Green Urbanism Down Under

Download or read book Green Urbanism Down Under written by Timothy Beatley and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-09-26 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this immensely practical book, Timothy Beatley sets out to answer a simple question: what can Americans learn from Australians about “greening” city life? Green Urbanism Down Under reports on the current state of “sustainability practice” in Australia and the many lessons that U.S. residents can learn from the best Australian programs and initiatives. Australia is similar to the United States in many ways, especially in its “energy footprint.” For example, Australia’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions are second only to those of the United States. A similar percentage of its residents live in cities (85 percent in Australia vs. 80 percent in the United States). And it suffers from parallel problems of air and water pollution, a national dependence on automobiles, and high fossil fuel consumption. Still, after traveling throughout Australia, Beatley finds that there are myriad creative responses to these problems—and that they offer instructive examples for the United States. Green Urbanism Down Under is a very readable collection of solutions. Although many of these innovative solutions are little-known outside Australia, they all present practical possibilities for U.S. cities. Beatley describes “green transport” projects, “city farms,” renewable energy plans, green living programs, and much more. He considers a host of public policy initiatives and scrutinizes regional and state planning efforts for answers. In closing, he shares his impressions about how Australian results might be applied to U.S. problems. This is a unique book: hopeful, constructive, and filled with ideas that have been proven to work. It is a “must read” for anyone who cares about the future of American cities.

Download or read book Green Urbanism Down Under written by Timothy Beatley and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2008-11-06 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this immensely practical book, Timothy Beatley sets out to answer a simple question: what can Americans learn from Australians about “greening” city life? Green Urbanism Down Under reports on the current state of “sustainability practice” in Australia and the many lessons that U.S. residents can learn from the best Australian programs and initiatives. Australia is similar to the United States in many ways, especially in its “energy footprint.” For example, Australia’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions are second only to those of the United States. A similar percentage of its residents live in cities (85 percent in Australia vs. 80 percent in the United States). And it suffers from parallel problems of air and water pollution, a national dependence on automobiles, and high fossil fuel consumption. Still, after traveling throughout Australia, Beatley finds that there are myriad creative responses to these problems—and that they offer instructive examples for the United States. Green Urbanism Down Under is a very readable collection of solutions. Although many of these innovative solutions are little-known outside Australia, they all present practical possibilities for U.S. cities. Beatley describes “green transport” projects, “city farms,” renewable energy plans, green living programs, and much more. He considers a host of public policy initiatives and scrutinizes regional and state planning efforts for answers. In closing, he shares his impressions about how Australian results might be applied to U.S. problems. This is a unique book: hopeful, constructive, and filled with ideas that have been proven to work. It is a “must read” for anyone who cares about the future of American cities.

Download or read book Resilient Cities written by Peter Newman and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2009-01-09 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Half of the world’s inhabitants now live in cities. In the next twenty years, the number of urban dwellers will swell to an estimated five billion people. With their inefficient transportation systems and poorly designed buildings, many cities—especially in the United States—consume enormous quantities of fossil fuels and emit high levels of greenhouse gases. But our planet is rapidly running out of the carbon-based fuels that have powered urban growth for centuries and we seem to be unable to curb our greenhouse gas emissions. Are the world’s cities headed for inevitable collapse? The authors of this spirited book don’t believe that oblivion is necessarily the destiny of urban areas. Instead, they believe that intelligent planning and visionary leadership can help cities meet the impending crises, and look to existing initiatives in cities around the world. Rather than responding with fear (as a legion of doomsaying prognosticators have done), they choose hope. First, they confront the problems, describing where we stand today in our use of oil and our contribution to climate change. They then present four possible outcomes for cities: ”collapse,” “ruralized,” “divided,” and “resilient.” In response to their scenarios, they articulate how a new “sustainable urbanism” could replace today’s “carbon-consuming urbanism.” They address in detail how new transportation systems and buildings can be feasibly developed to replace our present low efficiency systems. In conclusion, they offer ten “strategic steps” that any city can take toward greater sustainability and resilience. This is not a book filled with “blue sky” theory (although blue skies will be a welcome result of its recommendations). Rather, it is packed with practical ideas, some of which are already working in cities today. It frankly admits that our cities have problems that will worsen if they are not addressed, but it suggests that these problems are solvable. And the time to begin solving them is now.

