The first book to explore how our cities gentrify by becoming social media influencers—and why it works.
Cities, like the people that live in them, are subject to the attention economy. In The City Authentic, author David A. Banks shows how cities are transforming themselves to appeal to modern desires for authentic urban living through the attention-grabbing tactics of social media influencers and reality-TV stars.
Blending insightful analysis with pop culture, this engaging study of New York State’s Capital Region is an accessible glimpse into the social phenomena that influence contemporary cities. The rising economic fortunes of cities in the Rust Belt, Banks argues, are due in part to the markers of its previous decay—which translate into signs of urban authenticity on the internet. The City Authentic unpacks the odd connection between digital media and derelict buildings, the consequences of how we think about industry and place, and the political processes that have enabled a new paradigm in urban planning. Mixing urban sociology with media and cultural studies, Banks offers a lively account of how urban life and development are changing in the twenty-first century.
About the Author
David A. Banks is Lecturer and Director of Globalization Studies at the University at Albany, a delegate to the Troy Area Labor Council, and author of many essays on technology, cities, and politics.
Praise For…
"There is a strong Marxist theoretical basis to the arguments presented here. Banks ties the City Authentic processes he identifies to ongoing needs by a capitalist system for uneven development. This book will be of considerable interest to students and scholars working in contemporary urban studies and urban planning. . . . Recommended." — CHOICE
