Seeking a City with Foundations

The book describes the marginalization of the urban poor by elites and foreign landgrabbers, creating an ever-widening gap between a minority of rich people and the poor majority. It points too, toward the hope of the emergence of a global movement characterized by love and justice, and offers a very cogent description of the emerging concerns arising from the phenomenon of the endless city.

Samuel P. Ango, PhD
Provost,
Theological College of Northern Nigeria

David Smith has beautifully described the unprecedented influx of people into the cities, and the complex problems arising from this, including the threat to the natural world. Drawing insights from different fields of study, this is a must-read book for those who are committed to making the Christian message relevant in a global context today.

Jangkholam Haokip, PhD
Dean of Theology and Ethics,
United Biblical Seminary

This book will prove to be an excellent guide for students and practitioners alike who seek a deeper understanding of how the texts of the Bible can powerfully and prophetically speak afresh into our contemporary urban world.

Colin Smith, PhD
Church Mission Society, Oxford

Seeking a City with Foundations lays a foundation that all future urban theological works must reckon with if they are to be faithful to their task. Smith both instructs and inspires in this very important book.

Eldin Villafane, PhD
Professor of Christian Social Ethics,
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on the growth of cities and megacities in the non-Western world. David Smith’s book provides foundations and perspectives on the city and what it means to engage with the urban contexts of today in missional and gospel centred ways.

Peter Rowan, PhD
Co-National Director, OMF UK

This ground-breaking, beautifully written and lucidly organised text is thoroughly grounded in the literature of urbanism and urbanization, and also informed by the urgent theological problem posed by a radical change whereby more than half of humankind now lives in an urban environment.

David Martin, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Sociology,
London School of Economics

This is a magisterial, complex book that deeply challenges the reader. It is recommended reading for Christians who are serious in seeking to understand and confront the changing needs of urban life throughout the world.

Geoff Gobbett
Former London-Based Pastor

David Smith’s fascinating interpretation of global cities such as Mumbai, Brasilia, Dubai, and Glasgow, and his detailed urban reflections on the biblical text takes his readers on the most thrilling of journeys. Students and practitioners of urban mission will benefit in profound ways from absorbing this newly expanded book.

Stuart Weir, PhD
Scottish National Director, CARE

In Seeking a City with Foundations, David Smith argues with passionate conviction, Christianity’s shift in its “centre of gravity” from Europe to the Majority World. The future of urban Christianity, the book maintains, is in its potential for being “global” – a world religion. It is a major contribution to Christian religious studies. The book is of particular interest to scholars and readers in the Majority World.

Kanchana Ugbabe, PhD
Professor of English and Writer in Residence,
Fordham University

What David Smith is talking about in this book, that is urban pathologies, is a reality I see and experience in my own Asian context in the Philippines. What makes this book important for our context is not only that it shows us the reality but that it gives us a vision that empowers us.

Federico G. Villanueva, PhD
Publications Secretary, Asia Theological Association

1. Preface to the New Edition
2. Preface to the First Edition
3. List of Figures
4. List of Photos
5. Introduction to the New Edition
1. 1 Introduction
6. Part I The Urban World
1. 2 The Challenge of an Urban World
2. 3 The Birth and Growth of the City
3. 4 Urban Visions, Urban Nightmares
4. 5 City Skylines, City Meanings
7. Part II Biblical and Theological Perspectives
1. 6 The Bible and the City: From Patriarchs to Prophets
2. 7 The Bible and the City: From Jesus to John of Patmos
3. 8 Theology for an Urban World
8. Bibliography
9. Index of Names
10. Index of Subjects
11. Index of Scripture