Description: Blum explores the symbolic and imaginative nature of the city as a vital part of everyday life in modern civilization. He introduces the city as a community that must struggle to maintain its collective identity against typical problems--problems that threaten to fragment the city's sense of itself.
Brief description: Alan Blum is senior professor in sociology, social and political thought, and communication and culture at York University.
Review Quotes: "Blum breaks new ground in the area of discussion of urban culture, through his radical questioning of the assumptions that are made in the extensive literature on cities. His study forces us to question again the implications of many of the concepts which we bring to our discourses on the modern city."