Urban Geography

Citation

Hall, T., & Barrett, H. (2018). Urban Geography (5th ed.). Routledge.

Chapter Summary

The fifth edition has thirteen chapters in three sections, which the publisher calls "contexts", "themes" and "issues". The description says the sequence moves students from a foundation in urban geography, through its major themes, to contemporary and pressing issues, and that the edition examines the new geographical patterns forming within and between cities as well as the way geographers have tried to make sense of them. The book belongs to Routledge's Contemporary Human Geography series.

Contexts, Chapters 1–3: An urban world; Changing approaches; Urban form and structure

The first section sets the scene. Chapter 1 ("An urban world") opens the book in about fourteen pages. Chapter 2 ("Changing approaches"), the shortest chapter at about eleven pages, covers how approaches within urban geography have changed over time. Chapter 3 ("Urban form and structure") takes up the physical and spatial arrangement of cities in about twenty-four pages.

Themes, Chapters 4–7: City economies; Urban politics; Planning, regeneration and urban policy; Cities and culture

The themes section is the middle of the book. "City economies" is the longest chapter, at about forty pages, followed by "Urban politics" (about twenty-five pages) and "Planning, regeneration and urban policy" (about thirty-four pages). "Cities and culture" (about twenty-four pages) turns from economic and political processes to the cultural life of cities.

Issues, Chapters 8–10: Architecture; Images of the city; Experiencing the city

The first three issues chapters treat the city as built, represented and lived. The publisher's list of literatures describes the first as "architecture and urban landscapes", and the other two as the images people hold of cities and the experience of being in them. Each runs to between twenty and twenty-five pages.

Issues, Chapters 11–13: Housing and residential segregation; Transport, mobility and the city; Urban futures

The last three chapters take up housing and where different groups live, the movement of people and goods through cities, and the future of cities. The publisher says the transport and mobility chapter and the urban futures chapter were revised for this edition. The description's list of literatures also includes sustainability and the city, which does not have a chapter of its own in the contents list.

Key Concepts

Contexts (Chapters 1–3)

• Urbanisation: the growth of the share of people and activity in cities, the starting fact of the opening chapter.
• Approaches to urban geography: the different ways geographers have studied cities, covered in a short chapter on how those approaches have changed.
• Urban form and structure: the spatial arrangement of land uses and buildings within a city.

Themes (Chapters 4–7)

• City economies: the economic base and activities that shape cities and the places within them.
• Urban politics: how decisions about cities are made and contested.
• Regeneration and urban policy: public efforts to renew declining areas and manage urban change, discussed together with planning.
• Cities and culture: the cultural dimension of urban life.

Issues (Chapters 8–13)

• Images of the city and experiencing the city: how cities are represented and how people perceive and live in them.
• Residential segregation: the separation of social groups across the city's housing areas, treated with housing.
• Mobility: the movement of people within and around cities, treated alongside transport.
• Urban futures: how cities may develop, the subject of the final chapter.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A deliberate three-stage structure. The contexts, themes and issues sections give a clear route from the basic facts and debates of the field to applied topics, so the book can be read in order or by section.
• Economic and political topics are balanced with cultural ones. Alongside chapters on economies, politics and planning, the contents list includes architecture, images of the city and the experience of the city, which suit courses that treat cities as cultural as well as economic and political places.
• Student support is stated. The publisher says this edition has an expanded range of student-friendly features, including exercises and suggestions for further study, and that the book presents the literature "in a lively engaging way".
• A mature edition. This is the fifth edition, and the publisher describes it as building on a comprehensively revised fourth edition, with the transport and urban futures chapters revised.

Limitations

• Partial revision. The publisher names two revised chapters and says that other changes are the updating of readings and some case studies. Readers who need the most current data and case studies should check the chapters outside those two.
• Some topics are covered briefly. Housing and residential segregation is one chapter of about twenty-one pages, and approaches to urban geography is one of about eleven. Courses focused on either will need further readings.
• The contents list does not map neatly onto every topic. There is no separate chapter on sustainability even though the description lists it, and the contents list does not show a chapter on migration or inequality as such. Check the index or sample before assuming coverage.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within this course list, Hall and Barrett is the core textbook for a first urban geography course. Kevin Archer's The City: The Basics is a compact introduction in Routledge's The Basics series that traces how cities emerged and compares development in the Global North and South; it suits a lighter first pass. Key Concepts in Urban Geography is organised around a set of short essays on core ideas, each ending with suggestions for further reading, and works as a quick reference alongside the textbook.

Michael Pacione's Urban Geography: A Global Perspective is a larger, more systematic text that deliberately covers cities in both the developed world and the Global South, and fits as a second book. David Harvey's Social Justice and the City is a founding text of radical urban geography and is a primary text for one of the approaches in the field and can be read alongside Chapter 2 on changing approaches. Levy, Hirt and Dawkins's Contemporary Urban Planning goes into the practice and law of planning in much greater detail than the planning chapter here.

How to Use This Book

The publisher's description of a path that begins from "a foundation in urban geography" marks the book as an introduction, and it names no prerequisites. An introductory human geography course helps with the vocabulary but is not required.

• Core for a first course: Chapters 1–7, which cover the urban world, approaches, urban form, economies, politics, planning and culture.
• Choose by interest: among Chapters 8–13, pick the cultural chapters (8–10) for a course on urban culture and representation, and Chapters 11–13 for a course on housing, mobility and the future of cities.
• Use the further-study material: follow the exercises and suggestions for further reading at the end of chapters to move from the textbook's synthesis to the original literature.
• Pair with a case: choose one city and build a short profile with each chapter in turn, using the theme of the chapter to ask a question about that city.