Library
Age of the City: How Our Future Will Be Won or Lost Together
We will discuss a book about the challenges facing cities worldwide and the strengths cities can draw on to meet these challenges, which include climate change, rising inequality and the problems of a globalized, post-industrial economy. Ian Goldin is a professor of globalization and development at Oxford University in England. Tom Lee-Devlin is a writer…
The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class—And What We Can Do About It
“The New Urban Crisis” is a book about growing inequality and isolation in cities and how greater social, educational and economic opportunity can and should be created. The author suggests ambitious reforms at the federal, state and local levels. Florida is an economics professor and author of a popular 2002 book, “The Rise of the…
Blighted: A Story of People, Politics, and an American Housing Miracle
“Blighted” is a book about the effort to create safe, decent, affordable housing for the working poor, told from an unusual perspective: that of a well-motivated landlord. It focuses on the purchase and renovation of a large apartment complex in south Atlanta. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
Better Buses, Better Cities: How to Plan, Run, and Win the Fight for Effective Transit
This is a book about how cities could build ridership for their public transit systems if they concentrated more on improving bus services than rail extensions. It is also a book about the role that advocacy could play in reforming public institutions—if it were done right. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America
“The Fight to Save the Town” is about how some cities and towns, faced with unrelenting poverty and abandonment, have fought back by creating unexpected grassroots strengths and new citizen networks. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
Golden Gates: The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream
“Golden Gates” is a book about the housing affordability crisis in the San Francisco Bay area, what caused it and the efforts there to undo the damage. We discussed how to prevent a similar crisis in Urban Atlanta, while dealing with our own affordability issues. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
“Palaces for the People” is about how public places can shape neighborhoods so that people become better connected. And these connections, in turn, make neighborhoods safer, healthier, more prosperous and more resilient. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta:
Won’t Lose This Dream: How an Upstart Urban University Rewrote the Rules of a Broken System
“Won’t Lose This Dream” is a book about how a major public institution transformed itself. The institution: Georgia State University. We focused on what this book tells us about how institutional reform takes place. The “big ideas” for Urban Atlanta: