Honestly, the whole book would be worth reading if only for the messages it has about the political history and use of the "blight" concept, and the reminders that places are important to people, that they all have meaning to someone, and that all human beings deserve dignity and autonomy.
It's not sacrificing one perspective for another, but using them together to get an integrated picture. There are loads of important ideas, starting with the idea that to help a neighborhood, one has to look at the whole city, but also that it's hard to really see the issues of a neighborhood at street level.
This is a look at the ways psychiatry, history, and urban planning and organization intersect, to look at how neighborhoods and cities have been devastated and ways they can heal. There I'm adding this to my list of mind-expanding "must reads." A lot of times I'm dubious about nonfiction that has a memoir element, or when the expert brings in examples from their careers - I've been burned by a lot of bad business books! - but those aspects were well integrated, for a purpose, so that was fine. I'm adding this to my list of mind-expanding "must reads." A lot of times I'm dubious about nonfiction that has a memoir element, or when the expert brings in examples from their careers - I've been burned by a lot of bad business books! - but those aspects were well integrated, for a purpose, so that was fine. Using the work of French urbanist Michel Cantal-Dupart and the American urban design firm Rothschild Doyno Collaborative as guides, Fullilove takes readers on a tour of successful collaborative interventions that repair cities and reconnect communities to make them whole. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, the acclaimed author of Root Shock, uses her unique perspective as a public health psychiatrist to explore ways of healing social and spatial fractures simultaneously. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, the acclaimed author of Root Shock, uses her unique perspective as a public health psychiatrist to explore way What if divided neighborhoods were causing public health problems? What if a new approach to planning and design could tackle both the built environment and collective well-being at the same time? What if cities could help each other? Dr. What if divided neighborhoods were causing public health problems? What if a new approach to planning and design could tackle both the built environment and collective well-being at the same time? What if cities could help each other? Dr.