Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"…an engaging and comprehensive book…. Green Urbanism takes an inspiring snapshot of cities implementing both government and community-led projects to promote sustainable development in Europe."
Review
"Beatley has made a valuable contribution to the field of urban sustainability…. His intended North American audience now has, thanks to his efforts, numerous ideas on how more sustainable urbanism night be promoted."
Synopsis
The world is in the midst of an ecological explosion with devastating implications. Thousands of species of microbes, plants, and animals are being introduced, both deliberately and inadvertently, to new land areas, seas, and freshwaters. In many regions, these new colonists are running wild, disrupting the dynamics of ecosystems, pushing native species toward extinction, and causing billions of dollars in direct economic damages.
Alien Species in North America and Hawaii provides a comprehensive overview of the invasive species phenomenon, examining the threats posed and the damage that has already been done to ecosystems across North America and Hawaii. George W. Cox considers both the biological theory underlying invasions and the potential and actual effects on ecosystems and human activities. His book offers a framework for understanding the problem and provides a detailed examination of species and regions. Specific chapters examine:
North American invaders and their threats how exotic species are dispersed to new regions how physical and biotic features influence the establishment and spread of invasives patterns of exotic invasions, with separate chapters covering each of the ten most seriously invaded regions and ecosystems patterns of invasiveness exhibited by major groups of exotics the theory of invasive capability of alien species and the resistance of communities to invasion theoretical aspects of ecosystem impacts of invaders and the evolutionary interaction of invaders and natives management and public policy issuesAlien Species in North America and Hawaii offers for the first time an assessment and synthesis of the problem of invasive species in North American and Hawaiian ecosystems. Scientists, conservation professionals, policymakers, and anyone involved with the study and control of invasive species will find the book an essential guide and reference to one of the most serious and widespread threats to global biodiversity.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 429-450) and index.
About the Author
Timothy Beatley is Teresa Heinz professor of Sustainable Communities at University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. His books include An Introduction to Coastal Zone Management (Island Press, 1994; 2nd ed., 2002), The Ecology of Place (Island Press, 1997), and Green Urbanism (Island Press, 2000).
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
PART I. Context and Background
Chapter 1. Introduction: Green Urbanism and the Lessons of European Cities
PART II. Land Use and Community
Chapter 2. Land Use and Urban Form: Planning Compact Cities
Chapter 3. Creative Housing and Living Environments
PART III. Transportation and Mobility in Green-Urban Cities
Chapter 4. Transit Cities: Public Transport Innovations and Priorities
Chapter 5. Taming the Auto: The Promise of Car-Free Cities
Chapter 6. Bicycles: Low-Tech Ecological Mobility
PART IV. Green, Organic Cities
Chapter 7. Urban Ecology and Strategies for Greening the Urban Environment
Chapter 8. Urban Ecocycle Balancing: Toward Closed-Loop Cities
Chapter 9. Renewable Energy Cities: Living on Solar Income
Chapter 10. Building Ecologically: Designing Buildings and Neighborhoods with Nature in Mind
PART V. Governance and Economy
Chapter 11. Ecological Governance in Green-Urban Cities
Chapter 12. Building a Sustainable Economy: Innovations in Restorative Commerce
PART VI. Learning from Europe
Chapter 13. The Promise of Green-Urbanism: Lessons from European Cities
References
Appendix A. Individuals Interviewed
Appendix B. Charter of European Cities and Towns: Towards Sustainability
Index