roussopoulos demonstrates why the state has failed-and must fail-to end the urban crisis. What is analyzed is the spatial structure of the metropolis, metropolitan governance, urban redevelopment policies, housing problems, grass roots activism, the fiscal log jam of cities, and urban planning. How and why decisions are made, and who stands behind them, are questions raised and linked together in a historical perspective unique in studies of the city. The city is the foundation of democracy and citizenship, yet it is widely misunderstood as a geo-political space prone to playing a growing role in shaping the twenty-first century.Dimitrios Roussopoulos is a well-known urban-focused activist. He has worked in the field for thirty years, in several cities, organizing grassroots democratic opposition to mega urban development and the destruction of neighborhoods. Through his public speaking and writings, he has pioneered urban democratization and a new definition of citizenship in the city.