Disrupted Cities

"In this provocative, compelling book, Graham and an international team of collaborators add essential theoretical insights and empirical knowledge to the rapidly developing field of infrastructure studies. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the urbanized dimensions of infrastructure and in the infrastructural dimensions of urbanization."--Neil Brenner, Sociology and Metropolitan Studies, New York University "With a razor-sharp blade, this remarkable book cuts through the tangled skein of infrastructure that knots the city -- and the planet -- together. aBy looking at these networks in failure mode, Stephen Graham and his collaborators demonstrate with scary precision the ways in which such "invisible" webs not simply service but regulate - and too often destroy - the lives that depend on them."--Michael Sorkin, Architecture and Urban Design, City College of New York "Seeing cities through the lens of infrastructure opens up a world of processes, breakdowns, and inertias. Each of the chapters brings to light unexpected features of how infrastructures fit into city life, how malfunction makes them more visible in certain cities and a state of nature in slums, how political dynamics are unleashed by infrastructures . This is an exciting contribution to the study of cities." --Saskia Sassen, author of Deciphering the Global "This very interesting book made the reviewer think about specific actions professionals should take, how they should try to convince decision makers about the need to renovate such infrastructure, and to what extent real-life challenges and duties should be taken into account when educating professionals." -- Public Works Management & Policy, August 2010