{"product_id":"naked-city-sharon-zukin-9780199794461","title":"Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places","description":"As cities have gentrified, educated urbanites have come to prize what they regard as \"authentic\" urban life: aging buildings, art galleries, small boutiques, upscale food markets, neighborhood old-timers, funky ethnic restaurants, and old, family-owned shops. These signify a place's authenticity, in contrast to the bland standardization of the suburbs and exurbs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut as Sharon Zukin shows in \u003cem\u003eNaked City\u003c\/em\u003e, the rapid and pervasive demand for authenticity--evident in escalating real estate prices, expensive stores, and closely monitored urban streetscapes--has helped drive out the very people who first lent a neighborhood its authentic aura: immigrants, the working class, and artists. Zukin traces this economic and social evolution in six archetypal New York areas--Williamsburg, Harlem, the East Village, Union Square, Red Hook, and the city's community gardens--and travels to both the city's first IKEA store and the World Trade Center site. She shows that for followers of Jane Jacobs, this transformation is a perversion of what was supposed to happen. Indeed, \u003cem\u003eNaked City\u003c\/em\u003e is a sobering update of Jacobs' legendary 1961 book, \u003cem\u003eThe Death and Life of Great American Cities\u003c\/em\u003e. Like Jacobs, Zukin looks at what gives neighborhoods a sense of place, but argues that over time, the emphasis on neighborhood distinctiveness has become a tool of economic elites to drive up real estate values and effectively force out the neighborhood \"characters\" that Jacobs so evocatively idealized.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sharon Zukin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0199794464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780199794461\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/13\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 312\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.93lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.31h x 6.25w x 0.93d","brand":"Sharon Zukin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43988094943487,"sku":"9780199794461","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_9189fa59-979d-4350-abaa-c803fbb9fa9b.jpg?v=1683292591","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/naked-city-sharon-zukin-9780199794461","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}