Best of
Urban-Planning

2014

Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture


Justin McGuirk - 2014
    From Brazil to Venezuela, and from Mexico to Argentina, McGuirk discovers the people and ideas shaping the way cities are evolving. Ever since the mid twentieth century, when the dream of modernist utopia went to Latin America to die, the continent has been a testing ground for exciting new conceptions of the city. An architect in Chile has designed a form of social housing where only half of the house is built, allowing the owners to adapt the rest; Medellín, formerly the world’s murder capital, has been transformed with innovative public architecture; squatters in Caracas have taken over the forty-five-story Torre David skyscraper; and Rio is on a mission to incorporate its favelas into the rest of the city. Here, in the most urbanised continent on the planet, extreme cities have bred extreme conditions, from vast housing estates to sprawling slums. But after decades of social and political failure, a new generation has revitalised architecture and urban design in order to address persistent poverty and inequality. Together, these activists, pragmatists and social idealists are performing bold experiments that the rest of the world may learn from.Radical Cities is a colorful journey through Latin America—a crucible of architectural and urban innovation.

Elements of Venice


Giulia Foscari - 2014
    Like a camera obscura photograph cuts through the often irrelevant embellishments of architecture to reveal the underlying skeleton of a building (i.e. its elements), this guide will allow the reader to better understand the fundamental transformations that have shaped Venice during the past ten centuries.

Incomplete Streets: Processes, practices, and possibilities (Routledge Equity, Justice and the Sustainable City series)


Stephen Zavestoski - 2014
    By enabling safe access for all users, Complete Streets promise to make cities more walkable and livable and at the same time more sustainable. This book problematizes the Complete Streets concept by suggesting that streets should not be thought of as merely physical spaces, but as symbolic and social spaces. When important social and symbolic narratives are missing from the discourse and practice of Complete Streets, what actually results are incomplete streets. The volume questions whether the ways in which complete streets narratives, policies, plans and efforts are envisioned and implemented might be systematically reproducing many of the urban spatial and social inequalities and injustices that have characterized cities for the last century or more. From critiques of a "mobility bias" rooted in the neoliberal foundations of the Complete Streets concept, to concerns about resulting environmental gentrification, the chapters in Incomplete Streets variously call for planning processes that give voice to the historically marginalized and, more broadly, that approach streets as dynamic, fluid and public social places. This interdisciplinary book is aimed at students, researchers and professionals in the fields of urban geography, environmental studies, urban planning and policy, transportation planning, and urban sociology.

Rural by Design: Planning for Town and Country


Randall Arendt - 2014
    Author Randall Arendt meets them in an entirely new edition of Rural by Design.When this planning classic first appeared 20 years ago, it showed how creative, practical land-use planning can preserve open space and keep community character intact. The second edition shifts the focus toward infilling neighborhoods, strengthening town centers, and moving development closer to schools, shops, and jobs.New chapters cover form-based codes, visioning, sustainability, low-impact development, green infrastructure, and more, while 70 case studies show how these ideas play out in the real world. Readers --rural or not--will find practical advice about planning for the way we live now.

Los Angeles Boulevard: Eight X-Rays of the Body Politic


Doug Suisman - 2014
    In his text, urban planner Suisman laid out his views and opinions on the structure of Los Angeles, its bones and arteries and sinews, exemplified by the long boulevards that cut across the urban body that is Los Angeles and that impinge on our lives daily, whether we drive, them, bike them, walk them, or take the bus. Starting with the Pueblo, Suisman traces the histories of our iconic routes - Sunset, Wilshire, Hollywood - with fascinating discursions into transport moving from the streetcar to the automobile, the relationship of the movie studios to the streets, the value of the urban landscapes changing as the boulevards pass through them. Originally issued in an edition of only 1500 copies, the book soon went out of print, but its importance has been validated over the years by the circulation of fuzzy photocopies in university architecture departments and design studios. For this edition, ORO Editions has brought back the original eight essays with the original illustrations, both photographs and Suisman's own evocative and informative drawings and plans. In addition, over the years Suisman has, in his professional practice of urban design, applied his deep knowledge of the boulevard and how it works to projects in Los Angeles and across the country and beyond. Suisman has written new essays, Boulevards in Practice, on ten of these projects, ranging from Peachtree Street and Auburn Avenue in Atlanta to the rethinking of the core of Hartford, his home town. He explains plans for a new vista for Lankershim, for Wilshire, for Hollywood and Highland, for Hill Street, and for other boulevards and neighborhoods in Los Angeles. One of the most profoundly important plans is a what amounts to a reorganization of Palestinian society, called The Arc, a system of transport and development that would bind the new state together in a way never seen before. Never constructed, plan for The Arc has remained a beacon of rational and humane design in a troubled place. For this expanded edition, Suisman has contributed a new introduction and illustrated his additional essays with a series of wise and elegant drawings, as well as new photographs. ORO Editions is proud to bring back this classic examination of our boulevards and their continuing influence, both in Los Angeles and around the world.

Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society


Deane Simpson - 2014
    Distinguishing between different phases of old age, the book identifies the group known as the -young old- as a remarkable petri dish for experiments in subjectivity, collectivity, and environment. In investigating this field of latent urban and architectural novelty, Young-Old asserts both the escapist and emancipatory dimensions of these practices. Richly illustrated with drawings, maps, and photographs, the volume documents phenomena ranging from the continuous, golf-cart-accessible urban landscapes of the world's largest retirement community in Florida and the mono-national urbanizaciones of -the retirement home of Europe- on Costa del Sol, to the Dutch-themed residential community at Huis Ten Bosch in southern Japan.

Global Design


Peder Anker - 2014
    Global warming poses new challenges to the architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design communities. The immediate response has been a turn toward a host of energy-saving technologies. What has rarely been addressed, however, is the problem of scale. How can designers make sure that global solutions do not come at the expense of local cultures and environments? By placing human rational, emotional, technological, and social needs at the center of our environmental concerns, this book proposes a new global design initiative. The aim is to develop a language of design that can create proximity between individual responsibility and the current global environmental crisis. These featured projects showcase leading-edge design innovations at multiple scales. Global Design directors Peder Anker, Louise Harpman, and Mitchell Joachim discuss various ways in which design can reformat the unfortunate separation between humans and the natural world.

Planning Sustainable Cities and Regions: Towards More Equitable Development


Karen Chapple - 2014
    California is at the cutting edge of this movement, not only because its regulations actively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also because its pioneering environmental regulation, market innovation, and Left Coast politics show how to blend the "three Es" of sustainability--environment, economy, and equity. Planning Sustainable Cities and Regions is the first book to explain what this grand experiment tells us about the most just path moving forward for cities and regions across the globe.The book offers chapters about neighbourhoods, the economy, and poverty, using stories from practice to help solve puzzles posed by academic research. Based on the most recent demographic and economic trends, it overturns conventional ideas about how to build more livable places and vibrant economies that offer opportunity to all. This thought-provoking book provides a framework to deal with the new inequities created by the movement for more livable - and expensive - cities, so that our best plans for sustainability are promoting more equitable development as well.This book will appeal to students of urban studies, urban planning and sustainability as well as policymakers, planning practitioners, and sustainability advocates around the world.

Dublin: The Making of a Capital City


David Dickson - 2014
    It has been the largest urban center on a deeply contested island since towns first appeared west of the Irish Sea. There have been other contested cities in the European and Mediterranean world, but almost no European capital city, David Dickson maintains, has seen sharper discontinuities and reversals in its history--and these have left their mark on Dublin and its inhabitants. Dublin occupies a unique place in Irish history and the Irish imagination. To chronicle its vast and varied history is to tell the story of Ireland.David Dickson's magisterial history brings Dublin vividly to life beginning with its medieval incarnation and progressing through the neoclassical eighteenth century, when for some it was the "Naples of the North," to the Easter Rising that convulsed a war-weary city in 1916, to the bloody civil war that followed the handover of power by Britain, to the urban renewal efforts at the end of the millennium. He illuminates the fate of Dubliners through the centuries--clergymen and officials, merchants and land speculators, publishers and writers, and countless others--who have been shaped by, and who have helped to shape, their city. He reassesses 120 years of Anglo-Irish Union, during which Dublin remained a place where rival creeds and politics struggled for supremacy. A book as rich and diverse as its subject, Dublin reveals the intriguing story behind the making of a capital city.

