Cities of Pleasure: Sex and the Urban Socialscape

Cities of Pleasure

Sex and the Urban Socialscape

Edited by Alan Collins

Price: $39.95

ISBN: 978-0-415-43457-7
Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
Published by: Routledge
Publication Date: 6th March 2007
Pages: 240

About the Book

This book contains a collection of cutting-edge chapters that explore various connections between urban living, sexuality and sexual desire around the world. The key themes featured address a number of topical issues including:

the controversies and debates raging around the evolution, defining patterns and appropriate regulation of commercial sex zones and markets in the urban landscape
how gay public spaces, districts and 'gay villages' emerged and developed in various towns and cities around the world
how changing attitudes to, and the usage of urban sexual spaces, as depicted in iconic television series such as Sex and the City and Queer as Folk, reflect the reality of working women's or gay men's changing life experiences.

With detailed case studies, and a strong interdisciplinary appeal, this book will be a valuable reference for postgraduates and advanced students in the fields of cultural studies as well as human, urban and social geography.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal Urban Studies.

1. Sexuality and Sexual Services in the Urban Economy and Socialscape: An overview Alan Collins Part 1: Commercial Sexual Spaces, Markets and Community Responses 2. Space, Risk and Opportunity: The evolution of paid sex markets Samuel Cameron 3. The Changing Nature of Adult Entertainment Districts: Between a rock and a hard place or going from strength to strength? Andrew Ryder 4. Cleansing the Metropolis: Sex work and the politics of zero tolerance Phil Hubbard 5. The Risks of Street Prostitution: Punters, police and protesters Teela Sanders Part 2: Evolution and Development of Urban Gay Spaces 6. Homosexuality and the City: An historical overview Robert Aldrich 7. Urban Space and Homosexuality: The example of the Marais, Paris' 'gay ghetto' Michael Sibalis 8. Where Love Dares (Not) Speak Its Name: The expression of homosexuality in Singapore Kean Fan Lim 9. Sexual Dissidence, Enterprise and Assimilation: Bedfellows in urban regeneration Alan Collins 10. Authenticating Queer Space: Citizenship, urbanism and governance David Bell Part 3: Urban Sexuality 11. Sex and Not the City?: The aspirations of the thirty-something working woman Joanna Brewis 12. Queer as Folk: Producing the real of urban space Beverley Skeggs, Les Moran, Paul Tyrer and Jon Binnie