Networked Urbanism

Despite considerable interest in social capital amongst urban policy makers and academics alike, there is currently little direct focus on its urban dimensions. In this volume leading urban researchers from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA, Australia, Italy and France explore the nature of social networks and the significance of voluntary associations for contemporary urban life. Networked Urbanism recognizes that there is currently a sense of crisis in the cohesion of the city which has led to public attempts to encourage networking and the fostering of 'social capital'. However, the contributors collectively demonstrate how new kinds of 'networked urbanism' associated with ghettoization, suburbanization and segregation have broken from the kind of textured urban communities that existed in the past. This has generated new forms of exclusionary social capital, which fail to significantly resolve the problems of poor residents, whilst strengthening the position of the advantaged. Grounded in theoretical reflection and empirical research, Networked Urbanism will be of interest to scholars and students of sociology, geography and urban studies, as well as to policy makers.

'This collection explores some of the limits, and possibilities, of social capital perspectives for understanding entrenched urban inequalities and, more generally, the changing sociospatial landscapes of contemporary urbanism. An invaluable resource for anyone concerned with the debate on social capital, within or beyond cities.' Neil Brenner, New York University, USA '...Networked Urbanism provides a number of useful insights into the social and spatial processes behind the formation and working of social capital in relation to the contemporary city, revealing complexities that suggest there is plenty of room for the social capital debated to run for a good while yet.' European Spatial Research and Policy

Talja Blokland is Professor at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. Mike Savage is Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, UK.