This course explores the city, urbanization and urbanism, urban change and community development by focusing on evolving social and economic conditions which proved critical in shaping cities across the United States and beyond.   The formation of urban centers has been historically the outcome of globalized circuits of finance, transportation, migration, and related forces.  Furthermore, cultural factors are increasingly playing an important role in influencing the social relations and political economy of cities.  Competition has forced extensive infrastructural investments which in turn have created social stresses, often exemplified in areas like housing, school reform, crime and transportation.  Scholars have reached a consensus that the most recent period of urban change is qualitatively different - different enough that it can be distinguished by the term, globalization.  In this course, we will examine the contours of these transformations and consider decentralization, economic development, regionalism and the broader transition from production to consumption.  In the end, we are not only concerned about the physical realm and the way that cities grow but also about the influences of city life on the human experience.