Metropolis Now!

A critical, interdisciplinary look at life in metropolitan centres. The portraits of fifteen cities on four different continents serve to comment upon and analyse both their economic and social realities as well as their identity, recent history, immediate future and the radical transformation in their physical form. Provided here is a rare synthesis of information and specialist knowledge. Urban analysts from the fields of architecture, sociology, contemporary history, cultural studies, geography and journalism have contributed the essays, giving the reader not only an insight into the important features of each metropolis but also into what makes it the city it is today. Metropolis Now! – a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of metropolitan centres on four continents. TOC: A State of Mind (Ramesh Kumar Biswas).- Shanghai: Times, Tides (Ramesh Kumar Biswas).- Tokyo: Different With a Difference (Roman Cybriwsky).- Bombay: One Space, Many Worlds (Ramesh Kumar Biswas).- London: The Coolest City (Richard Burdett).- Hongkong: Suzie Wong’s Revenge (Ramesh Kumar Biswas).- Las Vegas: The Strip Versus Nature (Mike Davis).- Marseille: Layer Upon Layer (Michel Peraldi).- Kuala Lumpur: Bigger, Higher, Faster, Better (Ramesh Kumar Biswas).- Istanbul: A City In Search Of A Continent (Jean-Claude Guillebaud).- Soweto: The Dis-Location (Henning Rasmuss).- Berlin: Potsdamer Platz And Beyond (Ramesh Kumar Biswas, Felix Zwoch).- São Paulo: Main Street, South America (Giselle Beiguelman).- Moscow: Hotel Moskva (Felix Zwoch).- Singapore: The Forbidding City (Puvan J. Selvanathan).- Vienna: A City Consumes (Ramesh Kumar Biswas). Shanghai.- Tokyo.- Bombay.- London.- Hongkong.- Las Vegas.- Marseille.- Kuala Lumpur.- Istanbul.- Soweto.- Berlin.- São Paolo.- Moscow.- Singapore.- Vienna. Authors: Richard Burdett, Professor of Cities, London School of Economics.- Felix Zwoch, Editor, Bauwelt, Berlin.- Dr. Michel Peraldi, Urban anthropologist, Professor, Aix-en-Provence.- Giselle Beiguelman, Urban activist, multimedia artist, Sao Paolo.- Jean-Claude Guillebaud, Publisher, Paris.- Henning Rasmuss, Architect, Johannesburg.- Dr. Alexander Cuthbert, Professor of Urban Planning, Sydney.- Dr. Mike Davis, Professor of Sociology, Author, New York.- Dr. Roman Cybriwysky, Professor of Geography, Author, Chicago.- Dr. Ramesh Kumar Biswas, Architect and multimedia designer, Vienna, Adjunct.- Professor of Urban Studies, Kuala Lumpur.