After two decades of decline and despair an urban renaissance has captured the imagination of politicians, property developers, architects and intellectuals. Yet cities around the world have also experienced the intensification of inequalities and sharply polarised trajectories of migration. These contradictory tendencies are registered most acutely in the fabric of everyday life. This book will provide an accessible introduction to urban life by discussing some of the most creative contemporary analysis of cities from across the social sciences. The book will explore the concepts and methodologies through which sociology is coming to terms with a new urbanism. New terrains of enquiry include: - the implications of globalisation for localities - migration and the resulting juxtapositions of cultural difference - changing practices of social exclusion - the reconfiguration of spatial form and community by technologies - aspirations to social justice and sustainability The first part of the introduction will emphasise the book's interdisciplinary approach, drawing on cultural studies, cultural geography and social theory. However, the centrality of sociology will be maintained through an overarching concern with changing experiences of space and time, and their implications for social relations and identities. The final part of the introduction outlines the cities that will illustrate concepts, methods and empirical trends throughout the book.

Firstly, European industrial cities in the midst of restructuring their economic base: for example Birmingham and Manchester. Secondly, American cities responding to new technology and cultural heterogeneity: for example San Francisco. Thirdly, East Asian cities at the forefront of economic growth and environmental degradation: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Examples from other cities will be used where necessary to illustrate the arguments.