This book became a bestseller immediately after its release in the late 1990s. Sharon Zukin examines various aspects of “urban cultures” (not coincidentally in the plural) through the prism of the most unexpected and, at first glance, few comparable phenomena. The author analyzes in detail the phenomenon of Disneyland, which creates a false impression of the norms of urban life, analyzes the activities of urban development corporations that actively privatize public lands and goods, describes museums of modern art that act as powerful developers, and immerses the reader in the exotic world of ethnic restaurants that create the flavor of the city. , but deprived of access to the results of capitalization of their own exoticism, explains what is not only the beauty, but also the benefits of flea markets. The book will be interesting and useful to everyone who is interested in the phenomenon of urban culture.