Voices of Decline The Postwar Fate of US Cities [Paperback]

As World War II faded into the past, urban decline emerged as the dominant motif in the public debate over the fate of the once-mighty cities of many Western industrial nations. Freely crossing disciplinary boundaries, this book uses the words of those who witnessed the cities' distress to portray the postwar discourse on urban decline in the United States. That discourse reshaped the ambivalence Americans have towards their cities, probed the nature of their moral responsibilities, offered advice as to how they should respond, and most importantly, sited in the cities the contradictions of society.Acknowledgements.

Preface.

1. Themes and Texts.

2. Representing Urban Decline.

3. The Cities Wholesome and Good.

4. Not Those of Decadence.

5. The Unhappy Process of Changing.

6. On the Verge of Catastrophe.

7. Every Problem a Racial Dimension.

8. Crisis of Our Cities.

9. Rising from the Ashes.

10. Not Excessively Inconvenienced.

11. Intersections, Displacements, Absences.

12. Legitimating the Siting of Decline.

Bibiliographic Essay.

Methodological Note.

Index.

Since America became an urban society, its cities have been a source of heated debate. Their condition has resulted not just from the unfolding of economic forces but also from policies rooted in a mentality that has regarded urbanism as threatening. In this highly original work Bob Beauregard ferrets out the history of the American city as it existed in the popular imagination. His brilliant - and entertaining - investigation reveals the mind set that has defined America's urban problems and thereby seriously limited the possibilities for addressing them. Susan S. Fainstein, Rutgers University &llÓ_