The New Urban Crisis

How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class - and What We Can Do About It

By: Richard Florida

Narrated by: Traber Burns

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In recent years the young, educated, and affluent have surged back into cities, reversing decades of suburban flight and urban decline. And yet all is not well, Richard Florida argues in The New Urban Crisis. Florida, one of the first scholars to anticipate this back-to-the-city movement in his groundbreaking The Rise of the Creative Class, demonstrates how the same forces that power the growth of the world's superstar cities also generate their vexing challenges: gentrification, unaffordability, segregation, and inequality. Meanwhile, many more cities still stagnate, and middle-class neighborhoods everywhere are disappearing. Our winner-take-all cities are just one manifestation of a profound crisis in today's urbanized knowledge economy. 

A bracingly original work of research and analysis, The New Urban Crisis offers a compelling diagnosis of our economic ills and a bold prescription for more inclusive cities capable of ensuring growth and prosperity for all. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Richard Florida (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Audiobook review: Maps, figures, charts, etc?

Would you try another book from Richard Florida and/or Traber Burns?

Not unless it includes a pdf with the extensive support materials that are referred to in the audio and are obviously present in the book. Makes the audio very frustrating to listen to when you can't see the visuals.

Information

The book was informative, it gave me some information that I didn't have previously.

I agree with his assessment 70%, the 30% I see differently. But overall the book is good.

Missing important aspects of book

Thank you, I just concluded listening to my sixth non fiction book from Audible.

Unfortunately, all the Audible products thus far omit key supporting information provided by the author in digital and print versions. Without access to the book’s published figures and illustrations, footnotes and the related references found in the book’s index, readers are denied access to important information.

Please know I am grateful for the ability to be able to listen and learn while I’m on the run or in darkness with ear buds as my partner sleeps. With Audible I have added valuable time for my research projects. I hope you find a way to include all the contents of the books you offer.

I hope you agree that as long as this omission exists the Audible book products are unsatisfactory for non fiction books.

I would be glad to test out beta versions that might provide supporting access to pdf to be contacted for value added solutions to solve the problem.

Joseph Cincotta
[e-mail]

Poor Logic, Bad Social Science

This book is a good example of why soft sciences are so weak. Terms re-assigned mid argument and 'causes' supported without being defined; words called out as having many interpretations, then used anyhow. Republican bashing, obviously. Very much in favor of mass transit, unclear why, claims it is the cause of prosperity. This is written at the start of Trump's presidency and it takes for granted no progress will be made in any way because of that.

Lacking in equity analysis

The author elucidates powerful concepts like the gap between "super star cities" and other cities and "winner take all urbanism." He acknowledges the issue of concentrated poverty and suburban poverty, but his treatment of these issues isn't as thorough as his treatment of broader concepts related to the power of cities and the need to increase density or city living. One leaves with a great observation but no blueprint for addressing it besides the usual kinds of policy prescriptions. It's valuable for understanding urban development but the analysis for addressing race, class and equity is lacking.

a story of massive victimhood & fake oppression

experience a story of victimhood and made up oppression I would say the person who wrote it 100% voted for biden and hates America and white people

Nodes are better than core

I agree with Florida on many counts, but I do also disagree with some major ones. I agree that there is a new urban crisis we can see this through our GIS census data, what we do not see though is that more density equals more equitable ability, to disseminate costs real estate needs to be able to spread, his inverse tax to increase density would seem like a good step forward it might be, but it could also create very small units and over density. though I have no data to back this up I believe there is a critical mass of human beings which is why nodes and edge cities well connected through transit and through digital infrastructure large scale intranets to assist with security issues that we face in the modern era would be a far better solution. multiple nodes of walkability and light rail are far better than a hyper dense New York City.

My final advocacy is that urban agriculture and token economics are the way to build a social a social ladder out of poverty. It is akin to how we seed rain by releasing silver into the air for water to condense around, so too urban agriculture and the kitchens to prepare and consume, seed community, which is truly what we need more than unstructured density which seemingly is what Florida would have, but maybe not. $0.02 from an Austin Texas land planner.

Hoisted by his own petard

The author struggles to make cohesive points citing his own research to promote his own political agenda and straying far afield from the opening premise of the book.

When presenting data that seems to indicate that there are additional issues related to cost of living increases in very dense urban areas and that economic growth is possible in smaller, less dense cities, the information is summarily dismissed as ‘false growth’.

While in overall agreement with many of the proposed points to improve cities, the author’s presentation and self aggrandizing does nothing to promote his cause. Another case of intellectual hoity-toityness and better than thou superiority getting in the way of presenting good solutions.

The reading of the book was excellent (including navigating the numerous charts which don’t translate well to audio).

Important Issue

This is a well researched and thought out book that discusses a very important issue of our time. However, it felt a lot like a textbook and was difficult to stick with at times.

Change in urban development ideology.

Follow Florida's transitory and visionary logic. It is scientific, rational and plausible. He and his researchers have laid out practical arguments and methodologies to attain sustainable communities.