This is a selective guide to library and other resources on the topic of cities and urbanization

Databases

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals

 

CQ Researcher

HUD USER Database.

“The HUD USER Database is the only bibliographic database exclusively dedicated to housing and community development issues. It contains more than 10,000 full-abstract citations to research reports, articles, books, monographs, and data sources in housing policy, building technology, economic development, urban planning, and a host of other relevant fields.”

Human Resources Abstracts. 1966 -1999 .

Indexes and abstracts books and journal articles relating to the problems faced by U.S. cities. Includes feature articles and analyses of current urban problems. Mugar Z7165 U5P2. Storage: Use Request Form.

Index to Current Urban Documents. 1975 – 1991/1992.

This index gives detailed bibliographic descriptions of documents issued by cities and counties in the United States and Canada. There are geographic and subject indexes, arranged first by place name, and then by city departments and agencies, county departments, regional agencies, state departments and agencies, and quasi-public organizations. Quarterly issues of the index are cumulated in annual volumes. Most of the documents indexed are included in the Urban Documents Microfiche Collection. A subset of this microfiche collection containing Boston documents is available at the Boston Public Library. More recent issues of the index itself are available in a number of Boston Library Consortium (BLC) libraries, some of which also have parts of the microfiche collection. Mugar HT101 I4.

      

Reference Works

The City: A Dictionary of Quotable Thoughts on Cities and Urban Life. 1984.

Contains quotations on the city and urban life throughout history. Consult the subject and cities indexes. Mugar HT111 C576 1984.

Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago.

“The Encyclopedia of Chicago is a dynamic and unprecedented metropolitan history. Thousands of historical resources-including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers-related to Chicago’s colorful and complex history are at your fingertips.” Online counterpart to the 2004 print Encyclopedia of Chicago published by the University of Chicago Press.

Encyclopedia of the City. 2005.

Contains more than 500 alphabetically-arranged entries on key topics and concepts in urban studies, as well as important theoreticians, practitioners, groups, and organizations associated with the city. Mugar Ref. X HT108.5 E63 2005.

Encyclopedia of Urban Studies. 2 vols. 2010.

From “Acropolis” to “Cyburbia, the 600+ entries span history and the globe, covering such disciplines as urban culture, urban planning, urban theory, and urban transportation, as well as cities, people, and places . Mugar Ref. X HT108.5 E634 2010.

International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 26 vols. 2001.

Includes lengthy essays on cities, housing, and urban studies. Mugar Ref. X H41 I58 2001.

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2nd ed. 9 vols. 2008.

Consult this for background information on cities; sociology, urban; suburban sprawl; urban studies; urbanity, and urbanization. Mugar Ref. X H40 A2 I5 2008.

Urban Sprawl: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. 2006.

Contains essays examining urban sprawl and its impacts. Appendix materials include a glossary; annotated lists of databases, web sites, and organizations, and the text of the Ahwahnee Principles for Resource-Efficient Communities. There is an extensive bibliography. Mugar HT384 U5 U75 2006.

Urban Sprawl: A Reference Handbook. 2000.

Contains an introductory essay on urban sprawl in the U.S.; a chronology highlighting urban development patterns and land use policy initiatives of the past century; biographical sketches; important documents, charts, and quotations; addresses of advocacy groups and government agencies; bibliographies of print and non-print resources; and a glossary. Mugar HT384 U5 W55 2000.

World Encyclopedia of Cities: North America. 2 vols. 1994.

Contains articles 8-15 pages in length describing 136 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Arranged alphabetically, entries include demographic, economic, geographical and historical data and statistics. Mugar HT108.5 K87 1994.

Bibliographies

Healthy Cities: An Annotated Bibliography. 2001.

Annotated bibliography of literature on preventive approaches that can make cities healthier and more sustainable. Covers architecture, civil engineering, urban planning, and related topics. Arranged alphabetically by author, with keyword and author indexes. Mugar Z7164 U7 K44 2001. Storage: Use Request Form.

Periodical Literature on United States Cities: A Bibliography and Subject Guide. 1983.

Lists citations to 4919 periodical articles on 170 U.S. cities with populations above 100,000. Articles are arranged by city. Consult the subject index. Mugar Z5942 S464 1983.Storage: Use Request Form.

