Automobility and the City in Twentieth-Century Britain and Japan [Hardcover]

Automobility and the City in Twentieth-Century Britain and Japanis the first book to consider how mass motorization reshaped cities in Japan and Britain during the 20th century. Taking two leading 'motor cities', Nagoya and Birmingham, as their principal subjects, Simon Gunn and Susan C. Townsend show how cars changed the spatial form and individual experience of the modern city and reveal the similarities and differences between Japan and Britain in adapting to the 'motor age'.

The book has three main themes: the place of automobility in post-war urban reconstruction; the emerging conflict between the promise of mobility and personal freedom offered by the car and its consequences for the urban environment (the M/E dilemma); and the extent to which the Anglo-Japanese comparison can throw light on fundamental differences in cultural understanding of the environment, urbanism and the self. The result is the first comparative history of mass automobility and its environmental consequences between East and West.

Simon Gunnis Professor of Urban History at the University of Leicester, UK. He is the co-editor of the journalUrban Historyand has published articles on automobility inTwentieth Century British History(2011),Social History(2013), andHistorical Journal(2017).

Susan C. Townsendis Associate Professor of Japanese History at the University of Nottingham, UK. She is the Principle Investigator on the Leverhulme Project Motor Cities and the author ofMiki Kiyoshi 1897-1945: Japan's Itinerant Philosopher(2009).

Automobility and the City in Twentieth-Century Japan and Britainis an exciting and thought-provoking piece of scholarly research. It discusses the realities of automobilisation in Britain and Japan by focusing on th