Download or read book Biophilic Cities written by Timothy Beatley and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tim Beatley has long been a leader in advocating for the "greening" of cities. But too often, he notes, urban greening efforts focus on everything except nature, emphasizing such elements as public transit, renewable energy production, and energy efficient building systems. While these are important aspects of reimagining urban living, they are not enough, says Beatley. We must remember that human beings have an innate need to connect with the natural world (the biophilia hypothesis). And any vision of a sustainable urban future must place its focus squarely on nature, on the presence, conservation, and celebration of the actual green features and natural life forms. A biophilic city is more than simply a biodiverse city, says Beatley. It is a place that learns from nature and emulates natural systems, incorporates natural forms and images into its buildings and cityscapes, and designs and plans in conjunction with nature. A biophilic city cherishes the natural features that already exist but also works to restore and repair what has been lost or degraded. In Biophilic Cities Beatley not only outlines the essential elements of a biophilic city, but provides examples and stories about cities that have successfully integrated biophilic elements--from the building to the regional level--around the world. From urban ecological networks and connected systems of urban greenspace, to green rooftops and green walls and sidewalk gardens, Beatley reviews the emerging practice of biophilic urban design and planning, and tells many compelling stories of individuals and groups working hard to transform cities from grey and lifeless to green and biodiverse.

Download or read book The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies written by Anthony M. Orum and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-04-15 with total page 2919 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides comprehensive coverage of major topics in urban and regional studies Under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Anthony Orum, this definitive reference work covers central and emergent topics in the field, through an examination of urban and regional conditions and variation across the world. It also provides authoritative entries on the main conceptual tools used by anthropologists, sociologists, geographers, and political scientists in the study of cities and regions. Among such concepts are those of place and space; geographical regions; the nature of power and politics in cities; urban culture; and many others. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies captures the character of complex urban and regional dynamics across the globe, including timely entries on Latin America, Africa, India and China. At the same time, it contains illuminating entries on some of the current concepts that seek to grasp the essence of the global world today, such as those of Friedmann and Sassen on ‘global cities’. It also includes discussions of recent economic writings on cities and regions such as those of Richard Florida. Comprised of over 450 entries on the most important topics and from a range of theoretical perspectives Features authoritative entries on topics ranging from gender and the city to biographical profiles of figures like Frank Lloyd Wright Takes a global perspective with entries providing coverage of Latin America and Africa, India and China, and, the US and Europe Includes biographies of central figures in urban and regional studies, such as Doreen Massey, Peter Hall, Neil Smith, and Henri Lefebvre The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies is an indispensable reference for students and researchers in urban and regional studies, urban sociology, urban geography, and urban anthropology.

Download or read book Green Infrastructure written by Ian C. Mell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our understandings of the landscapes around us are constantly changing. How we interact with, manage and value these spaces is important, as it helps us to ensure we live in attractive, functional and sustainable places. Green Infrastructure planning is the current ‘go-to’ approach in landscape planning that incorporates human-environmental interactions, understandings of ecology and how socio-cultural factors influence our use of parks, gardens and waterways. This book explores several interpretations of Green Infrastructure bringing together case studies of policy, practice, ecological change and community understandings of landscape. Focusing on how planning policy shapes our interactions with the landscape, as individuals and communities, the book discusses what works and what needs to be improved. It examines how environmental management can promote more sustainable approaches to landscape protection ensuring that water resources and ecological communities are not harmed by development. It also asks what the economic and community values of Green Infrastructure are to illustrate how different social, ecological and political factors influence how our landscapes are managed. The central message of the book focusses on the promotion of multi-functional nature within urban landscapes that helps people, the economy and the environment to meet the challenges of population, infrastructure and economic change. The chapters in this book were origianally published as a special issue in Landscape Research.

Download or read book The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures written by Robert C. Brears and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-01-13 with total page 2334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While urban settlements are the drivers of the global economy and centres of learning, culture, and innovation and nations rely on competitive dynamic regions for their economic, social, and environmental objectives, urban centres and regions face a myriad of challenges that impact the ways in which people live and work, create wealth, and interact and connect with places. Rapid urbanisation is resulting in urban sprawl, rising emissions, urban poverty and high unemployment rates, housing affordability issues, lack of urban investment, low urban financial and governance capacities, rising inequality and urban crimes, environmental degradation, increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and so forth. At the regional level, low employment, low wage growth, scarce financial resources, climate change, waste and pollution, and rising urban peri-urban competition etc. are impacting the ability of regions to meet socio-economic development goals while protecting biodiversity. The response to these challenges has typically been the application of inadequate or piecemeal solutions, often as a result of fragmented decision-making and competing priorities, with numerous economic, environmental, and social consequences. In response, there is a growing movement towards viewing cities and regions as complex and sociotechnical in nature with people and communities interacting with one another and with objects, such as roads, buildings, transport links etc., within a range of urban and regional settings or contexts. This comprehensive MRW will provide readers with expert interdisciplinary knowledge on how urban centres and regions in locations of varying climates, lifestyles, income levels, and stages development are creating synergies and reducing trade-offs in the development of resilient, resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, liveable, socially equitable, integrated, and technology-enabled centres and regions.