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The Urban Studies Collection

By 2050, 7 out of every 10 people will live in a city — some 6.4 billion people according to the World Health Organization. THE URBAN STUDIES COLLECTION assembles over 40 essential films that explore the challenges facing cities around the world, and the creative solutions being developed to address those challenges. Filmmakers from around the world look at cities on every continent, providing a truly global perspective on urban life. THE URBAN STUDIES COLLECTION explores the key issues facing city-dwellers, including living space, livability, sustainability, crime, gentrification, politics, finance, sprawl, and the urban ecosystem.

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The Urban Studies Collection includes the following titles:

The Human Scale - imageThe Human Scale

Acclaimed architect Jan Gehl and his team are on a humanistic mission to reclaim public space in mega cities for pedestrians (and cyclists) rather than cars.

KimStim | 2012 | 77 minutes
The New Metropolis - The New Neighbors - imageThe New Metropolis - The New Neighbors

The inspiring story of two ordinary people who have successfully made racial integration the centerpiece of revitalizing Pennsauken, NJ.

Bullfrog Films | 2009 | 26 minutes | 7-12, College, Adult
The Suzuki Diaries: Future City - imageThe Suzuki Diaries: Future City

David and Sarika Suzuki explore urban innovations leading toward sustainability.

Bullfrog Films | 2013 | 45 minutes | 7 - 12, College, Adults
Tighten Your Belts, Bite the Bullet - imageTighten Your Belts, Bite the Bullet

The 1970s fiscal crises in New York and Cleveland.

Icarus Films | 1980 | 48 minutes | 10-12, College, Adult
Tokyo Waka - imageTokyo Waka

A poem about a city, its people, and 20,000 crows.

Bullfrog Films | 2013 | 63 minutes | 7 - 9, College, Adults
Trick Bag - imageTrick Bag

Gang members, Vietnam vets, and young factory workers talk about their personal experience with racism - who gets hurt and who profits.

Kartemquin Films | 1974 | 21 minutes
Truck Farm - imageTruck Farm

Blending seriousness and whimsy, filmmaker Ian Cheney explores the promise and perils of urban farming.

Bullfrog Films | 2011 | 48 minutes | 7 - 12, College, Adults
Viva la Causa - imageViva la Causa

A colorful record of the making of a mural in Chicago's Pilsen community by Ray Patlán, and the roots of the mural movement of the mid-1970's in Mexico.

Kartemquin Films | 1974 | 12 minutes
We Are Not Ghosts - imageWe Are Not Ghosts

Detroiters are reinventing the old Motor City as a vibrant new self-sustaining and human-scaled city for a post industrial world.

Bullfrog Films | 2012 | 52 minutes | 10-12, College, Adults
Winnie Wright, Age 11 - imageWinnie Wright, Age 11

The story of Winnie, the daughter of a steel worker and a teacher, as a Chicago neighborhood changes from white to black.

Kartemquin Films | 1974 | 26 minutes

Visit the title page to preview any of the titles above.