Shaping the City: Studies in Urban Design, History and Theory takes on important themes and debates in urban design and the critical ideas that have driven them in the context of particular cities, at important moments in their development. This is a wide-ranging collection of case studies featuring a variety of perspectives in the field, with different styles and methods of inquiry. Included are studies of Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Brasilia, and Atlanta and discussions of such themes as the Cybercity, the Asian Megacity and the New Urbanism The book should be of interest to students, scholars or professionals who engage the city as both an idea and a design project. This is a new genre of textbook that relinquishes the traditional survey format in favor of in-depth studies of important issues in urban form, design, and theory. Each case study has been written by an author - a scholar, architect and/or urban designer - who has demonstrated a depth of knowledge about the city and period under discussion. The various approaches to the different cities provide rich insights into the manifold processes that shape the city and an introduction to the critical methods and tools used in describing and theorizing complex urban environment. M. Christine Boyer, Juan Busquets, Fares el-Dahdah, Rem Koolhaas, Richard Marshall, Edward Robbins, Mitchell Schwarzer, Paulette Singley, Richard Sommer, Charles Waldheim and Sarah Whiting.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Atlanta 3. Barcelona 4. Brasilia 5. Chicago 6. Detroit 7. Los Angeles 8. Philadelphia 9. San Francisco 10. Asia Megacities 11. The New Urbanist City 12. Cybercity