Cain has built a city. For God’s Eden, he substitutes his own. —Jacques Ellul1 Whatever the future holds for humanity, it is likely to occur mostly in an urban context. A steady stream of migrants from the countryside fills cities from India to Indiana, on every continent, and has made humans primarily an urban species….
Too many urbanists start their analysis of cities too late. They look at booming urban areas and see the amenities and jobs as the essential building blocks of urban dynamism. But before those amenities and jobs existed, these were places of aspirations with ambitious founders. What began as a river outpost here or crossroads there…
This chapter describes general urbanization trends in the United States and around the world, from 1950 to the present.1 Cities can be glamorous or exciting, but what matters most is how they facilitate higher incomes and standards of living. This has been urbanity’s ultimate achievement. Alain Bertaud, former World Bank principal planner, connects greater urbanization,…
As COVID-19 begins to wane and become endemic, the question for policymakers, theorists, and Americans at large is: What is in store for our nation’s big cities? The nation has moved from a rural to urban population over the past century, but do the hearts and minds of Americans and, in particular, younger generations still…
China represents the cutting edge of 21st-century urbanism. Its successes and failures will shape global perceptions of city life, not only in that country but around the world. When future historians assess the 21st century, China, along with India, will likely be their focus. The key shapers, discussed below, include demographics, the impact of…
The urban future in the coming decades will be largely an African one. The continent is now home to 12 of the world’s largest cities and four megacities—and more importantly, Africa has the world’s fastest-growing urban population. By 2100, Africa will be home to a third of the world’s largest cities and 40 percent of…
In September 1977, the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company announced the first major shutdown in the American steel industry. It was closing its largest mill, the Campbell Works, displacing over 10,000 workers.1 Other shutdowns followed, putting another 40,000 people out of work over the next decade. The Youngstown, Ohio, population had peaked at 170,000 in…
Indianapolis was an unlikely candidate to emerge as a midwestern demographic and economic leader. It is an artificially created city, cho-sen by fiat as a centrally located capital for the state of Indiana. It is not located on a navigable waterway and had no initial economic raison d’être. It grew to be the largest city…
The metropolitan areas that form the “Texas Triangle”—Austin, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio—are emerging as distinctive models of 21st-century urbanism. The four Texas metros are all more growth oriented, horizontally expansive, polycentric, and diverse in their populations and industries than most peers. This Texas model has sparked inbound migration and economic vitality largely unmatched…
It’s always been a mug’s game to bet against New York City, which was counted out only to quickly bounce back after 9/11 and again in 2008 after the financial system nearly collapsed and took the world economy with it. But too many New Yorkers, caught in a wave of optimism after getting through the…