Byrne, D. S. (2001). Understanding the urban. Basingstoke [England] ; New York, Palgrave.
This interdisciplinary book is about 'understanding the urban' in the context of a post-industrial and globalising world. The research draws on complexity theory and mixed methods, including analyses of novels, travel writing, film/TV, and online 'virtual footprints' of cities. Several interrelated themes of the urban are explored, including the restructuring of urban employment, the transformation of 'culture' in cities, locality and community, cities in a world system, the production and reproduction of the built environment, and urban politics and governance. Chapter three is the most relevant chapter in terms of theorising and operationalising 'community', entitled: 'Locality and community: the significance of place'. In this chapter, Byrne explores community as networks and as locality, using the case example of Katowice/ Upper Silesia in Poland as an example of locality and community in the context of restructuring.