The U.S. City in Transition

The U.S. city is undergoing constant change. In the East and Midwest, most cities were founded as trading posts on waterways. They boomed during the industrial era and reached their population peak in the mid-20th century, before suburbanization and deindustrialization caused them to decline in importance. Traces of decay were everywhere, and the prognosis for the future was conceivably poor. 

As Barbara Hahn shows in her book, this trend now seems to have been broken: Things are looking up again for the US. Some of the former industrial cities have succeeded in structural change. In the south and west of the country, cities have developed into new growth centers. However, not all cities are benefiting from this positive development, and many continue to shrink at an alarming rate. As the author points out, similar processes such as neoliberalism, deregulation, privatisation and gentrification can be observed in all cities, regardless of their location and level of development.

Due to the large number of didactically prepared graphics, the book is suitable as a study read for students and scholars. The characteristics of the U.S. city, which are elaborated on the basis of current examples, as well as the illustrative photos also illustrate the change of the U.S. city to the interested reader.

The Author

Prof. Dr. Barbara Hahn holds the chair of economic geography at the University of Würzburg, Germany and has been observing the transformation of the U.S. cities since the mid-1980s in the course of many travels and research projects.