Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions

Postmetropolis completes Edward Soja′s trilogy aimed at expanding the scope and critical insight of our spatial imaginations. Applying the theoretical frameworks developed in Postmodern Geographies (1989) and Thirdspace (1996), it is the first comprehensive text in the growing field of critical urban and regional studies to deal with the dramatically restructured megacities that emerged worldwide over the last half of the twentieth century. At its core is a lively discussion of six discourses that have coalesced around explaining what Soja calls the postmetropolitan transition, a major sea change in how we live in cities and experience urbanism as a way of life. To provide depth to these discussions, the book begins with a rethinking of the debates on the origins of cities, the geohistorical evolution of urban form, and the dynamic relations between society and space in the specific context of urban agglomerations. In addition to being an innovative text in urban and regional studies and an insightful application of new approaches to interpreting the spatiality of human life, Postmetropolis is also a book about contemporary Los Angeles, a vivid and far–reaching interpretation of its turbulent recent history and geography. The book concludes with a look back to the civil unrest of 1992 to portray the postmetropolis in explosive crisis as well as to draw some hope for the future based on new coalition–based struggles for spatial justice and regional democracy.

List of Illustrations. Preface. Acknowledgments. Part I: Remapping the Geohistory of Cityspace. . Introduction. 1. Putting Cities First. 2. The Second Urban Revolution. 3. The Third Urban Revolution: Modernity and Urban–Industrial Capitalism. 4. Metropolis in Crisis. 5. An Introduction to the Conurbation of Greater Los Angeles. Part II: Six Discourses on the Postmetropolis. . Introduction. 6. The Postfordist Industrial Metropolis: Restructuring the Geopolitical Economy of Urbanism. 7. Cosmopolis: The Globalization of Cityspace. 8. Exopolis: The Restructuring of Urban Form. 9. Fractal City: Metropolarities and the Restructured Social Mosaic. 10. The Carceral Archipelago: Governing Space in the Postmetropolis. 11. Simcities: Restructuring the Urban Imaginary. Part III: Lived Space: Rethinking 1992 in Los Angeles. 12. L. A. 1992: Overture to a Conclusion. 13. L. A. 1992: The Spaces of Representation. 14. Postcript: Critical Reflections on the Postmetropolis. Bibliography. Name Index. Subject Index.

Edward W Soja is Professor of Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has written extensively on urban social life, planning and theory. His previous books include Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory (Verso, 1989)and Thirdspace (Blackwell, 1996).

"Traditional sociological and urban design critiques of the American city have left vacant a wide middle ground of critical enquiry. Between statistical analysis and physical critique, Edward Soja attempts to bridge the divide by proposing a ′third way′ for urban studies. The result is a broad overview, ranging between sociological and cultural points of view, with the provocative possibility of pairing the two in a new urban paradigm." Tom Leslie, World Architecture "Coming to the field as a relative novice, I found this book more straightforward and thought provoking than I expected...it is sure to be of interest and value to students and researchers alike." Regional Studies. "Postmetropolis effectively illuminates the rich complexity and multidisciplinary of urban and regional restructuring in the current era... will serve as a useful resource." Journal of Economic and Social Geography. " Postmetropolis is magisterial in its historic sweep" Thomas L. Bell, University of Tennessee.