Book ID: CBB001213385

Desert Visions and the Making of Phoenix, 1860--2009 (2010)

unapi

VanderMeer, Philip R. (Author)


University of New Mexico Press


Publication Date: 2010
Physical Details: xvii + 459 pp.; ill.; maps
Language: English

Whether touted for its burgeoning economy, affordable housing, and pleasant living style, or criticized for being less like a city than a sprawling suburb, Phoenix is a city that by all environmental logic should not exist. Yet despite its extremely hot and dry climate and its remoteness, Phoenix has grown into a massive metropolitan area. From its origins in the 1860s to its present status as the nation's fifth largest city, this exhaustive study examines the history of how Phoenix came into being and how it has sustained itself. From the beginning, Phoenix sought to grow, and although growth has remained central to the city's history, its importance, meaning, and value have changed substantially over the years. The initial vision of Phoenix as "An American Eden" gave way to the Cold War Era vision of a "High Tech Suburbia," which in turn gave way to rising concerns in the late twentieth century about the environmental, social, and political costs of growth. To understand how such unusual growth occurred in such an improbable location, Philip VanderMeer explores five major themes: the natural environment, urban infrastructure, economic development, social and cultural values, and public leadership. Through investigating Phoenix's struggle to meet the expectations of a major American city, his study also offers a unique view of what it means to be a desert city. --Book Jacket.

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Reviewed By

Review Pratcher, Anthony (2013) Review of "Desert Visions and the Making of Phoenix, 1860--2009". Technology and Culture (pp. 674-675). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001213385/

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Authors & Contributors
Turner, Raymond M.
Rodriguez-Buritica, Susana
Raichle, Helen
Webb, Robert H.
Alessandra Landi
Giovanni Carrosio
Concepts
Urban history
Environment
Environmental history
Technology
Environmentalism
Nature and its relationship to culture; human-nature relationships
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
20th century, early
18th century
Places
United States
Arizona (U.S.)
Chicago (Illinois, U.S.)
Northeastern states (U.S.)
Toronto (Ontario)
Baltimore (Maryland, U.S.)
Institutions
Carnegie Institution of Washington
International Business Machines Corporation
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