Current Debates in Urban Theory from A Scale Perspective: Introducing A Scenes Approach

• In Event: 4122 - Section on Community and Urban Sociology Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 10. Urban Theory and Development

Abstract

We review current debates in urban theory through Howitt’s (1998) three-facet conceptualization of geographical scale and find that urban theorists have high levels of disagreement on the areal (scale as size), the hierarchical (scale as level), as well as the dialectical (scale as relation) aspects of the city. We show that, if urban theorists are to find a common approach to the city, they will need to agree on 1) what cities to study, 2) from which geographical levels, and on 3) how the city relates to other entities. We illustrate how the theory of urban scenes could potentially be used to address these debates in urban theory.

Authors

• Cary Wu

• Rima Wilkes, University of British Columbia

• Terry Nichols Clark, University of Chicago

• Daniel Silver, University of Toronto