Metropolis Books

City of sprawl, city of neighborhoods. City of wealth and poverty, celebrity and anonymity. Los Angeles requires us to peer beneath the surface.

Americans are conflicted about urban development: somehow we’ve demonized both sprawl and density. Here’s the case for the hyperdense city: prosperous, sustainable, delightful.

Observations of an architect who lives in the modernist neighborhood designed by Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer, and Alfred Caldwell.

A glimpse of life at Lafayette Park, one of the most racially integrated and economically stable neighborhoods in Detroit.

An architect describes a multi-year effort to rebuild neighborhoods in post-Katrina New Orleans — and the limited results to date.