These land use maps on the Bloomberg website, based on 2017 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture data, are super interesting. Note how little land, relatively speaking, is urbanized.

Here’s some real estate market analysis/advocacy in a mode consistent with the critical urban sociology approach we discussed today in class, published in the socialist quarterly Jacobin: “Now Is the Perfect Time to Crack Down on Airbnb.”

I talked a bit in class today about vacancy chains, and how the dynamics observed in them might be harnessed to useful ends by urban planners. Here’s an article in the Times reporting some research on vacancy chains in hermit crabs, and how such chains may show a degree of “income inequality.” I’m not sure the characterization is apt, actually, but it’s an interesting idea. Includes video of hermit crabs upgrading shells! “Even Hermit Crabs Have Wealth Inequality.”

Here’s the Ted Talk I mentioned in class today. Super relevant to our recent discussions about industrialization and our upcoming discussion of urban ecology!

Here are a couple of articles about two places I want to compare in class this week.

Hodder on women and men at Catal Huyuk.

Mann on Gobekli Tepe as part of the “birth of religion.”

Just for fun: can you identify these cities by their nighttime light signatures?

This little WordPress cite serves as our syllabus. You can find the calendar, readings, and the “fine print” here. I’ll also post announcements here, as well as links to interesting news stories, relevant websites, and the like when I come across them. The book you will need for this course is:
Macionis, John J. and Vincent Parillo. 2017. Cities and Urban Life, 7th Edition. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-386980-4.