• more about #urbandecay
    Anekanta - Go Play!: I was very close to picking up The City of Saints and Madmen last week. Maybe I should have. more »
    GuinevereLagman: just a comment from an urbanist: there's a difference between built environment and the society that inhibits it (although you can see it as combine f... more »
    Lightice: Well, Jeff VanderMeer knows what he's talking about. His Ambergris, the City of Saints and Madmen is one of the most fascinating cities I've seen in s... more »
    Ruthless, If you let me: I think that there is a lack of historical buildings in future city-scapes. So many old buildings gain that vaunted "historical" status that they can ... more »
    braak: You are, as usual, completely correct.: I think it's important to remember, too, how economic realities affect the organization of a city--the banks are here because they want to be near the... more »
  • #quoteoftheday

    Bruce Sterling And Jeff VanderMeer Offer 2 Lessons On How To Build A Science-Fictional City

    Science-fiction fans and writers, alike, tend to think of cities in too simplistic a fashion. Quotes from The Caryatids author Bruce Sterling and City Of Saints And Madmen author Jeff VanderMeer explain how you should really view urban infrastructure. More »
  • #urbandecay

    Why Does My City Scream?

    Just as Americans are going to the polls in November, a mass media campaign will be ramping up that depicts cities as both dangerous and wracked with torment. "My City Screams!" It could be a slogan for The Dark Knight. Or any of a host of other movies, TV shows or books. But it's actually the tagline for The Spirit, the new comic-book movie by noir master Frank Miller. We love to imagine cities as hazardous, smelly alien worlds, even as real-life U.S. cities are becoming safer and safer. Why is genre entertainment's portrayal of cities trapped in an era of tenements? More »