City Development

Over the past 10 years, urban planners, technology companies, and governments have promoted smart cities with a somewhat utopian vision of urban life made knowable and manageable through data collection and analysis. Emerging smart cities have become both crucibles and showrooms for the practical application of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and the integration of big data into everyday life. Are smart cities optimized, sustainable, digitally networked solutions to urban problems? Or are they neoliberal, corporate-controlled, undemocratic non-places?

‘An enthralling guide one of the world’s great cities – that blends history and insights into the present day from one of the most astute commentators on the politics of Istanbul. A book that is as informative as it is enjoyable' PETER FRANKOPAN Walking along the crumbling defensive walls...

Executives from The Second City—the world’s premier comedy theater and school of improvisation—reveal improvisational techniques that can help any organization develop innovators, encourage adaptable leaders, and build transformational businesses. For more than fifty years, The Second City...

Witness dramatic American history unfold as a marshy frontier boomtown rises from ashes to birth the modern skyscraper. Perfect for an engaging daily commute, this captivating historical narrative transports you to the gritty, restless streets of a growing metropolis. Experience a gripping tale...

Lucid, forward-looking, and guided by a level-headed optimism that clearly distinguishes between genuine progress and exaggerated claims, Emerald Cities points the way toward a sustainable future for the American city.

Master the hidden systems of urban planning and sustainable design to transform your daily commute and local community. Whether you are waiting for a delayed bus, renting a downtown apartment, or walking through your neighborhood, the invisible rules of civic design impact your everyday life...

In this carefully researched and hauntingly written memoir, Lisa Gruenberg not only records her own life, but also that of relatives long lost to darkness, terror, and murder. In dreamlike sequences she weaves known facts of the lives of those lost into tableaus of imagined family dinners, conversations, and leisure activities set in the Vienna landscape. She especially brings back to life some of the girls and women whose fates remain largely unknown. These flights into the past are presented within the framework of Gruenberg's own family, her husband and daughters, and her father.

From the author of international bestsellers A Circle of Children and Lovey comes an inspiring true story of a gifted teacher’s determination to understand the ‘rotten’ city kid everyone has given up on. Sitting quiet and withdrawn at a battered school desk, Luke had the looks of a shy...

Eva Moskowitz, founder of the highly lauded Success Academy Charter Schools, shares her advice for raising smart, successful, and intellectually engaged children. Eva Moskowitz has built a national reputation as the founder and leader of Success Academy Charter Schools, one of the country’s...

Discover the epic narrative history of human evolution, tracking our turbulent rise from early foragers to megacities. Satisfy your intellectual curiosity during your morning commute with this awe-inspiring journey through time. Witness how geography, chance, and technological leaps transformed...

Explore the dramatic geopolitical history of an underdog island that engineered an astonishing economic survival miracle. Perfect for your daily commute, this gripping narrative transforms complex wealth creation into an awe-inspiring story of human resilience. Immerse yourself in the relentless...

Experience the gripping urban history of how untamed wilderness transformed into a towering empire of steel and ambition. Perfect for your daily commute or an immersive weekend walk, this brisk historical journey drops you directly into the clashes, triumphs, and defining turning points of a...

Segregation by Design draws on more than 100 years of quantitative and qualitative data from thousands of American cities to explore how local governments generate race and class segregation. Starting in the early 20th century, cities have used their power of land use control to determine the location and availability of housing, amenities (such as parks), and negative land uses (such as garbage dumps). The result has been segregation - first within cities and more recently between them. 

Trace the epic narrative history of human civilization, evolving from scattered tribes to sprawling modern megacities. Whether you are powering through a morning commute or seeking an immersive learning experience, this sweeping saga explores how urban density birthed spectacular innovation and...

Uncover the Southeast Asian history and fierce resilience of a megacity reborn from war and colonization. Watch a humble river settlement transform into Vietnam’s economic engine through decades of imperial conquest. Perfect for your daily commute, this immersive narrative brings vibrant...

Dive into architectural history to discover how ancient temples and sprawling megacities forge human civilization. Perfect for a contemplative daily commute, this vivid audio journey transforms ordinary sidewalks and towering skyscrapers into a living archive of society's deepest hopes and fears...

Explore the gripping economic history of how a fragile desert oasis transformed into a wealthy global energy powerhouse. Perfect for your daily commute, this analytical audio journey immerses you in the harsh realities of tribal survival before the oil boom. Witness a modest society leverage its...

Experience an awe-inspiring urban transformation in this Middle Eastern history of tribal survival and sudden wealth. Perfect for your daily commute or an evening of deep focus, this cinematic narrative transports you from windswept islands to the center of global geopolitics. Discover how a...

Witness an unforgiving desert outpost transform into a high-stakes empire of neon spectacle, mob bosses, and reinvention. Perfect for your daily commute or a long weekend road trip, this immersive popular history reveals the visionaries who conjured a massive metropolis out of sand. Instead of...

Discover the sweeping urban history of a coastal hamlet transformed by migration into an unstoppable megacity. Perfect for your daily commute, this immersive narrative sweeps you across centuries of empire, trade, and geographical conquests along the Arabian Sea. Witness how everyday laborers...