Urban

The Urban network endeavors to bring social scientific and historical modes of analysis to the urban form. We are interested in the historical trajectory of the city, the spatial forms linked to the urban life, social arrangements, governance and politics, the specificity of urban economics, cultural forms that emerge and thrive in cities, urban institutions, place identities, real and imagined urban forms, and the historical trajectory of specifically urban phenomena across regional, temporal, and cultural categories. As a collective enterprise the urban network seeks to highlight the unique scholarship, insight, and activities related to the city in a forum that encourages new ideas, dialogue, and innovation.

The network has recently sponsored panels on topics such as:

• historical preservation
• consumption, taste, and lifestyle
• urban criminality and deviance
• the spatialization of race
• urban public health
• demographic trends
• cultural meanings of the city
• urban movements and protest
• neoliberal governance
• the role of the city in national political development
• urban civic life, associations, and organizations
• urban growth and economic competitiveness
• stratification and space
• postmodern cities, global cities, and hypercities
• community, neighborhood and place
• the history of the urban form, planning, and design

The urban network offers a welcoming environment that encourages and depends upon the participation of scholars from a variety of disciplines at all stages of their careers. In addition to discussing scholarship on cities, the network aims to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue about subjects and problems related to urban life and environment. We encourage conference participants to organize panels, submit individual papers, and suggest themes. The network chairs will coordinate and facilitate cooperation and dialogue. We particularly encourage panels that integrate multidisciplinary perspectives, analytical methods, and topics of common concern to more than one discipline or subfield.

Planning takes place at the urban network business meeting at the conference site. We hope you will participate.

Network Representatives

• Zachary Levenson