As of 2008, more people live in cities than in rural areas. Conventional wisdom about the environmental impact of cities holds that urbanization and environmental quality are necessarily at odds. Cities are seen to be sites of ecological disruption, consuming a disproportionate share of natural resources, producing high levels of pollution, and concentrating harmful emissions precisely where the population is most concentrated. Cities appear to be particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, to be inherently at risk from outbreaks of infectious diseases, and even to offer dysfunctional and unnatural settings for human life. Meyer tests these widely held beliefs against the evidence, and weighs instances of “urban penalty” against those of “urban advantage” to find that many supposed urban environmental penalties are illusory, based on commonsense preconceptions and not on solid evidence. Greater degrees of “urbanness” often offer advantages rather than penalties. The characteristic compactness of cities, for example, lessens the pressure on ecological systems and enables resource consumption to be more efficient. On the whole, cities offer greater safety from environmental hazards (geophysical, technological, and biological) than more dispersed settlement does. In fact, the city-defining characteristics widely supposed to result in environmental penalties do much to account for cities’ environmental advantages.

(CITIES * URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES)

Urban freeways often cut through the heart of a city, destroying neighborhoods, displacing residents, and reconfiguring street maps. These massive infrastructure projects, costing billions of dollars in transportation funds, have been shaped for the last half century by the ideas of highway engineers, urban planners, landscape architects, and architects—with highway engineers playing the leading role. DiMento and Ellis describe the evolution of the urban freeway in the United States, from its rural parkway precursors through the construction of the interstate highway system, to emerging alternatives for more sustainable urban transportation. They examine competing visions of the different professions involved in planning these highways, and their varying approaches to improving city life; and describe controversies that arose over urban freeway construction. Three cases are discussed: 1) Syracuse, which early on embraced freeways through its center; 2) Los Angeles, which rejected some routes and then built I-105, the most expensive urban road of its time; and 3) Memphis, which blocked the construction of I-40 through its core. Finally, they consider the emerging urban highway removal movement and other innovative efforts by cities to re-envision urban transportation.

(TRANSPORTATION * CITIES * URBAN FREEWAYS)

Distinguishes between two different systems of shaping the world; according to the first, architecture focuses on the structure of adaptation, subtleties, and finesse. According to the second, architecture should be concerned with efficiency and aspects such as size, speed, and profit. This “business-as-usual” system is incapable of creating the kind of environment that is able to genuinely support the emotional, whole-making side of human life. Calls for a new architecture that we – both as world-wide civilization and individual people and cultures – can create, using new processes that allow us to build places of human energy and beauty; also outlines nine new ways of working in planning, design and construction.

(BUILT ENVIRONMENTS * ARCHITECTURE * CITIES)

Americans must move from an economy driven by domestic consumption, debt, and financial engineering to one that is driven by exports, powered by cleaner energy, fueled by innovation, and is rich in opportunity for all. Movement toward such an economy must be led by metro areas. Devotes a chapter to each of the attributes of America’s next economy. Advocates aggressive investment in a low-carbon economy, which will present new opportunities for the energy sector and the industries that feed it. States can help build the foundation of the new economy by adequately supporting the metropolitan economic engines that are currently legally powerless. Also explains the role of the federal government in this transformation, and what it should not do.

(ECONOMY * CITIES * METRO AREAS AND NEXT ECONOMY * LOW-CARBON ECONOMY)

American communities are changing fast: ethnic minority populations are growing, home ownership is falling, the number of people per household is going up, and salaries are going down. The planning field is largely unprepared for these fundamental shifts. Provides practical solutions to make communities more livable for residents of all races, ages, and income levels. Addresses topics such as stakeholder participation, disaster response, new technologies, and equity metrics.

(PLANNING * CITIES)

Draws on the world’s best examples of sustainability to show how cities can become greener and more livable. Brings together experts from Paris, Freiburg, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Venice, Vitoria-Gasteiz, and London to illustrate groundbreaking practices in sustainable urban planning and design. Discusses actual practices used by European cities: developing strong urban cores, building pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, improving public transit, using solar energy, natural drainage and community gardens, instituting municipal “green audits,” and reforming economic incentives to encourage sustainability.

(GREEN URBANISM * EUROPEAN CITIES * SUSTAINABILITY * CITIES)

There are an estimated 600 million passenger cars in the world, and, in some cities, parking lots cover more than a third of the metropolitan footprint. Parking lots are ripe for transformation and can be significant public places, aesthetically pleasing and environmentally and architecturally responsible. They can be lushly planted with trees and flowers, and beautifully integrated with the urban built environrnent.

(CITIES * PARKING LOTS RECONSIDERED)

The global network of urban systems, including ecosystems, is the anthroposphere; its physical flows and stocks of matter and energy within it form its metabolism. Describes the characteristics of material stocks and flows of human settlements in space and time, and offers four case studies of optimal metabolic system design (phosphorous management, urban mining, waste management, and mobility). This edition places a new emphasis on design and resource utilization that reflects concern and scholarship on sustainable development and climate change.

(CITIES * ANTHROPOSPHERE)

Urban sustainability is being radically rethought – conceptually and politically – in our new economic climate. Analyzes changes in key areas of urban planning, including housing, transportation, and the environment.

(CITIES * SUSTAINABILITY * URBAN SUSTAINABILITY)

Due to heightened global migration and transnational mobility, many residents of the world cities lack national citizenship in the places to which they moved for work, refuge, or retirement. Organizations seek to restructure urban citizenship in more democratic directions. Focuses on the uses and limits of such political organizations and coalitions, shows the various ways they pursue expanded rights within the city, and describes the international changes necessary to empower global migrants and popular classes as urban citizens.

(CITIES * MIGRATION * CITIES WITHOUT CITIZENSHIP)