Electronic book text | |
September 13, 2016 | |
9780819576729 | |
English | |
276 | |
16 illus. | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
$23.99 USD, £18.50 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Hardback | |
October 7, 2016 | |
9780819576712 | |
English | |
276 | |
16 illus. | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
1.25 Pounds (US) | |
$27.95 USD, £21.95 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Imagining Urban Futures
Cities in Science Fiction and What We Might Learn from Them
By Carl Abbott
Carl Abbott, who has taught urban studies and urban planning in five decades, brings together urban studies and literary studies to examine how fictional cities in work by authors as different as E. M. Forster, Isaac Asimov, Kim Stanley Robinson, and China Miéville might help us to envision an urban future that is viable and resilient. Imagining Urban Futures is a remarkable treatise on what is best and strongest in urban theory and practice today, as refracted and intensely imagined in science fiction. As the human population grows, we can envision an increasingly urban society. Shifting weather patterns, rising sea levels, reduced access to resources, and a host of other issues will radically impact urban environments, while technology holds out the dream of cities beyond Earth. Abbott delivers a compelling critical discussion of science fiction cities found in literary works, television programs, and films of many eras from Metropolis to Blade Runner and Soylent Green to The Hunger Games, among many others.
About the Author
CARL ABBOTT is professor emeritus of urban studies and planning at Portland State University. He is the author of the prize-winning books The Metropolitan Frontier: Cities in the Modern American West and Political Terrain: Washington DC from Tidewater Town to Global Metropolis, as well as Frontiers Past and Future: Science Fiction and the American West.
Reviews
"By day Carl Abbott is one of the most respected urban historians of his generation; by night he is among the most omnivorous and omniscient sci-fi fanboys of all time. This book brings together both sides of his brain for a unique guided tour of science fiction cities in their many manifestations, familiar and obscure. As he shows, science fiction has found its own radical way to represent, to critique, and ultimately to re-design the city."—Robert Fishman, University of Michigan
Endorsements
"By day Carl Abbott is one of the most respected urban historians of his generation; by night he is among the most omnivorous and omniscient sci-fi fanboys of all time. This book brings together both sides of his brain for a unique guided tour of science fiction cities in their many manifestations, familiar and obscure. As he shows, science fiction has found its own radical way to represent, to critique, and ultimately to re-design the city."—Robert Fishman, University of Michigan
"Carl Abbott has long been valued as a thoughtful and creative urban historian. Here he has organized the 'thought experiments' we call science fiction into sensible categories that explain the imaginative responses to technological and social change in cities. The book is encyclopedic in its reach and will be consulted for years to come."—Sam Bass Warner, Jr., author of American Urban Form
"Carl Abbott has long been valued as a thoughtful and creative urban historian. Here he has organized the 'thought experiments' we call science fiction into sensible categories that explain the imaginative responses to technological and social change in cities. The book is encyclopedic in its reach and will be consulted for years to come."—Sam Bass Warner, Jr., author of American Urban Form
Wesleyan University Press | |
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|
Electronic book text | |
September 13, 2016 | |
9780819576729 | |
English | |
276 | |
16 illus. | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
$23.99 USD, £18.50 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Hardback | |
October 7, 2016 | |
9780819576712 | |
English | |
276 | |
16 illus. | |
9.00 Inches (US) | |
6.00 Inches (US) | |
1.25 Pounds (US) | |
$27.95 USD, £21.95 GBP | |
v2.1 Reference | |
Other Titles by Carl Abbott
Dark Rose
Robert C Donnelly, foreword by Carl Abbott
Jul 2015
- University of Washington Press
$25.00 USD
- Paperback / softback
$95.00 USD
- Hardback
The Great Extravaganza, Revised Edition
Carl Abbott
Dec 2004
- Oregon Historical Society
$15.00 USD
- Paperback / softback
Two Centuries of Lewis and Clark
William L. Lang, Carl Abbott
Dec 2004
- Oregon Historical Society
$18.00 USD
- Paperback / softback
Other Titles in LITERARY CRITICISM / Science Fiction & Fantasy
Occasional Views, Volume 2
Samuel R. Delany
Dec 2021
- Wesleyan University Press
$24.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
$95.00 USD
- Hardback
Remainders of the American Century
Brent Ryan Bellamy
Jun 2021
- Wesleyan University Press
$24.95 USD
- Paperback / softback
$80.00 USD
- Hardback
Occasional Views Volume 1
Samuel R. Delany
Mar 2021
- Wesleyan University Press
$85.00 USD
- Hardback
$24.95 USD
- Paperback / softback