CULTURE
One of the most significant of cultural changes in Western society in the post-Second World War era,
particularly from the late 1970s onwards, has been the rise of materialism. This is displayed in conspicuous
consumption by those who can afford it. At the urban scale this is manifested in the appearance of a cappuccino society characterised by stores selling designer clothes, wine bars, pavement cafés, gentrification.yuppies (young upwardly mobile professionals), marbles (married and responsible but loaded executives),and bumper stickers proclaiming "Dear Santa, l want it all.' It is also evident in an increasing gap between rich and poor in cities. While some observers claim to have identified signs of an emerging post-consumerism materialism remains a dominant cultural influence in urban society. The effect of cultural change on cities is encapsulated in the concept of postmodernity or postmodernism .This embraces social difference and celebrates variation in urban environments, whether expressed in architectural or social terms. Youth culturesve flourished in some urban settings (for example, in inner-city ethnic areas energised by hip-hop and rap music), as have alternative lifestyle communities such as the districts of West Hollywood in Los Angeles gay or Paddington in Sydney Postmodern urbanism is also evident in the growth of cultural industries (related to media and the arts) and in the regeneration (and place marketing) of historic urban districts such as Gastown in Vancouver Covent Garden in London or the Merchant City in Glasgow