ancient cities

556 New York City, New York
On the one hand, then, the future of the new
urban sociology is bright because of the continued
importance of globalization processes, race
and class inequalities, and critical theorizing on
cities. On the other hand, we may be entering a
postdisciplinary era where distinctions between
sociological, geographical, anthropological, and
political interpretations and debates have less
relevance to understanding urban phenomena.
There are clearly a variety of interesting futures
for the new urban sociology because of the paradigm’s
multidimensionality, theoretical and analytical
diversity, and conceptual richness. Based
on past trends and proven strengths, the utility of
the new urban sociology lies in reclaiming and
refreshing conventional approaches that are sensitive
to urban inequality and that recognize the
importance of nuanced and sophisticated empirical
research. Urban sociologists can respond to
the challenge of interdisciplinarity and fragmentation
in urban studies by focusing on perennial
issues and topics including sociospatial divisions,
poverty and segregation, the interplay of the
global and the local in the development of cities,
and the nexus of capitalist development and
urbanization.
Kevin Fox Gotham
See also Castells, Manuel; Chicago School of Urban
Sociology; Gottdiener, Mark; Harvey, David; Uneven
Development; Urban Ecology (Chicago School); Urban
Sociology; Urban Studies; Urban Theory
Further Readings
Borer, Michael Ian. 2006. “The Location of Culture: The
Urban Culturalist Perspective.” City & Community
5(2):173–97.
Feagin, J. R. 1998. The New Urban Paradigm: Critical
Perspectives on the City. New York: Rowman &
Littlefield.
———. 2006. Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression.
New York: Routledge.
Gotham, Kevin Fox. 2001. “Urban Sociology and the
Postmodern Challenge.” Humboldt Journal of Social
Relations 26(1 & 2):57–79.
———. 2002. “Beyond Invasion and Succession: School
Segregation, Real Estate Blockbusting, and the
Political Economy of Neighborhood Racial
Transition.” City and Community 1(1):83–111.
———. 2002. Race, Real Estate, and Uneven
Development: The Kansas City Experience, 1900–2000.
Albany: State University of New York Press.
———. 2006. “The Secondary Circuit of Capital
Reconsidered: Globalization and the U.S. Real Estate
Sector.” American Journal of Sociology
112(1):231–75.
Gottdiener, Mark. 1994. The Social Production of Urban
Space. 2nd ed. Austin: University of Texas Press.
———. 2001. Theming of America: Dreams, Visions,
and Commercial Spaces. 2nd ed. New York: Westview
Press.
Gottdiener, Mark, Claudia C. Collins, and David R.
Dickens. 1999. Las Vegas: The Social Production of
an All-American City. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Gottdiener, Mark and Joe R. Feagin. 1988. “The
Paradigm Shift in Urban Sociology.” Urban Affairs
Quarterly 24(2):163–87.
Gottdiener, Mark and Ray Hutchison. 2006. The New
Urban Sociology. 3rd ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Hutchison, Ray. 2000. “The Crisis in Urban Sociology.”
In Urban Sociology in Transition, edited by Ray
Hutchison. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
———. 2000. “Introduction to Constructions of Urban
Space.” In Constructions of Urban Space, edited by
R. Hutchison. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
Milicevic, Aleksandra Sasha. 2001. “Radical
Intellectuals: What Happened to the New Urban
Sociology?” International Journal of Urban and
Regional Research 25(4).
Perry, Beth and Alan Harding. 2002. “The Future of
Urban Sociology: Report of Joint Sessions of the
British and American Sociological Associations.”
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
26(4):844–53.
Smith, David A. 1995. “The New Urban Sociology:
Meets the Old Rereading Some Classical Human
Ecology.” Urban Affairs Review 30(3):432–57.
Squires, Gregory D. and Charis E. Kubrin. 2006.
Privileged Places: Race, Residence, and the Structure
of Opportunity. Denver, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Ne w yo r k ci t y, Ne w yo r k
Urbanist approaches to New York remain deeply
fragmented. The Russell Sage Foundation studies of
the impact of the September 11, 2001, attacks,
edited by Nancy Foner, John Mollenkopf, and
Howard Chernick in 2005, appeared in three