{"product_id":"naked-city-the-death-and-life-of-authentic-urban-places-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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSharon Zukin\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center. She is the author of \u003cem\u003eLoft Living\u003c\/em\u003e (the classic book on SoHo's gentrification), \u003cem\u003eLandscapes of Power\u003c\/em\u003e (winner of the C. Wright Mills Award), \u003cem\u003eThe Cultures of Cities\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003ePoint of Purchase\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844112388370,"sku":"9780199794461","price":36.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7576777e-313f-4e12-9b49-02a7106b1849.jpg?v=1737311538","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/naked-city-the-death-and-life-of-authentic-urban-places-9780199794461","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}