Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Thinking About Cities: The Central Tradition In U.S. Urban History, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Urban history in United States in the last 150 years has been concerned with two central questions. Historians of three generations focused on the process of urbanization and the problem of civic order in the cities. The historians of recent times emphasize on community formation as the determinant of economic growth and its general effect. Earlier scholars discussed the creation of communities and institutions and the correlation between urban and national development. Thus, interaction between city and citizen is a viable theme of urban history.