Urban Sociology

Author: Xu Ying (Editor)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-08-01
Features: First, the content of this book is quite extensive. It comprehensively introduces the classic theories and important methods of urban sociology; it covers the past, present, and future of cities; and it explores the trajectory of urban sociology as a discipline in its international and domestic evolution. These contents undoubtedly play a significant role in popularizing urban sociology knowledge and expanding its influence. Second, while systematically introducing the basic content of traditional urban sociology, this textbook also pays attention to supplementing some relatively new and deeper content. For example, in Chapter 2, "Major Theories of Urban Sociology," the author dedicates an entire section to introducing and discussing the evolution and trends of urban sociology theories in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Another example is in Chapter 4, "Classic Topics in Urban Research," where the author proposes, "With the advent of the information age, designing and planning global informatized cities has been put on our agenda. The information age is also an era of comprehensive technological progress for humanity, where engineering and technological issues increasingly become partial means to achieve the grand goals of urban planning. The impact of the information revolution on human society surpasses that of the industrial revolution. History tells us: cities are both the center and microcosm of society—what kind of society we have determines what kind of cities we have. Therefore, we must ask: What kind of society do we want to build? What kind of cities do we want to design?" and so on.