Synopses & Reviews
As world population grows, and more people move to cities and suburbs, they place greater stress on the operating system of our whole planet. But urbanization and increasing densities also present our best opportunity for improving sustainability, by transforming urban development into desirable, lower-carbon, compact and walkable communities and business centers.
Jonathan Barnett and Larry Beasley seek to demonstrate that a sustainable built and natural environment can be achieved through ecodesign, which integrates the practice of planning and urban design with environmental conservation, through normal business practices and the kinds of capital programs and regulations already in use in most communities. Ecodesign helps adapt the design of our built environment to both a changing climate and a rapidly growing world, creating more desirable places in the process.
In six comprehensively illustrated chapters, the authors explain ecodesign concepts, including the importance of preserving and restoring natural systems while also adapting to climate change; minimizing congestion on highways and at airports by making development more compact, and by making it easier to walk, cycle and take trains and mass transit; crafting and managing regulations to insure better placemaking and and#160;fulfill consumer preferences, while incentivizing preferred practices; creating an inviting and environmentally responsible public realm from parks to streets to forgotten spaces; and finally how to implement these ecodesign concepts. and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Throughout the book, the ecodesign framework is demonstrated by innovative practices that are already underway or have been accomplished in many cities and suburbsandmdash;from Hammarby Sjandouml;stad in Stockholm to False Creek North in Vancouver to Battery Park City in Manhattan, as well as many smaller-scale examples that can be adopted in any community.and#160;
Ecodesign thinking is relevant to anyone who has a part in shaping or influencing the future of cities and suburbs andndash; designers, public officials, and politicians. and#160;
Review
andquot;Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs will be relevant to anyone who has a part in shaping or influencing the future of cities and suburbsandmdash;designers and planners, public officials, real estate investors and developers, concerned citizens, and also students of architecture, landscape architecture and planning who will soon confront these issues in practice.andquot;
Review
andquot;With the global and#39;urban centuryand#39; in full swing, will cities old and new, central and suburban, become more sustainable and delightful?and#160; With Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs, Barnett and Beasley show us that the answer is certainly yes. Their insightful approach can and must be ours.andquot;
Review
andquot;Barnett and Beasley have authored an inspiring study of ecological principles translated into civic action. They present a jargon-free framework for making cities that redefine our understanding of how places perform in terms of social, economic, and environmental measures. Drawing on their considerable experience of city design and planning from Vancouver to Abu Dhabi, Barnett and Beasley show how thoughtful ecodesign enriches the day-to-day experience of people who live, work, and visit todayand#39;s cities.andquot;
Review
andquot;Now impelled by the reality of climate change, we have a huge opportunity to move to a future of greater efficiency, better health, and more happiness. Barnett and Beasley provide a timely blueprint to shape the human habitat.andquot;
Review
andquot;[Barnett and Beasley] prove that our built environment can be designed to adapt to a changing climate and to a rapidly expanding world population while also creating places that are more desirable for living and working.andquot;
Review
andquot;[EcoDesign for Cities and Suburbs] is bothand#160;practical and fascinating.andquot;
Synopsis
Jonathan Barnett and Larry Beasley seek to demonstrate that a sustainable built and natural environment can be achieved through ecodesign, which integrates the practice of planning and urban design with environmental conservation, through normal business practices and the kinds of capital programs and regulations already in use in most communities.
In six comprehensively illustrated chapters, the authors explain ecodesign concepts, including the importance of preserving and restoring natural systems while also adapting to climate change; minimizing congestion on highways and at airports by making development more compact, and by making it easier to walk, cycle and take trains and mass transit; crafting and managing regulations to insure better placemaking and and#160;fulfill consumer preferences, while incentivizing preferred practices; creating an inviting and environmentally responsible public realm from parks to streets to forgotten spaces; and finally how to implement these ecodesign concepts.
About the Author
Jonathan Barnett is an emeritus Professor of Practice in City and Regional Planning, and former director of the Urban Design Program, at the University of Pennsylvania. An architect and planner as well as an educator, he is the author of numerous books and articles on the theory and practice of city design. Along with PennDesign colleagues Gary Hack and Stefan Al, he teaches an on-line course, Designing Cities, available on Coursera.
Larry Beasley is the retired Co-chief Planner for the City of Vancouver.and#160; He is now the andquot;Distinguished Practice Professor of Planningandquot; at the University of British Columbia and the founding principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning consultancy. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, his countryandrsquo;s premier civilian honor for lifetime achievement.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Ecodesign: Combining Sustainability with and#160;Creating Attractive Places
Chapter 2. Adapting to Climate Change, Limiting Globaland#160;Warming, Designing Sustainable Cities and Regions
Chapter 3. Balancing Cars and Other Transportation
Chapter 4. Regulations that Recognize the Natural Environment,and#160;Create Compact, Mixed Use Business Centers, and Shapeand#160;Walkable Neighborhoods
Chapter 5. Designing and Managing the Public Realm
Chapter 6. Implementing Ecodesign
Notes
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