{"product_id":"9781101547939","title":"Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the host of NPR's \u003ci\u003eMorning Edition\u003c\/i\u003e, a deeply reported  portrait of Karachi, Pakistan, a city that illuminates the perils and  possibilities of rapidly growing metropolises all around the world.   \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn recent decades, the world has seen an unprecedented shift of  people from the countryside into cities. As Steve Inskeep so aptly puts  it, we are now living in the age of the \"instant city,\" when new  megacities can emerge practically overnight, creating a host of unique  pressures surrounding land use, energy, housing, and the environment.  In his first book, the co-host of \u003ci\u003eMorning Edition\u003c\/i\u003e explores how  this epic migration has transformed one of the world's most intriguing  instant cities: Karachi, Pakistan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKarachi has exploded from a colonial port town of 350,000 in 1941 to  a sprawling metropolis of at least 13 million today. As the booming  commercial center of Pakistan, Karachi is perhaps the largest city  whose stability is a vital security concern of the United States, and  yet it is a place that Americans have frequently misunderstood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Inskeep underscores, one of the great ironies of Karachi's  history is that the decision to divide Pakistan and India along  religious lines in 1947 only unleashed deeper divisions within the  city-over religious sect, ethnic group, and political party. In  \u003ci\u003eInstant City\u003c\/i\u003e, Inskeep investigates the 2009 bombing of a Shia  religious procession that killed dozens of people and led to further  acts of terrorism, including widespread arson at a popular market. As  he discovers, the bombing is in many ways a microcosm of the numerous  conflicts that divide Karachi, because people wondered if the  perpetrators were motivated by religious fervor, political revenge, or  simply a desire to make way for new real estate in the heart of the  city. Despite the violence that frequently consumes Karachi, Inskeep  finds remarkable signs of the city's tolerance, vitality, and thriving  civil society-from a world-renowned ambulance service to a socially  innovative project that helps residents of the vast squatter  neighborhoods find their own solutions to sanitation, health care, and  education.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on interviews with a broad cross section of Karachi  residents, from ER doctors to architects to shopkeepers, Inskeep has  created a vibrant and nuanced portrait of the forces competing to shape  the future of one of the world's fastest growing cities.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47120878436592,"sku":"9781101547939","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781101547939_p0.jpg?v=1763687750","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781101547939","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}