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s___'s review against another edition
5.0
This book is gonna inform my activism around gentrification big time. A solid analysis in invaluable, especially in such a messy topic as gentrification and the real estate state.
bcoutinho's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic. So much history and important analysis in this book. Wonderful ending as well.
“The planners job is to turn social demands into physical space; whose demands they follow depends entirely on whose demands they obey.”
As a planner, it’s a great question to ask, whose demands will I obey?
“The planners job is to turn social demands into physical space; whose demands they follow depends entirely on whose demands they obey.”
As a planner, it’s a great question to ask, whose demands will I obey?
thesauraz's review against another edition
4.0
This subject matter isn't a particular interest of mine and the content was dense enough that I struggled to concentrate. But I rate books on my perception of their structure and merit, and it's objectively an important and well-constructed narrative.
ralowe's review against another edition
3.0
samuel stein ambushed me with the trump patrilineal anti-praisesong, how wide a variety of reasons is needed to take a plastic bag off one's head? i now know that trump's grandfather made a fortune off running brothels during the gold and silver rush; i now know that trump's dad ran segregated subsidized housing; i now know that the individual-1 trump himself used tax cheats to build a tower in manhattan. i frequently against better judgment do this thing i hate where i still doggedly use the word "neoliberalism"ќ as if it's either qualitatively or philosophically different from "capitalism."ќ i mean, all bets have been way off before and after chattel slavery. all that, and yes, stein's *captial city* should be read to gather and assess the post-industrial change of a civic object as lifeworld for persons into the discrete identity of an investment for abstract and disinterested profit drives breakneck-veering into a return to some kind of feudalism: trump demonstrates this principle. but is neoliberalism crudely collected as feudalism or as the road to? overall, this is a pretty good book; although, i am likely never to really be able to get what stein means by "planner"ќ and "planning."ќ i was thrown by the sudden appearance of fred moten and stefano harney from *the undercommons* in the text. i'm not convinced that the chosen instances of the terms converge. stein is attempting to redeem a bureaucracy whereas i recall harney and moten mandating its liquidation. if stein desires this then an explicit declaration of such is owed the reader. there's a mild problematic that occurs around the activist notion of the assumed un-activist public reception of the term "gentrification"ќ; stein calls the word "clunky"ќ which is"_ i mean"_ sure. at the same time, it always feels like a kind of cop-out to reject liability to commit to a kind of essential organizational, conceptual and physical labor. the book's only major weakness involves these insistences to be in solidarity with civic planning decision-makers; this in a current political moment where people are starting to imagine altogether separate concentrations of power beyond the allegedly all-encompassing system. let's go!
hieronymusbotched's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone who has ever lived under a roof should probably read this. It won’t be any fun, finding out how your society and financial security is being swindled, but there we are.
I did find the proposed solution a little hard to digest - fantastical, even, in light of what came before - but I suppose with a problem as severe as this one, there’s no point treating the symptoms.
Very approachable, as well, for anyone afraid of all the jargon that comes with city planning and zoning regulations.
I did find the proposed solution a little hard to digest - fantastical, even, in light of what came before - but I suppose with a problem as severe as this one, there’s no point treating the symptoms.
Very approachable, as well, for anyone afraid of all the jargon that comes with city planning and zoning regulations.
duparker's review against another edition
3.0
2.5-3 Stars. On the plus side this is a highly readable and well researched book. I enjoyed the thoughtful breakdown of the history of planning and the background about disinvestment and investment. The cycles described are straight forwarded and clear.
What I didn't care for is the snark and lack of an alternative or solution. The book decries the current real estate model, and to a degree the market, but doesn't really offer much counter to it. Sure we could have a command system, but how realistic is that?
In many ways this feels like someone who couldn't get hired as a municipal planner. They went to become an academic and then complains that the practicing municipal planner doesn't do the right thing. They don't stand up, they don't push back, and they don't do what the academic wants. Ho hum.
What I didn't care for is the snark and lack of an alternative or solution. The book decries the current real estate model, and to a degree the market, but doesn't really offer much counter to it. Sure we could have a command system, but how realistic is that?
In many ways this feels like someone who couldn't get hired as a municipal planner. They went to become an academic and then complains that the practicing municipal planner doesn't do the right thing. They don't stand up, they don't push back, and they don't do what the academic wants. Ho hum.
drillvoice's review against another edition
3.0
A good look at gentrification and particularly the power of real estate and how it infiltrates planning decisions. At times though it seems to lack rigour, and I want very clear on what the solution would look like.