Resources

“Religious people stand at the forefront of political movements in American cities and suburbs, too, often because their faith drives them to take more radical — and often more coordinated — action than do many secular people.” — Adam Gordon, The Next American City (Issue three, 2003)

Here are some resources to help those who would like further information about how city, culture and church intersect.

Books

Sidewalks in the Kingdom: The New Urbanism and the Christian Faith.
By Eric Jacobsen (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2003)

This book makes a case for the city as the communal context of our redemption and argues that we Christians have ignored the physical context of the city at our own peril. It defines the city in terms of six distinct markers and then teases out some of the theological issues that surround those markers.

• Go to the “Sidewalks in the Kingdom” web site
• Read our posts about this book

City Comforts: How To Build an Urban Village
By David Sucher

This book is essential to understanding what urbanism actually physically looks like. It’s full of photos of what Sucher calls the “urban village” kind of neighborhood we should aspire to. Especially useful are his Three Rules

I referenced his book numerous times here at The Good City:

• Will Harrison Square hate pedestrians?
• Can you reuse a parking structure?
• Breaking the Three Rules of urban design
• A better Barr Street, or a barren one?
• A suburban Subway on an urban street
• Read ‘The Three Rules,’ and tell the author what you think

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
By Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Jeff Speck (New York: North Point Press, 2000)

Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)
By Rod Dreher

Especially the chapter titled “Home.”

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape
By James Howard Kunstler

The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community
By Ray Oldenburg

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
By Jane Jacobs

Heaven Is Not My Home: Living in the Now of God’s Creation
By Paul Marshall

Angels in the Architecture: A Protestant Vision for Middle Earth
By Douglas Jones and Douglas Wilson

Plowing in Hope: Toward a Biblical Theology of Culture
By David Bruce Hegeman

Audio

Eric Jacobsen, “Sidewalks in the Kingdom”

New Urbanism was launched in the ’90s by urban planners and others who were concerned about the lack of a feeling of “place” in the modern suburb. But what grew from the movement were city centers with the surface ambiance of living communities, but lacking the social infrastructure of true neighborhoods. What did New Urbanists forget?

In November 2004, Eric Jacobsen, author of “Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith,” spoke at a Work Research Foundation event in Hamilton, Ontario. He outlined his vision for a city design that doesn’t forget what the church can lend urban renewal.

The event also featured a formal response from renowned professor Dr. Craig Bartholomew, currently H. Evan Runner Chair of Philosophy at Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario.

• Listen to Eric Jacobsen on thINK #4, “Sidewalks in the Kingdom”
  (54 minutes, 22.3 MB)
• Link to original thINK audio page

More resources will continue to be listed in the future.