| Description |
1 online resource (xiv, 271 pages) : illustrations, maps |
| Contents |
I. Introduction. 1. Sometime in 2009 ; 2. Varieties of Urban Crisis : New York, Chicago, Houston -- II. Growth Machines in the Garden. 3. "The Yuppie Express" ; 4. "No More Bake Sales, Man" ; 5. "A Piece of Crud" ; 6. Parks for Profit or for People? – III. Gardens in the Machine. 7. Defective Landscapes ; 8. Imbricated Spaces ; 9. Constructing Environmental Authenticity ; 10. Spatial Practices and Social Control -- IV. Conclusion. 11. After the High Line ; 12. Abolish, Decolonize, Rot : Three Proposals for Parks Equity |
| Summary |
"Not since the first wave of city parks built in the United States and Europe during the latter half of the 19th Century has there been as much focus on the park as a space and symbol of urban vitality as there is now. This new generation of parks is post-industrial, transforming derelict remnants of an urban past into neighborhood anchors that mix green space, repurposed industrialism, and creative landscape architectural features. The argument for such development is couched in the language of environmentalism and sustainability, but this obscuring an economic motive that is difficult to ignore. For instance, since its opening in 2009, The High Line has become one of New York's most visited tourist attractions while contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to adjacent real estate values and tax revenues. How should we think of these new urban spaces? What do they contribute to the life of the city? In Parks for Profit, Kevin Loughran considers three overlapping ways to think of the rise of the postindustrial park using The High Line in New York, Bloomingdale Trail / 606 in Chicago, and Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston as primary case studies. He argues that as urban economies have become engineered around finance, real estate, tourism, and cultural consumption, the healthful seemingly apolitical symbolism of nature allows for parks to serve as civic shields for elite-oriented investment. The books three substantive chapters unpack this thesis to consider the post-industrial park in the context of the urban economy, nature, and race, the latter of which is often an unacknowledged subtext in urban redevelopment. Much as abandoned rail viaducts and vacant residential lots marked the disappearance of people and capital, the revitalization of such spaces is a retaking of space. Post-industrial parks make aesthetic use of the symbols of past disinvestment while serving as green engines of gentrification and displacement"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on November 04, 2021) |
| Subject |
Gentrification -- United States -- Case studies
|
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Social stratification -- United States -- Case studies
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Parks -- United States -- Case studies
|
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SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban
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Economic history
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Gentrification
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Parks
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Social stratification
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| SUBJECT |
United States -- Economic conditions -- 20th century.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2001001975
|
| Subject |
United States
|
| Genre/Form |
Case studies
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| LC no. |
2021017228 |
| ISBN |
9780231550628 |
|
0231550626 |
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