About the book
Once a thriving metropolis on the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis, Missouri, is now a ghostly landscape of vacant houses, boarded-up storefronts, and abandoned factories. The Gateway City is, by any measure, one of the most depopulated, deindustrialized, and deeply segregated examples of American urban decay. \"Not a typical city,\" as one observer noted in the late 1970s, \"but, like a Eugene O'Neill play, it shows a general condition in a stark and dramatic form.\"
Mapping Decline examines the causes and consequences of St. Louis's urban crisis. It traces the complicity of private real estate restrictions, local planning and zoning, and federal housing policies in the \"white flight\" of people and wealth from the central city. And it traces the inadequacy—and often sheer folly—of a generation of urban renewal, in which even programs and resources aimed at eradicating blight in the city ended up encouraging flight to the suburbs. The urban crisis, as this study of St. Louis makes clear, is not just a consequence of economic and demographic change; it is also the most profound political failure of our recent history.
Mapping Decline is the first history of a modern American city to combine extensive local archival research with the latest geographic information system (GIS) digital mapping techniques. More than 75 full-color maps—rendered from census data, archival sources, case law, and local planning and property records—illustrate, in often stark and dramatic ways, the still-unfolding political history of our neglected cities.
Editions of Mapping Decline
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780812220940
- EBook
- ISBN 9780812291506
Read an Excerpt
Once a thriving metropolis on the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis, Missouri, is now a ghostly landscape of vacant houses, boarded-up storefronts, and abandoned factories. The Gateway City is, by any measure, one of the most depopulated, deindustrialized, and deeply segregated examples of American urban decay. \"Not a typical city,\" as one observer noted in the late 1970s, \"but, like a Eugene O'Neill play, it shows a general condition in a stark and dramatic form.\"
Mapping Decline examines the causes and consequences of St. Louis's urban crisis. It traces the complicity of private real estate restrictions, local planning and zoning, and federal housing policies in the \"white flight\" of people and wealth from the central city. And it traces the inadequacy—and often sheer folly—of a generation of urban renewal, in which even programs and resources aimed at eradicating blight in the city ended up encouraging flight to the suburbs. The urban crisis, as this study of St. Louis makes clear, is not just a consequence of economic and demographic change; it is also the most profound political failure of our recent history.
Mapping Decline is the first history of a modern American city to combine extensive local archival research with the latest geographic information system (GIS) digital mapping techniques. More than 75 full-color maps—rendered from census data, archival sources, case law, and local planning and property records—illustrate, in often stark and dramatic ways, the still-unfolding political history of our neglected cities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mapping Decline about?
Once a thriving metropolis on the banks of the Mississippi, St. Louis, Missouri, is now a ghostly landscape of vacant houses, boarded-up storefronts, and abandoned factories. The Gateway City is, by any measure, one of the most depopulated, deindustrialized, and deeply segregated examples of American urban decay. \"Not a typical city,\" as one observer noted in the late 1970s, \"but, like a Eugene O'Neill play, it shows a general condition in a stark and dramatic form.\"
Mapping Decline examines the causes and consequences of St. Louis's urban crisis. It traces the complicity of private real estate restrictions, local planning and zoning, and federal housing policies in the \"white flight\" of people and wealth from the central city. And it traces the inadequacy—and often sheer folly—of a generation of urban renewal, in which even programs and resources aimed at eradicating blight in the city ended up encouraging flight to the suburbs. The urban crisis, as this study of St. Louis makes clear, is not just a consequence of economic and demographic change; it is also the most profound political failure of our recent history.
Mapping Decline is the first history of a modern American city to combine extensive local archival research with the latest geographic information system (GIS) digital mapping techniques. More than 75 full-color maps—rendered from census data, archival sources, case law, and local planning and property records—illustrate, in often stark and dramatic ways, the still-unfolding political history of our neglected cities.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Mapping Decline?
Society and Social Sciences > Society and culture: general > Social groups, communities and identities > Urban communities / city life
Where can I read a sample of Mapping Decline?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780812220940
How long is Mapping Decline and how many pages does it have?
Mapping Decline has 304 page(s)
Is Mapping Decline part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series Politics and Culture in Modern America
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Mapping Decline?
Colin Gordon
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Mapping Decline is available as paperback(ISBN 9780812220940) and ebook(ISBN 9780812291506)
Where can I buy Mapping Decline online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Mapping Decline from below
Where can I buy Mapping Decline?