Urban America: A Historical Bibliography. 1982.

Contains 4068 abstracts of articles from America: History and Life. Mugar HT123 U725 1982.

Urban America Examined: A Bibliography. 1985.

Contains 2080 citations to articles on urban studies written between 1973 and 1983. Consult the topical index. Mugar Z7164 U7 C375 1985 Storage: Use Request Form.

Urban Planning, 1794-1918: An International Anthology of Articles, Conference Papers, and Reports.

Anthology of 185 scanned articles, books, government documents, and conference papers on the development of urban planning from colonial times through the end of World War I. Authors include Robert Owen, Joseph Smith, and Frederick Law Olmsted. Documents accessible through bibliography searchable by author, publication date (1794-1918), and subject. Supplementary bibliography in progress contains additional citations from 1794-1918 as well as modern criticisms. Some of these may be scanned in the future.

The Urban South: A Bibliography. 1989.

Includes citations to books, journals, dissertations and theses on the urban South. Contains subject and geographical indexes. Mugar Z7164 U7 B69 1989. Storage: Use Request Form.

Data, Ranking and Statistical Sources

The American Tally: Statistics & Comparative Rankings for US Cities with Populations over 10,000 . 2003.

Covering all cities and towns with a population (2000) of 10,000+, this work shows how each city compares nationally. Includes population characteristics, education, language and immigration, income and employment, and housing. Mugar Ref. X HA201 2000p.

America’s Top-Rated Cities: A Statistical Handbook. 4 vols. 2008.

Provides social, economic, demographic, and environmental profiles of the business, environment, and living environment of the top 100 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000, by region. Mugar Ref. X HT123 A669.

America’s Top-Rated Small Towns & Cities: A Statistical Handbook. 2 vols. 2010.

Provides statistical profiles of 8,908 places in the United States with populations between 3,000 and 25,000. Mugar Ref. X HT123 A6692 2010.

Ancestry in America: A Comparative City-by-City Guide to Over 200 Ethnic Backgrounds — With Rankings. 2003.

Race, Hispanic origin, and ancestry data for 4,206 communities with a population of 10,000+ and comparative ancestry rankings for the top 150 places. A companion CD-ROM (Mugar Reserve Room HB3505 .A53 2003 CD-ROM) has data for all 33,150 populated places in the US, and comparative rankings for the top 600 communities for each ancestry. There are 217 separate ethnicities listed. Data are derived from the SF1 and SF3 files of the 2000 Census. Mugar HB3505 A53 2003.

Cities Ranked & Rated: More then 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada. 2004.

Contains facts on 400+ U.S. and 30 Canadian cities. Mugar Ref. X HN60 C58.

City-Data.com.

We’ve collected and analyzed data from numerous sources to create as complete and interesting profiles of all U.S. cities as we could.  We have over 74,000 city photos not found anywhere else, graphs of latest real estate prices and sales trends, recent home sales, home value estimator, hundreds of thousands of maps, satellite photos, stats about residents (race, income, ancestries, education, employment…), geographical data, state profiles, crime data, registered sex offenders, cost of living, housing, religions, businesses, local news links based on our exclusive technology, birthplaces of famous people, political contributions, city government finances and employment, weather, tornadoes, earthquakes, hospitals, schools, libraries, houses, airports, radio and TV stations, zip codes, area codes, air pollution, latest unemployment data, time zones, water systems and their health and monitoring violations, comparisons to averages, local poverty details, professionally written city guides, car accidents, fires, bridge conditions, cell phone and other towers, mortgage data, business storefront photos, a forum and a social network with 1,200,000 registered members and 20,000,000 posts, blogs, 5,000 user-submitted facts, individual property info for millions of houses, 30,000 exclusive local business profiles with photos, restaurant inspection results, and more demographics.”

The Comparative Guide to American Suburbs. 3rd ed. 2005.

Arranged alphabetically by metropolitan statistical area, this work compares 2400 suburban communities in 36 states (plus the District of Columbia). Mugar Ref. X HA214 C66 2005.

County and City Extra. 2004.

Statistical information for U.S. states, counties, metropolitan areas, congressional districts, and cities with populations of 25,000 or more. Mugar HA203 C68.

