Table of Contents

Foreword, by Paco Underhill
1. Introduction
2. The Social Life of the Street
3. Street People
4. The Skilled Pedestrian
5. The Physical Street
6. The Sensory Street
7. The Design of Spaces
8. Water, Wind, Trees, and Light
9. The Management of Spaces
10. The Undesirables
11. Carrying Capacity
12. Steps and Entrances
13. Concourses and Skyways
14. Megastructures
15. Blank Walls
16. The Rise and Fall of Incentive Zoning
17. Sun and Shadow
18. Bounce Light
19. Sun Easements
20. The Corporate Exodus
21. The Semi-Cities
22. How to Dullify Downtown
23. Tightening Up
24. The Case for Gentrification
25. Return to the Agora
Appendices
A. Digest of Open-Space Zoning Provisions in New York City
B. Mandating of Retailing at Street Level
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments

Promotional Information

In a challenging and provocative book, William Whyte, author of the classic The Organization Man, observes the influence public spaces have on the people who use them. In this exploration of pedestrian behavior and urban dynamics, he calls on city planners to provide functional, pleasant places to live and work.

About the Author

William H. Whyte (1917-1999), author of the bestselling Organization Man, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press, was born in Pennsylvania and educated at Princeton. Paco Underhill, founder, CEO, and president of Envirosell, is the author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping and Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping.

Reviews

"City punctures commonplace assumptions about urban life in virtually every chapter. . . . There is genuine brilliance here." (New York Times) "We who hug the city to us by instinct are grateful to Whyte for providing us with a hundred-a thousand-arguments for doing so." (New Yorker) "City is written in clear, straightforward, and vivid prose. . . . Whyte bubbles over with data. . . . He is an authentic visionary." (Los Angeles Times) "Whyte's Street Life Project studied the use of urban spaces for 16 years. This follow-up to The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is an engaging look at the variety of human interactions which make 'downtown' vibrant. Whyte looks at such diverse topics as pedestrian movement, concourses and skyways, sunlight and its effects-all from the perspective of a confirmed city-lover. His observations and recommendations can be read with profit and pleasure by professional planners and readers interested in what makes a city tick." (Library Journal)

"City punctures commonplace assumptions about urban life in virtually every chapter. . . . There is genuine brilliance here." * New York Times *
"We who hug the city to us by instinct are grateful to Whyte for providing us with a hundred-a thousand-arguments for doing so." * New Yorker *
"City is written in clear, straightforward, and vivid prose. . . . Whyte bubbles over with data. . . . He is an authentic visionary." * Los Angeles Times *
"Whyte's Street Life Project studied the use of urban spaces for 16 years. This follow-up to The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is an engaging look at the variety of human interactions which make 'downtown' vibrant. Whyte looks at such diverse topics as pedestrian movement, concourses and skyways, sunlight and its effects-all from the perspective of a confirmed city-lover. His observations and recommendations can be read with profit and pleasure by professional planners and readers interested in what makes a city tick." * Library Journal *