Literature Guide: Cities and Urbanization
WCIU Journal: Community and Societal Development Topic
November 14, 2018
Compiled by Timothy Skinner, MLS
Library of Congress Classification
HT 101 – HT 395 Cities
Dewey Decimal Classification
307 Communities
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Capitals (Cities)
Cities and towns
City-states
Education, Urban
Extinct cities
Garden cities
Inner cities
Islamic cities and towns
Jewish ghettos
Market towns
Metropolitan areas
Military towns
Plazas
Sociology, Urban
Squatter settlements
Urban beautification
Urban cores
Urban ecology
Urban folklore
Urban health
Urbanization
Periodical Articles
Aryal, Kumar. 2019. “The Problem of Poverty in Metro Manila, Philippines.” WCIU Journal (April 30).
Lim, D. S. 1988. “The City in the Bible.” Evangelical Review of Theology 12, no. 2 (April).
Timmer, J. 1973. “The Bible and City.” Reformed Journal (October): 21-25.
Reference Books
Atlas of Cities (2014)
The Cities Book (2017)
Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia (2006)
Cities of the World, 4 vol. (1982)
City Atlas: Travel the World with 30 City Maps (2016)
The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History (2016)
Reference Books with Relevant Articles
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (1998)
The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1999)
The Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South (2018)
Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions (2000)
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World (2008)
World Christian Encyclopedia (2001). See Part 10: “Metroscan: Metropolises of the World: 7,000 City Profiles.”
Anthologies and Edited Works
The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Cities (1999)
Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and Landscapes of Latin America (2005)
Leisure in Urban Africa (2003)
The Middle East City: Ancient Traditions Confront a Modern World (1987)
Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a Globalizing World (2004)
Population, Poverty, and Politics in Middle East Cities (1997)
Urbanism in the Pre-Industrial World: Cross-Cultural Approaches (2006)
Urbanization and African Cultures (2005)
Urbanization in India: Sociological Contributions (2003)
World Cities in a World System (1995)
Books
General
Abrahamson, Mark. 2013. Urban Sociology: A Global Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Bridge, Gary, and Sophie Watson, eds. 2010. The Blackwell City Reader. 2d ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Burgess, Rod, Marisa Carmona, and Theo Kolstee, eds. 1997. The Challenge of Sustainable
Cities: Neoliberalism and Urban Strategies in Developing Countries. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Zed Books.
Freund, Bill. 2007. The African City: A History. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Haas, Tigran, ed. 2008. New Urbanism and Beyond: Designing Cities for the Future. New York: Rizzoli.
Mumford, Lewis. 1989. The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Christian or Theological Approaches
Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. 1985. Faith in the City: A Call for Action by Church and Nation. London: Commission for Urban Priority Areas.
Barrett, David. 1986. World Class Cities and World Evangelization. Birmingham, AL: New Hope Publishers.
Eckert, Amy S., and William J. Petersen. 2001. The Christian Traveler’s Companion: Western Europe. Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revel.
Ellul, Jacques. 1970. The Meaning of the City. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Wagner, C. Peter, Stephen Peters, and Mark Wilson, eds. 1995. Praying through the 100 Gateway Cities of the 10/40 Window. Seattle: YWAM Publishing.
Ancient Cities
Harrison, R. K., ed. 1985. Major Cities of the Biblical World. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Meeks, W. A. 1983. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul. 2d ed. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Yamauchi, Edwin M. 1980. New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor: Light from Archaeology on Cities of Paul and the Seven Churches of Revelation. Grand Rapids: Baker. (Includes a 3-page bibliography.)
Ecological Approaches
Beatley, Timothy. 2017. Handbook of Biophilic City Planning and Design. Washington D.C.: Island Press.
McDonald, Robert I. 2015. Conservation for Cities: How to Plan and Build Natural Infrastructures. Washington D.C.: Island Press.
Steiner, Frederick R., George F. Thompson, and Armando Carbonell, eds. 2016. Nature and Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Design and Planning. Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Editor’s Note: Also see the chapter, “International Development and NIBC.” in the WCIU Press book, Agents of International Development and Shalom,.The author, architect Hakchul Kim, received an honorary doctorate from WCIU for his work in Cambodia with Korean students from Handong University to design whole cities to help that country develop. An excerpt from that chapter can be found here.
Timothy Skinner, MLS, is the librarian for WIlliam Carey International University and a member of Frontier Ventures.