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?

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...

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 the spirit of Evicted, a property law scholar uses the story of two grandfathers—one white, one black—who arrived in Detroit at the turn of the twentieth century to reveal how racist policies weaken Black families, widen the racial wealth gap, and derive profit from pain. When Professor...

Discover how a flood-prone Asian basin conquered brutal geography to become a global metropolis of urban resilience. Whether you are navigating a busy morning commute or planning your next overseas adventure, this immersive urban history transports you straight to the bustling streets of East...

Dive into an immersive urban history where medieval Islamic empires clash with modern revolutions under ancient skies. Perfect for your daily commute, this evocative armchair travel experience transports you directly to the vibrant banks of the Nile. Feel the relentless energy of crowded street...

Witness the dramatic urban history of a rocky archipelago evolving into a booming global megacity. Perfect for your daily commute, this immersive narrative sweeps you across centuries of maritime trade, imperial rivalries, and relentless industrialization. Dive into a vibrant, gritty world where...

Explore a gripping Japanese history tracing one city's evolution from feudal stronghold to World War II epicenter. This sweeping military and social narrative captures four centuries of dramatic transformation. It grounds the massive scale of imperial ambition in the deeply personal lives of...

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...

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...

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.

Journalist Julie Satow's thrilling, unforgettable history of how one illustrious hotel has defined our understanding of money and glamour, from the Gilded Age to the Go-Go Eighties to today's Billionaire Row. From the moment in 1907 when New York millionaire Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt strode...

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...

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.

Discover the dramatic American history of an engineering marvel that conquered the East River against impossible odds. Perfect for your daily commute, this immersive audiobook transports you to nineteenth-century New York, where soaring ambition clashed with fierce political corruption. Listen...

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...

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...