128
LIVING IN A
LOFT IS LIKE
LIVING IN A
SHOWCASE
SHARON ZUKIN
C
ities are dynamic places
of change and renewal
for people, communities,
ideas, and the built environment.
Social thinkers have always been
drawn to the study of urban life,
especially during times of rapid
change. The period of metropolitan
growth from the 19th century
onward, the transformation of cities
and the movement into suburbia
that followed World War II, and
changes in the structure of the
urban village in the 1960s have all
been the subjects of intense study.
Another such period occurred in
the 1980s, when many cities in the
Western world had been radically
altered by the loss of manufacturingIN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Gentrification and
urban lifeKEY DATES
1920s US sociologist Robert
E. Park coins the term “human
ecology” and is a leading
figure in establishing the
“Chicago School” and its
systematic study of urban life.1961 Jane Jacobs’ The Death
and Life of Great American
Cities is published, becoming
one of the most influential
post-war studies of urban
environments.1964 British sociologist
Ruth Glass invents the word
“gentrification” to describe
the displacement of working-
class occupiers by middle-
class incomers.1970s Artists begin to move
into former factory buildings
in Lower Manhattan.