Massachusetts Municipal Profiles. Annual.

One-page profiles of Massachusetts cities and towns with a population of 100+. Includes demographic and socio-economic characteristics, municipal finances, taxation, schools, and government offices. Mugar Ref. X HA431 M37.

MetroBoston DataCommon.

“The MetroBoston DataCommon provides a wealth of information about the region’s people and communities through a variety of topics — from arts and education to the environment and transportation. A resource for all those seeking to understand how the region is changing, it helps residents, stakeholders, planners, city and town officials, educators and journalists explore data and make informed decisions.”

New England at a Glance: Profiles from the 1990 Census. 1993.

Covers every city and town in New England with a population of 100+. Presents more than forty key indicators from the 1990 census, including income, education, housing, ethnicity, race and occupation. Mugar HA218 K3.

Websites

Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI).

“The Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) seeks to spur original research in the greater Boston area that is on the cutting edge of social science and policy.”

Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program.

“The Metropolitan Policy Program was launched in 1996 to provide decisionmakers cutting-edge research and policy analysis on the shifting realities of cities and metropolitan areas.”

County and City Data Books.

The University of Virginia Geospatial and Statistical (Geostat) Data Centerprovides access to the 1988, 1994, and 2000 electronic editions of the U.S. Census Bureau publication, County and City Data Book. The Census Bureau provides access to the 2007 edition.

HUD USER.

An information source for Federal Government reports and information on housing policy and programs, building technology, economic development, and urban planning, with links to other Web sites on housing and urban development. Includes data sets for researchers. HUD USER also has the text of State of the Cities, a HUD annual report “on the social and economic vitality of America’s cities, which highlights the major challenges facing our Nation’s cities and provides a roadmap of solutions.” The State of the Cities Data System provides data sets and data for individual Metropolitan Areas, Central Cities, and Suburbs.

H-URBAN.

“The primary purpose of H-Urban is to enable historians and others interested in urban history and urban studies to communicate current research and research interests easily; to query and discuss new approaches, sources, methods and tools of analysis; and to comment on contemporary historiography. To accomplish these goals, H-Urban informs historians on such matters as announcements, calls for papers and conferences, awards, fellowships, peer reviews of books and websites, availability of new sources and archives, as well as reports on new research and teaching tools, which may include books, articles, works-in-progress, research reports, primary historical documents (e.g. model ordinances, federal/state/local reports, addresses of city officials), syllabi, bibliographies, software, datasets and multimedia publications or projects.”

Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban & Regional Research.

“Established at the University of Albany in 1988 to carry out urban research both comparative and historical in scope, the Center honors the tradition of interdisciplinary scholarship established by Lewis Mumford(1895-1990).” Current projects include the Metropolitan Racial and Ethnic Change Initiative, which examines segregation in America’s metropolitan areas; School Segregation – Brown at 50; and Map NY, a GIS-based project.

Municipal Codes.

“This database is a collection consisting mostly of local government Codes of Ordinances from around the United States.” Information on local governmental codes and ordinances, arranged by state (not all states are included), available from the Municipal Code Corporation.

National Housing Institute.

“The National Housing Institute is a 26-year old independent nonprofit organization that examines the issues causing the crisis in housing and community in America. NHI examines the key issues affecting affordable housing and community development practitioners and their supporters. These issues include housing, jobs, safety, and education, with an emphasis on housing and economic development, as well as poverty and racism, disinvestment and lack of employment, and breakdown of the social fabric.”

National League of Cities.

“The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States. Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.”

National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership.

“The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) is a collaborative effort by the Urban Institute and local partners to further the development and use of neighborhood-level information systems in local policymaking and community building.” Includes links to publications.

Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.

“The Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston strives to improve the governance of Greater Boston by strengthening connections between the region’s scholars, students, and civic leaders. A university-wide entity housed at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Institute pursues this mission by promoting emerging leaders, stimulating informed discussion, andproducing new ideas.”

United States Historical City Maps.

Digitized maps from the Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin.

Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting.

“Presents 470 interview excerpts and 3882 photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The four-month study of occupational culture in Paterson, New Jersey, was conducted in 1994.”