A Theory of Urbanity

Cities do things for people, not just functionally in terms of jobs and obligations and practical pursuits, but also, and above all, emotionally. We like some cities and detest others. Despite shared rationalizations and common modes of administration and design, each city has its own culture. With suburbanization, the edge city, and the emergence of cyberspace, some argue that cities, as integrated places of working and living, are things of the past (requiring new thought about urban space). Zijderveld argues that people are and remain social animals, who like and need each others' company, particularly in their economic, sociocultural and political activities. Throughout the ages, cities have provided the environment in which people fulfill these needs. In A Theory of Urbanity Anton Zijderveld discusses urban preferences, the organizations and ramifications of urbanity, the modernization of urban culture, the uneasy alliance between urbanity and the interventionist state, and the cultural dimensions of urban renewal. He systematically studies the changing tides of the city - from its contribution to modernity. Its alteration by modernity, and its function as a "meaningful configuration" with which people identify. Zijderveld sees the economic and civic culture of the city as the centerpiece of contemporary urban management and contemporary urban democracy. In this sense, the new technology is an ally of the new urban renewal.