Download or read book Planet of Cities written by Shlomo Angel and published by Lincoln Inst of Land Policy. This book was released on 2012 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly 4,000 cities on our planet today have populations of 100,000 people or more. We know their names, locations, and approximate populations from maps and other data sources, but there is little comparable knowledge about all these cities, and none that can be described as rigorously scientific. The Planet of Cities together with its companion volume, the Atlas of Urban Expansion, contributes to developing a science of cities based on studying all these cities together—not in the abstract, but with a view to preparing them for their coming expansion. The book puts into question the main tenets of the familiar Containment Paradigm, also known as smart growth, urban growth management, or compact city, that is designed to contain boundless urban expansion, typically decried as sprawl. It examines this paradigm in a broader global perspective and shows it to be deficient and practically useless in addressing the central questions now facing expanding cities outside the United States and Europe. In its place Shlomo Angel proposes to revive an alternative Making Room Paradigm that seeks to come to terms with the expected expansion of cities, particularly in the rapidly urbanizing countries in Asia and Africa, and to make the minimally necessary preparations for such expansion instead of seeking to contain it. This paradigm is predicated on four propositions:1. The expansion of cities that urban population growth entails cannot be contained. Instead we must make adequate room to accommodate it.2. City densities must remain within a sustainable range. If density is too low, it must be allowed to increase, and if it is too high, it must be allowed to decline.3. Strict containment of urban expansion destroys the homes of the poor and puts new housing out of reach for most people. Decent housing for all can be ensured only if urban land is in ample supply.4. As cities expand, the necessary land for public streets, public infrastructure networks, and public open spaces must be secured in advance of development.The first part of the book explores planetary urbanization in a historical and geographical perspective, to establish a global perspective for the study of cities. It confirms that we are in the midst of an urbanization project that started in earnest at the beginning of the nineteenth century, has now reached its peak with half the world population residing in urban areas, and will come to a close, possibly by the end of this century, when most people who want to live in cities will have moved there. This realization lends urgency to the call for preparing for urban expansion now, when the urbanization project is still in full swing, rather than later, when it would be too late to make a difference.The second part of the book seeks to deepen our understanding and thus lessen our fear of urban expansion by providing detailed quantitative answers to seven sets of questions regarding the dimensions and attributes of urban expansion:1. What are the extents of urban areas everywhere and how fast are they expanding over time?2. How dense are these urban areas and how are urban densities changing over time?3. How centralized are the residences and workplaces in cities and do they tend to disperse to the periphery over time? 4. How fragmented are the built-up areas of cities and how are levels of fragmentation changing over time?5. How compact are the shapes of urban footprints and how are their levels of compactness changing over time?6. How much land would urban areas require in future decades?7. How much cultivated land will be consumed by expanding urban areas?By answering these questions and exploring their implications for action, this book provides the conceptual framework, basic empirical data, and practical agenda necessary for the minimal yet meaningful management of the urban expansion process.The companion volume, Atlas of Urban Expansion, was also authored by Lincoln Institute visiting fellow Shlomo “

Download or read book Making Room for a Planet of Cities written by Shlomo Angel and published by Lincoln Inst of Land Policy. This book was released on 2011 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a rapidly urbanizing world -- over half the world's population lives in urban areas, including many millions in informal settlement -- the large cities of the developing world in particular are expanding. Yet there is little in the way of planning and preparation for this explosive growth in urban population. Making Room for a Planet of Cities is a comprehensive and original analysis of the quantitative dimensions of past, present, and future global urban land cover, culminating in a proposed new paradigm for preparing for explosive growth in cities the world over. Carefully selected metrics measured in four new data sets with ArcGIS software provide a comprehensive and consistent global and historical perspective on urban expansion. These data sets are:1. The built-up areas of a global sample of 120 cities with 100,000 people or more, 1990 and 2000, based on satellite images;2. Historic population density data in digital images for 20 U. S. cities, 1910–2000, based on census tracts;3. Built-up areas of a representative global sample of 30 cities, 1800–2000, from the set of 120 cities based on historic maps; and4. Urban land cover areas of the universe of 3,646 cities that had populations of 100,000 or more in 2000, based on satellite images.The key findings show that on average, densities in developing countries are double those in Europe and Japan, and densities in Europe and Japan are double those of the United States, Canada, and Australia; and that on average, the annual growth rate of urban land cover was twice that of the urban population between 1990 and 2000. Most of the cities studied expanded their built-up area more than 16-fold in the twentieth century. At present rates of density decline, the world's urban population is expected to double in 43 years, while urban land cover will double in only 19 years. The urban population of the developing countries is expected to double between 2000 and 2030 while the built-up area of their cities can be expected to triple.The research suggests that preparation for the sustainable growth of cities in rapidly urbanizing countries should be grounded in four key components: the realistic projections of urban land needs; generous metropolitan limits; selective protection of open space; and an arterial grid of roads spaced one kilometer apart that can support transit.Making Room for a Planet of Cities provides both the conceptual framework and, for the first time, the basic empirical data and quantitative dimensions of past, present, and future urban expansion in cities around the world that are necessary for making minimal preparations for the massive urban growth expected in the coming decades.

