Cities are good for you : the genius of the metropolis /

Forget the title; London-based writer and historian Hollis (The Stones of London: A History in Twelve Buildings) doesn't make a solid case for the superiority of cities over suburbs or countryside. But having spent time in places as varied as Manhattan, Bangalore, and Venice, and having researched his subject, he has much to say about urban dynamism. He is particularly engaging when writing about slums, such as in a detailed profile of Mumbai's Dharavi district (including its insufficient water supply and lack of public toilets); as well as on technologically sophisticated bus systems in Curtiba, Brazil, and Bogota; and on the construction of new "eco-cities" like Masdar, Abu Dhabi, and Tianjin Eco, China. However, Hollis sometimes flits from topic to topic and devotes too little attention to such megacities as Jakarta and Lagos. He also tends toward abstraction, as when describing the August 2011 London riots ("the city turned in on itself with extraordinary violence"), and can flood the reader with meaningless statistics (the millions of square feet of planned residential and commercial space in Songdo, South Korea), all of which make parts of the book read like urban studies-lite. However, these shortcomings are balanced by passages that colorfully demonstrate, through anecdotes and data, how particular cities are "extraordinary economic engines of wealth and innovation." 55 b/w illus. Agent: Patrick Walsh, Conville and Walsh. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

London historian Hollis (The Stones of London: A History in Twelve Buildings) here proposes an argument for urbanism and the multifaceted goodness of cities. He observes historically dominant cities, including New York and London, and rapidly rising cities, including Bangalore and Shanghai. He considers urban planning, entrepreneurialism and creativity, the impact of technology (from the Otis elevator to the automobile to the mobile phone), transportation, environmental concerns, and-in the most compelling chapter, set largely in the massive Mumbai slum of Dharavi-the urban geography of poverty. He lauds innovative practices and projects, including the breathtakingly successful public transit system in Curitiba, Brazil, and Manhattan's High Line, which reclaimed a decrepit, abandoned rail line for use as a park. Near the end of his sprawling survey of the state of the world's cities, Hollis admits (with some conflict) to having recently moved to the suburbs. This is a small but perhaps telling detail, for despite its celebratory title, Hollis's book is more about how cities could be much better for us if only they were more sustainably developed, reversed the inequitable distribution of resources, and were treated by their residents as communities. VERDICT Of potential interest to both academic and amateur scholars of urban life.-Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

We are city dwellers, to paraphrase the Whole Earth Catalog, and we might as well get used to it. Our appeal to the good old days usually looks to the countryside for inspiration. Yet, joining the literature of the new urbanism, British historian Hollis (Stones of London: A History in Twelve Buildings, 2011, etc.) argues that the city is a multifaceted, inexhaustible source of possibility for human achievement. Where others have argued for economic good (cities are engines of innovation and enrichment, la Lewis Mumford) and cultural and social advancement (cities are where smart people congregate and create things, la Richard Florida), Hollis opens with an intangible: "It is places like the High Line," he writes of the newly opened Manhattan park, "that allow us to think again about the city and how it can make us happy." Happy? Yes, happy, and Hollis does a solid job of showing how cities can buck many of the negative trends that so define the Western world in particular: Don't like the fact that the United States hasn't signed the Kyoto Protocol? No matter, Hollis suggests, because "It will be citiesrather than nations, which will be at the forefront of the climate-change challenge, driving initiatives, setting out practical policies and ensuring that they are followed through." Don't like the anonymity of the city dweller? Then, Hollis urges, redefine community and create a miniature village within the city where everyone knows everyone else. Hollis' tone is optimistic but grounded, which is a nice switch from the usual doomsaying of trends analysts. Though he sometimes ventures out onto the scaffolding without much visible support--for instance, for his suggestion that the world's future mega-regions "will not happen organically" (Why not? They did in the past)--he manages not to plummet to the sidewalk below. A good read, popular without being condescending, for students of the modern city and the metropolises of the future.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.