The Cities We Need : The MIT Press : 9780262049030 : 0262049031 : 16 Aug 2024 : An expressive book of prose and photographs that reveals the powerful ways our everyday places support our shared belonging. Where would you take someone on a guided tour of your neighborhood? In The Cities We Need, photographer and urbanist Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani introduces us to the complex, political, and eminently personable stories of residents who answered this question in Brooklyn, New York and Oakland, California. Their universal stories and Bendiner-Viani's evocative images illuminate what's at stake in our everyday places-from diners to churches to donut shops. In this culmination of two decades of research and art practice Bendiner-Viani intertwines the personal, historical, and photographic to present us with placework, the way that unassuming places foster a sense of belonging and, in fact, do the essential work of helping us become communities. In this unique book, Bendiner-Viani makes visi