As cities have gentrified, educated urbanites have come to prize what they regard as "authentic" urban life: aging buildings, art galleries, and funky ethnic restaurants. But as Sharon Zukin shows in Naked City, the pervasive demand for authenticity has helped drive out the very people who first lent a neighborhood its authentic aura: immigrants, the working class, and artists. Through a guided tour of six archetypal New York City neighborhoods, Zukin shows how the emphasis on distinctiveness has become a tool of economic elites to drive up real estate values and force out the neighborhood "characters" that people often idealize. With a journalist's eye and the understanding of a longtime observer, Zukin's panoramic survey of the city explains how our desire to consume authentic experience has become a central force in making cities more exclusive.

莎伦•佐金（Sharon Zukin），美国纽约市立大学布鲁克林学院与研究生中心社会学教授，著有《阁楼生活》（Loft Living，1982、1989）、《权力景观》（Landscapes of Power，1991，获得C•赖特•米尔斯奖）、《城市文化》（The Cultures of Cities，1995）、《购买点》（Point of Purchase，2004）和《裸城》（Naked City，2010）。