Exploring the Anatomy of a City: A Comprehensive Guide to Urban Living

By: Kate Ascher (Author)

If you're looking for an invaluable guide to urban and land use planning, The Works: Anatomy of a City by Kate Ascher is the perfect book for you. It offers great value for money, is easy to understand, and provides overall satisfaction. With this book, you'll gain insight into the inner workings of cities and learn how to plan for their future. Don't miss out on this essential resource for urban and land use planning!

Key Features:

Delve into the intricate workings of a bustling urban center with Kate Ascher's "The Works: A Peek Into The Mind Of A City". This captivating book explores the complex systems and networks that make up the lifeblood of a city. From the intricate web of underground tunnels to the intricate web of transportation, Ascher's book provides an in-depth look into the inner workings of a city. With detailed diagrams and illustrations, readers are given a unique glimpse into the fascinating world of urban planning. Discover the secrets behind the infrastructure of a city and the intricate systems that keep it running smoothly. Get a peek into the mind of a city with Kate Ascher's "The Works".
87
B2B Rating
3 reviews

Review rating details

Packaging
93
Binding and page quality
87
Giftable
89
Easy to read
87
Genre
85
Easy to understand
88
Overall satisfaction
87
Value for money
88

Details of Exploring the Anatomy of a City: A Comprehensive Guide to Urban Living

  • Customer Reviews: 4.7/5 stars of 272 ratings
  • Item Weight ‏ ‎: 2.45 pounds
  • Reading age ‏ ‎: 18 years and up
  • ISBN-13 ‏ ‎: 978-1594200717
  • Dimensions ‏ ‎: 8.82 x 0.83 x 11.22 inches
  • City Planning & Urban Development: City Planning & Urban Development
  • ISBN-10 ‏ ‎: 1594200718
  • Publisher ‏ ‎: Penguin Press HC, The
  • Sociology of Urban Areas: Sociology of Urban Areas
  • Language ‏ ‎: English
  • Best Sellers Rank: #261 in City Planning & Urban Development#729 in Sociology of Urban Areas#1,126 in Home Design & Construction
  • Hardcover ‏ ‎: 240 pages
  • Home Design & Construction (Books): Home Design & Construction

Comments

ankita sahuankita sahu: Good quality pages. Came in very good condition. I was really waiting for this book to arrive and it didnt disappoint me. Its mostly filled with details about new york city. A good read.

India on Jun 20, 2021

haem: J’adore ce livre et les autres livres de kate archer.
Cela explique visuellement et simplement la complexité des sujets traités.
Attention, c’est en anglais (même si les images aident a la compréhension.

France on Sep 08, 2019

Kevin: This book serves as a great introduction to the mechanics of city planning, focusing mainly on infrastructure of cities such as roads, electricity, water. It does not focus too much on the service and social aspects of the cities like parks, museums, police, hospitals, schools, migration/commuting, etc. The illustrations are very colorful and vibrant. However, it is not as detailed as I would like it to be. There are many modes of transportation of passengers not covered in this book, including buses, ferries, commuter rail, and taxi. It's too bias towards subways. I still enjoyed looking at the pictures and diagrams. Although the text is slightly outdated and could use some updates, such as the construction of the Second Avenue Subway.

Overall it's a good book to get a good introduction on the functioning levels of cities.

United States on Feb 17, 2017

Frank D: One is singularly impressed with how Miss Ascher has covered virtually every aspect of the functioning of one of the world's greatest cities. A great feat.

If you love figures, facts and understanding of how a modern city functions (often in ways one couldn't imagine), this tremendously interesting book is a must.

PS. Naturally, some of the numbers have to be adjusted since their original compilation.

United Kingdom on Jan 07, 2017

PenB: Kate Ascher has made super entertaining and informative book about NYC. She answers the questions you walk around the city and briefly wonder but forget to google later. This book should be a requirement for anyone who lives in a big city, whether it's NYC or not, since a lot of it is applicable to all cities. We should all know what's happening below, around and even above us as we move through the city on a daily basis. It's also fun just to gather facts from the book and use them as convo starters or just to look smart at parties. (Giving Ascher credit of course)

United States on Nov 17, 2016

Yame2be: Very nice book. NYC has been choosen to describe all the public aspects of a main city because it is large, evolutive and provides many exemples to envision all aspects of public services. It is not going too deep in technical aspects but sufficiently enough to get a broad understanding. Very useful for me anf it will certainly be for my grand children too.