The Data Revolution: Big Data, Open Data, Data Infrastructures & Their Consequences


Rob Kitchin - 2014
    In recent years, technological developments and political lobbying have turned this position on its head. Data now flow as a deep and wide torrent, are low in cost and supported by robust infrastructures, and are increasingly open and accessible. A data revolution is underway, one that is already reshaping how knowledge is produced, business conducted, and governance enacted, as well as raising many questions concerning surveillance, privacy, security, profiling, social sorting, and intellectual property rights. In contrast to the hype and hubris of much media and business coverage, The Data Revolution provides a synoptic and critical analysis of the emerging data landscape. Accessible in style, the book provides: A synoptic overview of big data, open data and data infrastructures An introduction to thinking conceptually about data, data infrastructures, data analytics and data markets Acritical discussion of the technical shortcomings and the social, political and ethical consequences of the data revolution An analysis of the implications of the data revolution to academic, business and government practices

We Own the City: Enabling Community Practice in Architecture and Urban Planning


Francesca Miazzo - 2014
    Bottom-up initiatives are cropping up around the world, but institutions, government offices and developers often find themselves uncertain how to collaborate with and empower these impassioned citizens and communities. Offering solutions to this disconnect, We Own the City analyzes this international trend through five case studies, focusing on Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York and Taipei, each of which discusses different dynamics and intensities of citizens' redevelopment processes. This volume delves into the complexities surrounding the role of today's city-makers and the potential and actual tensions between civil society and government, and it further provides new foundations for inclusive urban development plans which will set the standard for future public governments, housing authorities, architects, town planners and real-estate developers.

Qualitative Research Methods for Community Development


Robert Mark Silverman - 2014
    This book teaches students entering planning, community development, nonprofit management, social work, and similar applied fields the core skills necessary to conduct systematic research designed to empower communities and promote social change.Focusing on the basic elements of qualitative research, like field observation, interviewing, focus groups, and content analysis, Qualitative Research Methods for Community Development provides an overview of core methods and theoretical underpinnings of successful research. The book provides examples from past research used in transformative community projects across multiple disciplines. From housing, community organizing, neighborhood planning, and urban revitalization, this book gives students the skills they need to undertake their own projects, and provides professionals a valuable reference for their future research.The book serves as a primary text for courses in applied qualitative research, and as a reference book for professionals and community-based researchers. In addition to content detailing core methods used in qualitative research, it includes a chapter which provides guidance for the dissemination of qualitative results to a spectrum of audiences applying qualitative methods to action research and community empowerment.

Peace Out: Adventures on the Road to Green Energy


Charles Wilkinson - 2014
    The oil industry wants it, the frackers, the solar, wind and nuclear industries. Why? As Charles Wilkinson paddles through the issues he engages hydro and natural gas energy executives, oil company reps, nuclear spokesmen, scientists, academics and activists. What starts to becomes clear is that the tricky business of energy supply and demand does not play out in isolation. It involves everyone who turns on a computer, starts a car, charges a cell phone. With clarity, even handedness and a good deal of wit, Charles Wilkinson connects all of us all to this sweeping energy issue that is rapidly transforming our world. The Peace River is in northwestern Canada, but it could be anywhere as the issues are universal. "Peace Out "was inspired by Charles Wilkinson's award-winning documentary of the same name.

Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism


Benjamin Ross - 2014
    Yet sprawl persists, and not by mistake. It happens for a reason.As an activist and a scholar, Benjamin Ross is uniquely placed to diagnose why this is so. Dead End traces how the ideal of a safe, green, orderly retreat where hardworking members of the middle class could raise their children away from the city mutated into the McMansion and strip mall-riddensuburbs of today. Ross finds that sprawl is much more than bad architecture and sloppy planning. Its roots are historical, sociological, and economic. He uses these insights to lay out a practical strategy for change, honed by his experience leading the largest grass-roots mass transit advocacyorganization in the United States. The problems of smart growth, sustainability, transportation, and affordable housing, he argues, are intertwined and must be solved as a whole. The two keys to creating better places to live are expansion of rail transit and a more genuinely democratic oversight ofland use.Dead End is, ultimately, about the places where we live our lives. Both an engaging history of suburbia and an invaluable guide for today's urbanist, it will serve as a primer for anyone interested in how Americans actually live.

