The widespread concept of the 'postmodern city' is frequently linked to the decline of traditional manufacturing industries and a corresponding wane of white working-class culture. In place of these appear flexible working practices, a diversified workforce, and a greater emphasis on consumption, leisure, and tourism. Illustrated by an interdisciplinary study of Leeds, a typical postmodern city, this volume examines how such cities have reinvented themselves a commercially, politically and spatially a over the past two decades. The work addresses issues like cultural policy, city-centre...

"There are textbooks galore, but there aren't many crafted as intelligently as this one. This book will change the way that students understand leisure. It will give them an easier entry to that place where difficult ideas fuse into something intelligible, where real understanding sits and the educated imagination is stirred."
- Tony Blackshaw, Sheffield Hallam University

Peter Bramham and Stephen Wagg provide a foundation for those studying within the broad field of leisure studies. The book gives students an accessible and engaging introduction to...

"There are textbooks galore, but there aren't many crafted as intelligently as this one. This book will change the way that students understand leisure. It will give them an easier entry to that place where difficult ideas fuse into something intelligible, where real understanding sits and the educated imagination is stirred."
- Tony Blackshaw, Sheffield Hallam University

Peter Bramham and Stephen Wagg provide a foundation for those studying within the broad field of leisure studies. The book gives students an accessible and engaging introduction to...

First published in 1989. Understanding Leisure is a readable introductory analysis of the key elements in the study of leisure. This includes leisure concepts and dimensions of leisure, its activity forms, participants, provision, and leisure futures, leisure and social theory. A collaborative work of six authors, Understanding Leisure is a textbook which introduces the reader to the interrelated dimensions of leisure in contemporary society and aims to provide them with guidelines for further study. Exercises and discussion topics are included at the end of each chapter to enable the reader...