![]() ![]() ![]() It is this combination of appreciation for the technical and the human that makes The Urban Mystique a significant contribution to American urban writing. But Stephens’s first love was literature, and he reads cities as texts with messages and truths waiting to be articulated. Having covered urban planning for over a decade, Stephens understands the intricacies of planning. ![]() Indeed, The Urban Mystique treats the built environment and human environment as one in the same. In the book, Stephens seeks the human side of cities, highlighting how ineffable qualities like spirit and culture relate to the visible elements of the built environment: streets, buildings, infrastructure. It collects Stephens’s work from the California Planning & Development Report and elsewhere, covering everything from the minutiae of setbacks, the impacts of transit investments, the promise of smart growth and sustainability, and the precariousness of urban politics in the 21st century. With a title inspired by Betty Friedan’s account of life in the suburbs, The Urban Mystique is equal parts lamentation and celebration. The Urban Mystique, a new book of lively observations about Los Angeles and other cities by Josh Stephens, has just been published by Solimar Books. ![]()
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