Cities of Whiteness Book

This is the best book I have read on academic theory in urban design. It's not a how-to manual - in fact, the various authors seem to debate throughout the book as to what models work. At times, they even question the very existence of urban design, or at least its usefulness in creating good urban spaces.

As a planner, I became frustrated by the history of discipline, which, beginning with the first conference at the GSD, is a history of exclusion: architects making a territory grab, leaving behind planners and landscape architects. It's really no wonder that every urban design job requires an architecture degree. Collaboration my ass.