Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

As the need to confront unplanned growth increases, planners, policymakers, and citizens are scrambling for practical tools and examples of successful and workable approaches. 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.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface and Acknowledgments(p. xiii)
• Part I. Context and Background(p. 1)
• Chapter 1. Introduction: Green Urbanism and the Lessons of European Cities(p. 3)
• The Important Role of Cities in Global Sustainability(p. 3)
• The Vision of Green Urbanism(p. 5)
• Research Methods and the Cities Examined(p. 9)
• Issues of Transferability: Why Study European Cities?(p. 13)
• The Relevance and Role of Urban Sustainability in Europe(p. 15)
• The Plan of the Book to Follow(p. 24)
• Part II. Land Use and Community(p. 27)
• Chapter 2. Land Use and Urban Form: Planning Compact Cities(p. 29)
• Strategies for Compact Urban Development(p. 32)
• Compact Growth Districts, with a Green Emphasis(p. 41)
• Urban Villages and the Importance of City-Centers(p. 43)
• New Towns and Growth Centers(p. 47)
• Regional and National Spatial Planning(p. 52)
• The Value of Rural, Agricultural, and Undeveloped Lands(p. 58)
• Cultural and Other Influencing Factors(p. 59)
• Economic Signals and Policy Instruments(p. 60)
• Sustainable Land Use Trends?(p. 61)
• Lessons for American Cities: Prospects for More Compact Urban Form(p. 62)
• Chapter 3. Creative Housing and Living Environments(p. 76)
• Planning Livable Environments(p. 76)
• Urban-Village Living(p. 77)
• Accessory Units and Mixed Housing Environments(p. 80)
• Housing over Shops(p. 81)
• Hofjes, Cohousing, and Ecovillages(p. 83)
• Preservation and Adaptive Reuse(p. 90)
• Streets, Urban Design, and the Civic Realm(p. 92)
• Pedestrianized Centers(p. 93)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 101)
• Part III. Transportation and Mobility in Green-Urban Cities(p. 107)
• Chapter 4. Transit Cities: Public Transport Innovations and Priorities(p. 109)
• High-Mobility Transit Cities(p. 109)
• Public Transit Strategies and Solutions(p. 111)
• Coordinating Transit and Land Use(p. 112)
• Multimodal, Integrated Systems(p. 113)
• Systematic Transit Priority(p. 116)
• The Clear Benefits(p. 118)
• The Tram City(p. 119)
• The Special Feel of Trams(p. 122)
• High-Speed Rail, Green Transit, and Other Creative Mobility Strategies(p. 124)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 129)
• Chapter 5. Taming the Auto: The Promise of Car-Free Cities(p. 137)
• The Promise of Car-Free Cities(p. 137)
• Traffic-Calming and Car-Limiting City Strategies(p. 139)
• Car-Free Developments and Housing Estates(p. 145)
• Car-Sharing(p. 150)
• Call-a-Car and Demand Management(p. 154)
• Road Pricing(p. 156)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 161)
• Chapter 6. Bicycles: Low-Tech Ecological Mobility(p. 166)
• Bicycles as a Legitimate Form of Mobility(p. 166)
• Bicycle-Friendly Cities(p. 167)
• Public Bikes Programs(p. 177)
• Building a Bike-Riding Culture(p. 183)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 184)
• Part IV. Green, Organic Cities(p. 195)
• Chapter 7. Urban Ecology and Strategies for Greening the Urban Environment(p. 197)
• Cities like Forests(p. 197)
• Natural Capital of Cities(p. 198)
• Ecological Networks: National and Urban(p. 199)
• Reimagining the Built Environment: Organic, Living Buildings and Urban Landscapes(p. 203)
• Eco-Bridges(p. 213)
• City Farms and Ecology Parks(p. 214)
• Green Schools(p. 215)
• Desealing and Natural Drainage Strategies(p. 216)
• Planning for Local Climate(p. 218)
• Ecological Regeneration(p. 219)
• Ecological Urban Restructuring(p. 220)
• Urban Gardens(p. 221)
• Urban Wildlife and Habitat Conservation(p. 222)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 223)
• Chapter 8. Urban Ecocycle Balancing: Toward Closed-Loop Cities(p. 232)
• Urban "Ecocycles" and the Metabolism of Cities(p. 232)
• Connections between City and Hinterland(p. 238)
• Closed-Loop Economies: Industrial Symbiosis in the City(p. 242)
• Ecocycle-Balanced Neighborhoods and Urban Development(p. 246)
• Encouraging Ecocycle Balancing: The Role of Green Taxes(p. 252)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 253)
• Chapter 9. Renewable Energy Cities: Living on Solar Income(p. 258)
• Low-Energy, Renewable-Energy Cities(p. 258)
