The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America - Hardcover

by David A. Banks (Author)

One of Dazed's Best Non-Fiction Books of 2023

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.

Back Jacket

David Banks pulls back the curtain on the drive for local governments to identify their nostalgic brand and facilitate a new wave of profit at our collective expense, showing how we can challenge it with an alternative vision for cities that centers the people who live and work in them.--Paris Marx, author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation

"An unlikely fusion of Marx and Baudrillard, this book explodes the authenticity myth that drives Rust Belt towns to welcome wine bars over factories and use their gritty 'character' to compete for affluent new residents. Banks pushes through the image-influencer nexus of urban branding to expose its tech-financial core."--Sharon Zukin, author of The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy

"The impact of social media isn't confined to our screens but also changes the places we live. Banks expertly tells a universal story of the new ways cities sell themselves to tourists and sell out to developers. Who wins and who loses when your city wants to be merely a vibe?"--Nathan Jurgenson, author of The Social Photo: On Photography and Social Media

Author Biography

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.