Mumford, Jacobs, Brechin, and Perelman are all good names.  Brechin's book  
is indeed excellent - Upton Sinclair would be proud. It may be a bit  
weighted on the muckraking side, but we need a counterpoise to the weight of  
idolatrous literature.   
  
However, I cannot fully agree that urban growth depends on a "parasitic", or  
even an "almost parasitic" relationship with its hinterland, or Brechin's  
"contado". More balance, please.  If trade is beneficial, the benefits are  
mutual. Cities may foster more concentration of market power, but Jacobs  
points out (so have many others) that they foster small innovative  
businesses, too.  State legislatures tend to exploit cities to subsidize  
parts of the contado, e.g. by cross-subsidy in utility rates, and by tax  
policies.  Ag Experiment Station research is bent for big farm landowners.  
  
It's a mixed bag.  There are saints and villains everywhere.  
  
Mason Gaffney