The Car and the city

the long version

A recent television documentary asked half a dozen centenarians what they remembered as the most exciting moments of their lives. Without hesitating, each of them mentioned their first automobile ride among two or three of their most prominent memories. When asked what development had changed daily life the most in the century through which they had lived, all six mentioned the automobile. Despite its importance, the automobile is the subject of surprisingly little intellectual inquiry. In The Car and the City, twenty distinguished authors--architects, designers, historians, sociologists, psychologists, and urban planners--analyze the influence the automobile has had on daily urban life and offer speculations about its future. The result is a fascinating study on the many ways in which urban life and the automobile are intertwined. Historians Sam Bass Warner, Jr., James J. Flink, and Mark S. Foster; journalist John B. Jackson; feminist planner Sandra Rosenbloom; and urbanist Melvin M. Webber are just a few of the foremost authorities who together provide a valuable interdisciplinary perspective on urban development and change.