{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375700447?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0375700447","authors":["Joseph Rykwert"],"book_id":"9780375700446","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-seduction-of-place-9780375700446","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780375700446.jpg?v=8b007e51eec57aaa","description":"No other place on earth is as full both of promise and of dread as the city; it is at once alienating and exciting. These concentrations of people have not, however, come about as the result of vast immutable, impersonal forces, but because of human choices. The worsening or betterment of urban life will also be the result of choices. Our choices. That cities display and represent the personal desires of their inhabitants is central to Joseph Rykwert’s argument in The Seduction of Place . Insisting that they are the physical constructs of communities, he travels through history to trace their roots in ancient times and outlines current attempts and future possibilities to improve the metropolis. Rykwert includes a broad range of urban landscapes: 18th-and 19th-century Paris and London, the current sprawl of Mexico City and Cairo, planned cities like Brasilia, and, finally, New York, the world capital. Always opinionated and often controversial, Rykwert assesses how and why urban projects from the past succeeded or failed and what lessons can be drawn from them for the future. Ultimately, The Seduction of Place is a deeply felt and powerfully reasoned call for a commitment by every citizen to the creation of a more humane place to live.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780375700446","publication_date":"20020312","publisher":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","slug":"the-seduction-of-place","subtitle":"The History and Future of Cities","title":"The Seduction of Place"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"SOC026030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Urban Life","score":0.7708,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ARC024010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":0.728,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ARC005070","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Modern Architecture (to 1945)","score":0.7243,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"SOC026030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Urban Life","score":0.7708,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ARC024010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":0.728,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ARC005070","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Modern Architecture (to 1945)","score":0.7243,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"ARC011000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Public & Commercial Buildings","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037070","confidence_band":"high","label":"20th-Century History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC026030","confidence_band":"high","label":"Urban Life","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Urban Life","score":0.7708,"slug":"urban-life"},{"label":"Landmarks & Monuments","score":0.728,"slug":"landmarks-monuments"},{"label":"Modern Architecture (to 1945)","score":0.7243,"slug":"modern-architecture-to-1945"}],"reader_fit":["For readers interested in urban history and the future of cities","For readers interested in how past urban projects can inform future cities"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Jane Jacobs"],"book_id":"9780679741954","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780679741954.jpg?v=0d90a2f2d404a666","score":0.7353,"title":"The Death and Life of Great American Cities","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780679741954"},{"authors":["Edward Glaeser","David Cutler","Edward L. Glaeser"],"book_id":"9780593297704","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593297704.jpg?v=517ebeff9095b6c5","score":0.7249,"title":"Survival of the City","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593297704"},{"authors":["Lewis Mumford"],"book_id":"9780156180351","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780156180351.jpg?v=6a4c8957cc72c158","score":0.7159,"title":"The City in History","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780156180351"},{"authors":["Stephen Graham"],"book_id":"9781844677627","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781844677627.jpg?v=42bdb8c87ed83b87","score":0.6945,"title":"Cities Under Siege","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781844677627"},{"authors":["Max Podemski"],"book_id":"9780807016152","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780807016152.jpg?v=0588fe25b7de9dc5","score":0.6921,"title":"A Paradise of Small Houses","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780807016152"},{"authors":["John D. Kasarda","Greg Lindsay"],"book_id":"9780374100193","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780374100193.jpg?v=32f0cc94ab8e2cd6","score":0.6802,"title":"Aerotropolis","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780374100193"},{"authors":["Roman Mars","Kurt Kohlstedt"],"book_id":"9780358126607","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780358126607.jpg?v=4fdc8b156a25d132","score":0.6791,"title":"The 99% Invisible City","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780358126607"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:world history"],"label":"World","score":0.0848,"slug":"world"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:coffee table books"],"label":"Table","score":0.0335,"slug":"table"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:urban studies"],"label":"Studies","score":0.0285,"slug":"studies"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:coffee table books"],"label":"Coffee","score":0.0265,"slug":"coffee"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Urban history, Community choices shape cities, Creating more humane cities.","Themes: History, Table, Studies.","Reading lane: Urban Life and Landmarks & Monuments."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.94,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["For readers interested in urban history and the future of cities","For readers interested in how past urban projects can inform future cities"],"themes":["Urban history","Community choices shape cities","Creating more humane cities"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":9,"goodreads_ratings_count":108,"goodreads_reviews_count":8,"quality_score":0.8672}}