Using Jane Jacobs' critique of postwar city-building as a starting point, Fowler shows that recent North American urban development has been characterized by development projects on a massive scale, an indiscriminate use of vast areas of land, and an increasingly evident homogeneity. These are characteristics, Fowler argues, of a perverse and unnatural way of building that is wrecking the planet and enfeebling our social and political networks. In exploring how the built environment contributes to social problems, Fowler used Toronto as a case study, conducting extensive field work in nineteen areas of the city. He shows not only that postwar building was the result of conscious public policy but goes further, arguing that our cities reflect deep-seated insecurities and cultural malaise in surprisingly direct ways.

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"The book is splendidly polemical, highly committed and passionate, while at the same time it brings to bear an impressive weight of empirical research, largely North American, about how cities function." Caroline Andrew, Canadian Forum.