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[[File:MagicalUrbanism.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/185984328X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=185984328X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=98b72721d9adc65efd818322815377bf Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the U.S. City]</i> by Mike Davis]]__NOTOC__
Mike Davis adds to his prolific output concerning Southern California history, especially his attention to Latino immigration and urban life. While this book may be less angry then Davis' <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844675688/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1844675688&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1c37cab933b3ccb1d6cd77ffa15c5dfc City of Quartz]</i> it is not much less polemical. In <i>Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the U.S. City</i>, Davis argues that the new influx of Latino immigrants is remaking/reimagining cities in ways both similar and different to preceding waves of newcomers. Technology, transformation, and the mobility of labor all contribute to the creation of new transnational communities and identities that both confound and fascinate observers like Davis.
Moreover, dual citizenship and the ability to vote in national elections despite physically residing in the United States magnifies this new transnational identity and influence. However, the growth of sister cities like TJ/SD have not proceeded equally. Though Tijuana's demographic remains significant, its infrastructure continues to lag well behind population expansion.
====How did cities react to influx of Latinos?====
Still, Davis and others see problems in how American municipalities and the nation itself responds to Latino demographic change. Davis deconstructs the various border methods used by authorities to make immigration more difficult. These methods included the construction of ten-lane highways near the border to zoning laws that limit social and economic activities in the homes of Latinos. City ordinances that restricted the use of public spaces to specific hours or charging fees for park usage were designed to discourage Latino civil presence.
For example, per capita, student investment in California has declined in recent years. The emergence of a public sphere that denigrates Latinos, as previously mentioned, did not limit itself to media and protest movements like S.O.S. Prop 227 [English Only] and 187 furthered such discourse. Davis argues that 227 "was about reinstitutionalizing discrimination and legalizing the deprivation of knowledge and educational opportunity. The proposition sanctions the rejection of Latino culture and our language in society and public schools." (128)
How does Davis envision a brighter future? Vigorous trade union activity such as that of the SEIU's "Justice for Janitors" and activities serve as Davis' hope. Unions have traditionally not adequately reached out to Latino workers. Still, a unified multi-ethnic/racial alliance might reinvigorate trade unionism. Davis' point seems somewhat dubious because union membership has been consistently shrinking for decades. Perhaps David is successful at highlighting the greater potential for cities such as LA, Chicago, NY, S.F. rather than other less union oriented cities.
====Conclusion====
One problem with Magical Urbanism stems from its occasional dip into essentialism or something akin to essentialism. For example, Davis posits the following, "Latin American immigrants and their children, perhaps more than any other element in the population, exult in playgrounds, parks, squares, libraries and other endangered species of U.S. public space, and thus form one of the most important constituencies for the preservation of urban culture." (55) Does one wonder how this is proved?
