Age of the City Audiobook Libro.fm

Bloomsbury presents Age of the City by Ian Goldin and Tom LeeDevlin read by Nathaniel Priestley

One of the Financial Times Best Economics Books of 2023

Visionary Oxford professor Ian Goldin and The Economists Tom LeeDevlin show why the city is where the battles of inequality social division pandemics and climate change must be faced

From centres 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 epicentres 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 Professor Goldin and Tom LeeDevlin 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 havenots 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

Professor Goldin and Tom LeeDevlin combine the lessons of history with a deep understanding of the challenges confronting our world today to show why cities are at a crossroads and hold our destinies in the balance