Citizens Divided: Campaign Finance Reform and the Constitution


Robert C. Post - 2014
    Federal Election Commission, which struck down a federal prohibition on independent corporate campaign expenditures, is one of the most controversial opinions in recent memory. Defenders of the First Amendment greeted the ruling with enthusiasm, while advocates of electoral reform recoiled in disbelief. Robert Post offers a new constitutional theory that seeks to reconcile these sharply divided camps.Post interprets constitutional conflict over campaign finance reform as an argument between those who believe self-government requires democratic participation in the formation of public opinion and those who believe that self-government requires a functioning system of representation. The former emphasize the value of free speech, while the latter emphasize the integrity of the electoral process. Each position has deep roots in American constitutional history. Post argues that both positions aim to nurture self-government, which in contemporary life can flourish only if elections are structured to create public confidence that elected officials are attentive to public opinion. Post spells out the many implications of this simple but profound insight. Critiquing the First Amendment reasoning of the Court in Citizens United, he also shows that the Court did not clearly grasp the constitutional dimensions of corporate speech.Blending history, constitutional law, and political theory, Citizens Divided explains how a Supreme Court case of far-reaching consequence might have been decided differently, in a manner that would have preserved both First Amendment rights and electoral integrity.

The Pedestrian and the City


Carmen Hass-Klau - 2014
    Key issues addressed include the struggle of pedestrianization in town centers, the attempts to create independent pedestrian footpaths and the popularity of traffic calming as a powerful policy for reducing pedestrian accidents.Hass-Klau also covers the wider aspects of urban and transport planning, especially public transport, essential for promoting a pedestrian-friendly environment. The book includes pedestrian-friendly policies and guidelines from a number of European countries and includes case studies from the UK, Germany, Britain, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, the US and Canada, with further examples from ten additional countries. It also contains a unique collection of original photographs; including 'before' and 'after' photos of newly introduced pedestrian-friendly transport policies.As the pedestrian environment has become ever more crucial for the future of our cities, the book will be invaluable to students and practicing planners, geographers, transport engineers and local government officers.

The Historic Waterfront of Washington, D.C.


John R. Wennersten - 2014
    For centuries, these rivers have been manipulated environments--transformed by native populations, settlers, politicians and real estate developers. With docks and wharves extending from the Anacostia River to Georgetown, the architect of the young capital, Pierre L'Enfant, planned to develop the waterfront into a prosperous inland seaport. Decades later, the Civil War took a devastating toll on the District's maritime economy with civilian port facilities pressed into military service and the failure of many riverfront plantations. Author John R. Wennersten explores this early history of Washington, D.C.'s waterfront even as he tackles its twentieth-century redevelopment and the challenges the rivers face today.

Africa's Urban Revolution


Susan Parnell - 2014
    By 2030 African cities will have grown by more than 350 million people and over half the continent's population will be urban. Yet in the minds of policy makers, scholars and much of the general public, Africa remains a quintessentially rural place. This lack of awareness and robust analysis means it is difficult to make a policy case for a more overtly urban agenda. As a result, there is across the continent insufficient urgency directed to responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with the world’s last major wave of urbanisation.  Drawing on the expertise of scholars and practitioners associated with the African Centre for Cities, and utilising a diverse array of case studies, Africa's Urban Revolution provides a comprehensive insight into the key issues - demographic, cultural, political, technical, environmental and economic - surrounding African urbanisation.

Planning for Community Resilience: A Handbook for Reducing Vulnerability to Disasters


Jaimie Hicks Masterson - 2014
    Globally, the average annual number of natural disasters has more than doubled since 1980. These catastrophes are increasing in number as well as in magnitude, causing greater damage as we experience rising sea levels and other effects of climate change. Communities can reduce their vulnerability to disaster by becoming more resilient—to not only bounce back more readily from disasters but to grow stronger, more socially cohesive, and more environmentally responsible. To be truly resilient, disaster preparation and response must consider all populations in the community. By bringing together natural hazards planning and community planning to consider vulnerabilities, more resilient and equitable communities are achievable. In Planning for Community Resilience the authors describe an inclusive process for creating disaster-resilient communities. Based on their recovery work after Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas, they developed a process that relies on the Disaster Impacts Model. This handbook guides any community through the process of determining their level of hazard exposure, physical vulnerability, and social vulnerability with the goal of determining the best planning strategy.Planning for Community Resilience will be invaluable to professionals working to protect their community from disturbance, including city planners, elected officials, floodplain managers, natural hazard managers, planning commissioners, local business leaders, and citizen organizers.