The Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America

by Alan Mallach (Author), Alan Mallach (Author)

New
Illustrated
2018
$31.00

Who really benefits from urban revival? Cities, from trendy coastal areas to the nation's heartland, are seeing levels of growth beyond the wildest visions of only a few decades ago. But vast areas in the same cities house thousands of people living in poverty who see little or no new hope or opportunity. Even as cities revive, they are becoming more unequal and more segregated. What does this mean for these cities--and the people who live in them?

In The Divided City, urban practitioner and scholar Alan Mallach shows us what has happened over the past 15 to 20 years in industrial cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore, as they have undergone unprecedented, unexpected revival. He draws from his decades of experience working in America's cities, and pulls in insightful research and data, to spotlight these changes while placing them in their larger economic, social, and political context. Mallach explores the pervasive significance of race in American cities and looks closely at the successes and failures of city governments, nonprofit entities, and citizens as they have tried to address the challenges of change.

The Divided City offers strategies to foster greater equality and opportunity. Mallach makes a compelling case that these strategies must be local in addition to being concrete and focusing on people's needs--education, jobs, housing and quality of life. Change, he argues, will come city by city, not through national plans or utopian schemes.

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive, grounded picture of the transformation of America's older industrial cities. It is neither a dystopian narrative nor a one-sided the cities are back story, but a balanced picture rooted in the nitty-gritty reality of these cities. The Divided City is imperative for anyone who cares about cities and who wants to understand how to make today's urban revival work for everyone.

Synopsis

Who really benefits from urban revival? Cities, from trendy coastal areas to the nation's heartland, are seeing levels of growth beyond the wildest visions of only a few decades ago. But vast areas in the same cities house thousands of people living in poverty who see little or no new hope or opportunity. Even as cities revive, they are becoming more unequal and more segregated. What does this mean for these cities--and the people who live in them?

In The Divided City, urban practitioner and scholar Alan Mallach shows us what has happened over the past 15 to 20 years in industrial cities like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore, as they have undergone unprecedented, unexpected revival. He draws from his decades of experience working in America's cities, and pulls in insightful research and data, to spotlight these changes while placing them in their larger economic, social, and political context. Mallach explores the pervasive significance of race in American cities and looks closely at the successes and failures of city governments, nonprofit entities, and citizens as they have tried to address the challenges of change.

The Divided City offers strategies to foster greater equality and opportunity. Mallach makes a compelling case that these strategies must be local in addition to being concrete and focusing on people's needs--education, jobs, housing and quality of life. Change, he argues, will come city by city, not through national plans or utopian schemes.

This is the first book to provide a comprehensive, grounded picture of the transformation of America's older industrial cities. It is neither a dystopian narrative nor a one-sided the cities are back story, but a balanced picture rooted in the nitty-gritty reality of these cities. The Divided City is imperative for anyone who cares about cities and who wants to understand how to make today's urban revival work for everyone.

$31.00

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 344
Edition: 2nd None ed.
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 24 Aug 2018
ISBN 10: 1610917812
ISBN 13: 9781610917810

Media Reviews

In The Divided City, Alan Mallach expertly charts the decline of America's industrial cities, and explores what has led to their unexpected, and at times unequal, resurgence. By looking at cases across the country--from Detroit to Pittsburgh to Baltimore, and more--Mallach paints a complicated picture of urban inequality in the United States and examines its many causes and manifestations, including its disproportionate impact on communities of color. This book is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand how the forces of structural inequality shape the cities we know and love, and what tools we have as policy makers, nonprofits, and residents to make our cities more just, equal places to live. --Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation
Deeply researched survey of the dual processes of revival and decline in American cities large and small... certain chapters, particularly one on gentrification, captivate. --Booklist
Alan Mallach's The Divided City is the best and most relevant book written on urban planning and policy in post-industrial cities in the 21st century...[It] is not only packed with information and ideas, but is well-written, enjoyable, and engaging....[it] provides a thorough, nuanced, and much-needed discussion about race and concentrated poverty...vitally important..useful to practitioners, academics, and citizens...a classic on urban planning and policy. --Cleveland Scene
This important new book is a must-read for anyone working to change the course of urban American today, perhaps in Detroit most of all. --Detroit Free Press
The Divided City is a must-read. Focusing on the often overlooked Rust Belt region, Mallach counters the dominant narrative of the post-industrial, downtown revitalization happening across U.S. cities by taking an in depth look at the many areas that are seeing the opposite. --Archinect
A cogent analysis of the current state of play of the nation's urban challenges and opportunities, and will give anyone who thinks about cities a wealth of new information, a powerful perspective on cities and neighborhood change, and some inspirational words. --City Observatory

Author Bio

Alan Mallach is a senior fellow at the Center for Community Progress in Washington DC. A city planner, advocate and writer, he is widely known for his work on housing, economic development, and urban revitalization. A former director of housing & economic development in Trenton, New Jersey, and a former non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, he teaches in the graduate city planning program at Pratt Institute.