As Cities Have Gentrified, Educated Urbanites Have Come To Prize What They Regard As Authentic Urban Life: Aging Buildings, Art Galleries, Small Boutiques, Upscale Food Markets, Neighborhood Old-timers, Funky Ethnic Restaurants, And Old, Family-owned Shops. These Signify A Place's Authenticity, In Contrast To The Bland Standardization Of The Suburbs And Exurbs. But As Sharon Zukin Shows In Naked City, The Rapid And Pervasive Demand For Authenticity--evident In Escalating Real Estate Prices, Expensive Stores, And Closely Monitored Urban Streetscapes--has Helped Drive Out The Very People Who First Lent A Neighborhood Its Authentic Aura: Immigrants, The Working Class, And Artists. Zukin Traces This Economic And Social Evolution In Six Archetypal New York Areas--williamsburg, Harlem, The East Village, Union Square, Red Hook, And The City's Community Gardens--and Travels To Both The City's First Ikea Store And The World Trade Center Site. She Shows That For Followers Of Jane Jacobs, This Transformation Is A Perversion Of What Was Supposed To Happen. Indeed, Naked City Is A Sobering Update Of Jacobs' Legendary 1961 Book, The Death And Life Of Great American Cities. Like Jacobs, Zukin Looks At What Gives Neighborhoods A Sense Of Place, But Argues That Over Time, The Emphasis On Neighborhood Distinctiveness Has Become A Tool Of Economic Elites To Drive Up Real Estate Values And Effectively Force Out The Neighborhood Characters That Jacobs So Evocatively Idealized.