• Municipal Energy Planning and Conservation(p. 258)
• Decentralized Energy Production(p. 261)
• Strides in Energy Efficiency(p. 264)
• Energy Standards for New Development(p. 267)
• Urban Policies to Promote Renewable Energy(p. 268)
• Emerging Solar Cities(p. 270)
• Solar Urban Development(p. 274)
• Zero-Energy Building and Energy-Balanced Homes(p. 277)
• Carbon Dioxide Reduction Strategies(p. 282)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 284)
• Chapter 10. Building Ecologically: Designing Buildings and Neighborhoods with Nature in Mind(p. 290)
• A Revolution in Ecological Building(p. 290)
• Many Examples of Ecological Building Projects: The Dutch Leading the Way(p. 291)
• Ecological Urban Renewal(p. 304)
• Strategies for Promoting Green Building(p. 307)
• Green Mortgages(p. 309)
• Green House Numbers(p. 310)
• Other Important Strategies(p. 312)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 313)
• Part V. Governance and Economy(p. 325)
• Chapter 11. Ecological Governance in Green-Urban Cities(p. 327)
• Audits, Indicators, and Targets(p. 328)
• Sustainability Matrices and Appraisals(p. 331)
• Environmental Budgets and Charters(p. 333)
• Procurement and Investment Policies(p. 336)
• Employee Mobility Strategies(p. 337)
• Management of Municipal Buildings and Properties(p. 338)
• Green Energy(p. 342)
• Environmental Vehicles(p. 343)
• Ecological Twinnings and Looking Beyond the City's Borders(p. 344)
• Educating and Engaging the Public: Local Agenda 21 and Community-Based Initiatives(p. 345)
• Public Awareness Campaigns(p. 349)
• The Role of the Nongovernmental Sector(p. 353)
• Confronting the Consumer: Eco-Teams and Green Codes(p. 354)
• Supporting and Encouraging Ecological Communities(p. 358)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 360)
• Chapter 12. Building a Sustainable Economy: Innovations in Restorative Commerce(p. 369)
• Building a Sustainable Local Economy(p. 369)
• Supporting Sustainable Local Businesses(p. 370)
• Industrial Symbiosis and Ecoindustrial Parks(p. 374)
• Envisioning a Sustainable Factory(p. 378)
• Sustainable Industrial Estates(p. 381)
• Economic and Ecological Renewal: Economic Development through Landscape Recycling(p. 384)
• Green Offices: More Ecological Ways of Working?(p. 387)
• Ecobusinesses and Green Consumerism(p. 390)
• Marketing Sustainable Business and Technologies(p. 400)
• Lessons for American Cities(p. 401)
• Part VI. Learning from Europe(p. 405)
• Chapter 13. The Promise of Green Urbanism: Lessons from European Cities(p. 407)
• The Challenges of Green Urbanism(p. 407)
• Creating Green and Sustainable Cities in The United States: Lessons from Europe(p. 414)
• A Final Note: From Aalborg to Austin(p. 427)
• References(p. 429)
• Appendix A. Individuals Interviewed(p. 451)
• Appendix B. Charter of European Cities and Towns: Towards Sustainability(p. 462)
• Index(p. 471)

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Beatley has written yet another of those planning tomes that seeks to tell US planners and public officials what they can learn from European cities, especially from the latest developments that constitute the "sustainable cities movement." Although it contributes little to the urban studies literature, this book may be useful to some as a survey of the latest European experiences in increasing the livability of cities in a wide range of countries. Arranged into six parts, the book's 13 chapters cover conceptual background; land use and urban form; housing environment; transit innovations; weaning cities from cars; bicycle mobility; ecological strategies for "greening" cities; "ecocycle" balancing; alternative energy systems; building nature-friendly neighborhoods; ecological governance; restorative commerce; and a summary of the lessons to be learned from progressive European cities. The work is well referenced and indexed, but the visual presentation is hampered by an inadequate number of maps, diagrams, and photos--the latter of generally mediocre quality. Recommended for government agency and public libraries as well as college libraries specializing in urban planning and architecture. General readers; specialists. P. O. Muller; University of Miami

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Timothy Beatley is professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.