Imagining Urban Futures: Cities in Science Fiction and What We Might Learn from Them

Synopsis

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 Mieville 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. Techno City; Or, Dude, Where's My Aircar? -- Machines For Breathing -- Migratory Cities -- Utopia With Walls: The Carceral City -- Crabgrass Chaos -- Soylent Green Is People! Varieties Of Urban Crisis -- Keep Out, You Idiots! The Deserted City -- Market And Mosaic -- Afterword: Cities That Will Work. Carl Abbott. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.