United Kingdom on Nov 12, 2016

Ben M: Awesome book for infrastructure nerds or anyone who wants to know more about how things work around them. Large-format book that reads like equal parts coffee table book, textbook, and illustrated reference book. Great to read in small chunks, or in a longer session. So much interesting information about New York City all in one place. My only recommendation is that Ms. Ascher and Penguin create a 2nd Edition that incorporates recent events, since the book was published in 2005. (For example the section on electricity would be improved by a discussion of the events during Hurricane Sandy). That being said, essentially everything that is in the book is still timely and relevant. Great read.

United States on Dec 20, 2015

Dr. Tim Parker: I love books like this, that explode both graphically and in words what goes on in, around, and under something. As with all of Ascher's volumes so far, this is along a similar line with lots of graphics (really well done!) and good readable descriptions to accompany the graphics. The subject of this volume, of course, is the city, and what goes on underground, in the buildings, the roads, and the infrastructure of a metropolis.

Younger kids will like the pictures, which are descriptive and explanatory enough that they won't have to read all the text to understand. Adults will like the descriptions in words, which cover all you could need from such a book. I like the two together! While this isn't the first of such a narrative book (and the subject of cities has been tackled in similar books in the best), this one puts it all together, well, just right! Other books I've seen are much heavier on the graphics and lighter on the text, which means some of the detail is lost. The graphics here are a support to the text, and there are quite a few, but I found myself wanting even more!

There's lots of basic information here, all fascinating, but it's the little nuggets of...

Canada on Jun 30, 2014

Harry Matthews: The author of this illuminating guide to the urban infrastructure is obviously a mother, since she has carefully gathered answers to the questions every pre-schooler and grade-schooler might ask. The information and illustrations are skillfully presented and elegantly planned. The writing is lucid and direct. Still and all, a grown-up reader will yearn for more detail. For instance, the book offers details about the newest subway cars, but ignores the scores of older stock still on the rails. It's worth noting, too, the information is based almost entirely on New York. True, it's a large and fascinating place (my home), but a more cosmopolitan approach would have made the book more valuable.

United States on Feb 19, 2009

Gotham Hawkeye: Imagine:

*an illustration of the special machinery used just to clean the ceiling of the Holland Tunnel.

*a sidebar on the "Poo-Poo Choo-Choo" that for years transported waste 2,000 miles (!) from NYC to a dump in Texas.

*a graphic showing payphone distribution density in all 5 boroughs.

*a drawing of the simple but effective interlocking bolts and cross-tie latching that keep the corrugated metal containers on barges connected to each other so upper containers don't slide off lower ones and fall into the water.

*a key to reading construction markings that crews spray paint on the streets.

Such drawings, historical tidbits, and facts are more abundant in this book than leaves in Central Park.

This book is exceptional. As the former Vice-chair of Manhattan Community Board 5 (greater midtown Manhattan), chair of its parks committee, and member of its land use and zoning committee, I can attest to the great value of Kate Ascher's remarkable accomplishment, "The Works." New York City's infrastructure--from garbage collection to traffic control; subway signaling to cable TV distribution among franchise-controlled territories--is one of...

United States on Jan 11, 2006



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Exploring the Anatomy of a City: A Comprehensive Guide to Urban Living Stealing Home: Exploring the Lives of Angelenos and the Dodgers in Los Angeles A Pattern Language: Creating Sustainable Towns, Buildings, and Construction
B2B Rating
87
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Total Reviews 3 reviews 87 reviews 27 reviews
Customer Reviews 4.7/5 stars of 272 ratings 4.7/5 stars of 688 ratings 4.7/5 stars of 863 ratings
Item Weight ‏ ‎ 2.45 pounds 1.2 pounds 2.13 pounds
Reading age ‏ ‎ 18 years and up
ISBN-13 ‏ ‎ 978-1594200717 978-1541742215 978-0195019193
Dimensions ‏ ‎ 8.82 x 0.83 x 11.22 inches 6.25 x 1.25 x 9.63 inches 2 x 5.7 x 7.9 inches
City Planning & Urban Development City Planning & Urban Development
ISBN-10 ‏ ‎ 1594200718 1541742214 0195019199
Publisher ‏ ‎ Penguin Press HC, The PublicAffairs; Illustrated edition Oxford University Press
Sociology of Urban Areas Sociology of Urban Areas
Language ‏ ‎ English English English
Best Sellers Rank #261 in City Planning & Urban Development#729 in Sociology of Urban Areas#1,126 in Home Design & Construction #141 in Hispanic American Demographic Studies#554 in Baseball #4,935 in U.S. State & Local History #1 in Architectural Criticism#2 in Urban & Land Use Planning #5 in Architectural Drafting & Presentation
Hardcover ‏ ‎ 240 pages 352 pages 1171 pages
Home Design & Construction (Books) Home Design & Construction
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