The authors make the case that the essential character of a city's land use results from how it manages its transportation, and that only by reducing our automobile dependence will we be able to successfully accomodate all elements of the sustainability agenda.The book begins with chapters that set forth the notion of sustainability and how it applies to cities and automobile dependence. The authors consider the changing urban economy in the information age, and describe the extent of automobile dependence worldwide. They provide an updated survey of global cities that examines a range of sustainability factors and indicators, and, using a series of case studies, demonstrate how cities around the world are overcoming the problem of automobile dependence. They also examine the connections among transportation and other issues—including water use and cycling, waste management, and greening the urban landscape—and explain how all elements of sustainability can be managed simultaneously.The authors end with a consideration of how professional planners can promote the sustainability agenda, and the ethical base needed to ensure that this critical set of issues is taken seriously in the world's cities.Sustainability and Cities will serve as a source of both learning and inspiration for those seeking to create more sustainable cities, and is an important book for practitioners, researchers, and students in the fields of planning, geography, and public policy.

    Now thoroughly updated and revised with information about all aspects of survey research?grounded in the most current research?the new edition provides practical ?how-to? guidelines on optimally using the Internet, mail, and phone channels to your advantage.

    Growth management initiatives are underway in the U.S. at all levels, but many American "success stories" provide only one piece of the puzzle. To find examples of a holistic approach to dealing with sprawl, one must turn to models outside of the United States.In Green Urbanism, Timothy Beatley explains what planners and local officials in the United States can learn from the sustainable city movement in Europe. The book draws from the extensive European experience, examining the progress and policies of twenty-five of the most innovative cities in eleven European countries, which Beatley researched and observed in depth during a year-long stay in the Netherlands. Chapters examine: •the sustainable cities movement in Europe •examples and ideas of different housing and living options •transit systems and policies for promoting transit use, increasing bicycle use, and minimizing the role of the automobile •creative ways of incorporating greenness into cities •ways of readjusting "urban metabolism" so that waste flows become circular •programs to promote more sustainable forms of economic development •sustainable building and sustainable design measures and features •renewable energy initiatives and local efforts to promote solar energy •ways of greening the many decisions of local government including ecological budgeting, green accounting, and other city management tools.Throughout, Beatley focuses on the key lessons from these cities -- including Vienna, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Zurich, Amsterdam, London, and Berlin -- and what their experience can teach us about effectively and creatively promoting sustainable development in the United States. Green Urbanism is the first full-length book to describe urban sustainability in European cities, and provides concrete examples and detailed discussions of innovative and practical sustainable planning ideas. It will be a useful reference and source of ideas for urban and regional planners, state and local officials, policymakers, students of planning and geography, and anyone concerned with how cities can become more livable.

    Yet there are few examples of successful and time-tested sustainable communities.Village Homes outside of Davis, California offers one such example. Built between 1975 and 1981 on 60 acres of land, it offers unique features including extensive common areas and green space; community gardens, orchards, and vineyards; narrow streets; pedestrian and bike paths; solar homes; and an innovative ecological drainage system. Authors Judy and Michael Corbett were intimately involved with the design, development, and building of Village Homes, and have resided there since 1977.In Designing Sustainable Communities, they examine the history of the sustainable community movement and discuss how Village Homes fits into the context of that movement. They offer an inside look at the development of the project from start to finish, describing how the project came about, obstacles that needed to be overcome, design approaches they took, problems that were encountered and how those problems were solved, and changes that have occurred over the years. In addition, they compare Village Homes with other communities and developments across the country, and discuss the future prospects for the continued growth of the sustainable communities movement.The book offers detailed information on a holistic approach to designing and building successful communities. It represents an invaluable guide for professionals and students involved with planning, architecture, development, and landscape architecture, and for anyone interested increating more sustainable communities.

    Many of these focal points of human activity face problems of economic inefficiency, environmental deterioration, and an unsatisfactory quality of life--problems that go far in determining whether a city is livable. A large share of these problems stems from the inefficiencies and other impacts of urban transportation systems.The era of projects aimed at maximizing vehicular travel is being replaced by the broader goal of achieving livable cities: economically efficient, socially sound, and environmentally friendly. This book explores the complex relationship between transportation and the character of cities and metropolitan regions. Vukan Vuchic applies his experience in urban transportation systems and policies to present a systematic review of transportation modes and their characteristics.Transportation for Livable Cities dispels the myths and emotional advocacies for or against freeways, rail transit, bicycles, and other modes of transportation. The author discusses the consequences of excessive automobile dependence and shows that the most livable cities worldwide have intermodal systems that balance highway and public transit modes while providing for pedestrians, bicyclists, and paratransit. Vuchic defines the policies necessary for achieving livable cities: the effective implementation of integrated intermodal transportation systems.

    Their structures, patterns of building and broader visual characteristics defy conventional urban design theories, and the book explores why this is so. Like its cities, Japan's written language is recognized as one of the most complicated, and the book is unique in revealing how the two are closely related. Set perceptively against a sweep of ideas drawn from history, geography, science, cultural and design theory, Learning from the Japanese City is a highly original exploration of contemporary urbanism that crosses disciplines, scales, time and space.This is a thoroughly revised and much extended version of a book that drew extensive praise in its first edition. Most parts have stood the test of time and remain. A few are replaced or removed; about a hundred figures appear for the first time. Most important is an entirely new (sixth) section. This brings together many of the urban characteristics, otherwise encountered in fragments through the book, in one walkable district of what is arguably Japan's most convenient metropolis, Nagoya.The interplay between culture, built form and cities remains at the heart of this highly readable book, while a change in subtitle to Looking East in Urban Design reflects increased emphasis on real places and design implications.

    Growing at an astonishing pace, urban tourism now plays a pivotal role in the economic development strategies of urban governments around the globe. In this book, distinguished urban experts from a variety of disciplines investigate tourism and its transforming impact on cities. As cities become places to play, the authors show, tourism recasts their spatial form. In some cities, separate spaces devoted to tourism and leisure are carved out. Other cities more readily absorb tourists into daily urban life, though even these cities undergo transformation of their character. The contributors examine such U. S. tourist meccas as Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston, and New York City’s Times Square and continue on an international tour that looks at pilgrimage sites (Jerusalem), newly created resorts (Cancún), and places of artistic and historic interest (Prague). Other chapters take up important themes concerning the marketing of cities, how tourists perceive places, the construction of tourism infrastructure, and strategies for drawing tourists, including sports, riverboat gambling, and sex tourism in Southeast Asia.

    That's even more true for planners, who must frequently convey an abundance of very complex, technical information to people who don't share their planning background or vocabulary. Unfortunately, the language in planning documents frequently is so convoluted, bureaucratic, and padded that its meaning is lost or completely misunderstood. Here is help for planners who write. In Planning In Plain English: Writing Tips For Urban And Environmental Planners ?, Natalie Macris draws from more than a decade of editing experience to explain how to craft clear, understandable, and highly readable planning documents. She suggests ways to overcome planners' most common writing foibles: acronymns, jargon, and overuse of the passive voice. And she provides handy lists to transform mushy nouns into powerful verbs, pare down bloated sentences, and translate bureaucratese into everyday language. She even includes practice exercises designed to help you recognize and overcome bad writing habits. But even the best writing skills won't help if your document is organized poorly and aimed at the wrong audience. Macris also explains why it's essential to know who your readers are before you start writing and how to organize your work so that it will be easy to understand and use.