The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America

The first book to explore how our cities gentrify by becoming social media influencers--and why it works.

Cities, like the people that live in them, are subject to the attention economy. In The City Authentic, author David A. Banks shows how cities are transforming themselves to appeal to modern desires for authentic urban living through the attention-grabbing tactics of social media influencers and reality-TV stars.

Blending insightful analysis with pop culture, this engaging study of New York State's Capital Region is an accessible glimpse into the social phenomena that influence contemporary cities. The rising economic fortunes of cities in the Rust Belt, Banks argues, are due in part to the markers of its previous decay--which translate into signs of urban authenticity on the internet. The City Authentic unpacks the odd connection between digital media and derelict buildings, the consequences of how we think about industry and place, and the political processes that have enabled a new paradigm in urban planning. Mixing urban sociology with media and cultural studies, Banks offers a lively account of how urban life and development are changing in the twenty-first century.

Author: David A. Banks
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 04/25/2023
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.71lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780520383456


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/01/2023 pg. 148

About the Author
David A. Banks is Lecturer and Director of Globalization Studies at the University at Albany, a delegate to the Troy Area Labor Council, and author of many essays on technology, cities, and politics.