Social Problems and the City: Geographical Perspectives

Interest in urban social problems has become particularly acute in recent years as the range and intensity of those problems has become more apparent. This collection of essays conveys the elements of a geographical approach to the topic by focusing upon some of the social problems and the ways in which they may be studied, and forming an overall assessment of the geographers role in evaluating and solving them. The book is divided into three main parts. Part One offers some quite divergent perspectives on the general question of the nature and origin of social problems in cities. Part Two provides a series of case studies of specific problems, including health, crime, violence, race, education, and the elderly. In Part Three two papers address the related issues of the merits or otherwise of area-based policies for the solution of problems and explanations in which the nature of area figures prominently, in the geographical tradition. A Second Edition of this work is currently in preparation.