Age of the city : why our future will be won or lost together / Ian Goldin, Tom Lee-Devlin.

includes bibliographical references (pages 187-228) and index.

Engines of progress -- $tLevelling up -- $tDivided cities -- $tRemote work: the treat to cities -- $tCities, cyberspace and the future of community -- $tBeyond the rich world -- $tThe spectre of disease -- $tA climate of peril -- $tConclusion: Better together.

From centers of antiquity like Athens or Rome to modern metropolises like New York or Shanghai, cities throughout history have been the engines of human progress and the epicenters of our greatest achievements. Now, for the first time, more than half of humanity lives in cities, a share that continues to rise. In the developing world, cities are growing at a rate never seen before. In this book, Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin show why making our societies fairer, more cohesive and sustainable must start with our cities. Globalization and technological change have concentrated wealth into a small number of booming metropolises, leaving many smaller cities and towns behind and feeding populist resentment. Yet even within seemingly thriving cities like London or San Francisco, the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen and our retreat into online worlds tears away at our social fabric. Meanwhile, pandemics and climate change pose existential threats to our increasingly urban world. Goldin and Lee-Devlin combine the lessons of history with a understanding of the challenges confronting our world today to show why cities are at a crossroads - and hold our destinies in the balance. --Provided by publisher.