"The Triumph of the City" by Edward Glaeser (2011)

Not every store should be a Walmart; not every city should be a Houston. Hugo Boss and Club Monaco are acceptable, as are Paris and San Francisco. Boutique stores sell services and limited memberships in clubs valued in excess of the goods' costs. Similarly, an apartment priced at several times its construction cost need not betray a poor policy or a market failure. The mark-up may reflect panoramic views and the company of self-selected neighbours.

Advances in transportation technology make it unnecessary to build cities next to scarce natural transportation hubs. Instead of being rebuilt, cities can follow the life cycle of youth and fast growth culminating in boutique retirement or irreversible dilapidation, or anything in between. For the life cycle to be aligned with the humanity's interests, however, urban development must not be constricted by myopic zoning laws, not less damaging than labour-union regulations.

Societies thrive through their members' specialisation, mediated by markets and democratic delegation. A society matures when delegation is either immune to the capture by narrow interests (the European dream) or, in recognition of that potential capture, is minimal (the American dream). Cities must either be governed so as to attend to the joint welfare of their suburbs, exurbs, and down-towns, or not be governed at all---and certainly not governed by warring neighbourhoods, each advocating its parochial version of conservation. City planning ensures that development is not aborted by vested interests when property rights are neither absent not clearly defined.

Suburbs are not evil. Most individuals face trade-offs. Most prefer suburban hibernation to urban deprivation. The former is made more affordable and the latter is made more prevalent by haphazard regulations, which inter-city competition shall help correct. 

Edward Glaeser's policy prescriptions are guided by his socially inclusive perspective and respect for individual choices. These choices are prejudiced by regulations. Furthermore, many underestimate the city because of their environmental ignorance, neglect of urban serendipity, and unawareness that socialising is indispensable for becoming human. That the online intercourse cannot replace physical socialising is Mr Glaeser's premise. If this replacement occurs, individuals will become less human, which need not imply less happy.

All the President's Men (1976)

The professional press will not perish, even though only the sedentary rich will care to subscribe to paper editions. Had Deep Throat blogged, his conspiracy theory would have been lost among many. Wikileaked he could have. But much of what is worth uncovering is not packaged for leaking. Investigative journalism requires as much dedicated research as police investigations, scientific studies, and film productions do.

In addressing strangers, the credential "I am a reporter for the Washington Post" reassures more than "I am a blogger" does---which rather resembles a confession, akin to "I talk to myself" or "I have imaginary friends." Reporting requires exuberance that a collegial environment incites, and the critical judgement that a detached editor exercises. Passion, censorship, and a long-term outlook rarely combine in a lonely investigator.

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler (1939)

Rain drops break against the canvas top. Tires press the gravel. A spread-out, anonymous, automobile-mediated metropolis hums and rains. Consistency of one's character carries one through the daily routine.

Philip Marlowe has an artist's compulsion to guard beauty. His instrument is integrity. (An artist, in contrast to an artisan, is not discouraged by the scarcity of paying customers. An entrepreneur combines an artist's compulsion to create with an artisan's belief in marketability as the measure of merit.)

Sternwood sisters are unforgiving of unrequited purchases. Too rich to be grateful for being purchased themselves, the sisters negotiate the vacuum sustained by their inherited wealth and made attractive by the prevailing social norms, which esteem a female as but an accessory.