Download or read book Cities For A Small Planet written by Richard Rogers and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2008-08-01 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nothing else damages the earth's environment more than our cities. As the world's population has grown, our cities have burgeoned, and their impact on the environment worsened. Meanwhile, from the isolated, gated communities within Houston and Los Angeles, to the millions of residents of Bombay living in squalor, the city has failed to serve its ideal function—as the cradle of civilization, the engine of culture, and the inspiration for community and citizenship. In Cities for a Small Planet, Sir Richard Rogers, one of the world's leading architects and the designer of the Pompidou Center in Paris, demonstrates how future cities could provide the springboard for restoring humanity's harmony with its environment. Rogers outlines the disastrous impact cities have had and will continue to have on our world, from waste-saturated Tokyo Bay, to the massive plumes of pollution caused by London's traffic, to the depleted water resources of Mexico City. He traces these problems to the underlying social and cultural values that create them—unchecked commercial zeal, selfish individualism, and a lack of community. Bringing to bear concepts such as that of “open-minded” space—places within cities that serve multiple functions such as markets, parks, and sidewalk cafes—he explains how urban design can be used to give citizens a sense of shared experience. The city built with comfortable and safe public space can bring diverse groups together and breed a sense of tolerance, awareness, identity, and mutual respect. He calls for a new theoretical shift in the way cities do business and interact with the environment, arguing that many products come to market and are sold without figuring their social or environmental cost. Rogers goes on to describe the city of the future: one that is sustainable within its own environment; that can make a positive impact on its surroundings; that encourages communication among its citizens; that is compact and focused around neighborhoods; and that is beautiful, a city whose buildings and spaces spark the creative potential of its inhabitants.As our population grows larger, our planet grows smaller. Cities for a Small Planet is a passionate and eloquent blueprint for the cities we must create in response, cities that provide for the needs of both their residents and the earth on which they live.

Download or read book City Unseen written by Karen Ching-Yee Seto and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stunning satellite images of one hundred cities show our urbanizing planet in a new light to reveal the fragile relationship between humanity and Earth Seeing cities around the globe in their larger environmental contexts, we begin to understand how the world shapes urban landscapes and how urban landscapes shape the world. Authors Karen Seto and Meredith Reba provide these revealing views to enhance readers' understanding of the shape, growth, and life of urban settlements of all sizes--from the remote town of Namche Bazaar in Nepal to the vast metropolitan prefecture of Tokyo, Japan. Using satellite data, the authors show urban landscapes in new perspectives. The book's beautiful and surprising images pull back the veil on familiar scenes to highlight the growth of cities over time, the symbiosis between urban form and natural landscapes, and the vulnerabilities of cities to the effects of climate change. We see the growth of Las Vegas and Lagos, the importance of rivers to both connecting and dividing cities like Seoul and London, and the vulnerability of Fukushima and San Juan to floods from tsunami or hurricanes. The result is a compelling book that shows cities' relationships with geography, food, and society.

Download or read book Planet of Slums written by Mike Davis and published by Verso. This book was released on 2007-09-17 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Celebrated urban theorist Davis provides a global overview of the diverse religious, ethnic, and political movements competing for the souls of the new urban poor.

Download or read book Planet City written by Liam Young and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-17 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planet City is a speculation of what might happen if the world collapsed into a new home for 10 billion people, allowing the rest of the world to return to a global wilderness. It is both an extraordinary image of tomorrow and an urgent examination of the environmental questions that face us today.

Download or read book The Cities Book written by Lonely Planet and published by Lonely Planet. This book was released on 2017-10-01 with total page 1348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lonely Planet's bestselling The Cities Book is back. Fully revised and updated, it's a celebration of 200 of the world's most exciting urban destinations, beautifully photographed and packed with trip advice and recommendations from our experts - making it the perfect companion for any traveller deciding where to visit next. - Highlights and itineraries help travellers plan their perfect trip - Urban tales reveal unexpected bites of history and local culture - Discover each city's strengths, best experiences and most famous exports - Includes the top ten cities for beaches, nightlife, food and more - Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler shares his all-time favourite cities - Fully revised and updated with the best cities to visit right now About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more. TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

Download or read book Cities that Think Like Planets written by Marina Alberti and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As human activity and environmental change come to be increasingly recognized as intertwined phenomena on a rapidly urbanizing planet, the field of urban ecology has risen to offer useful ways of thinking about coupled human and natural systems. On the forefront of this discipline is Marina Alberti, whose innovative work offers a conceptual framework for uncovering fundamental laws that govern the complexity and resilience of cities, which she sees as key to understanding and responding to planetary change and the evolution of Earth. Bridging the fields of urban planning and ecology, Alberti describes a science of cities that work on a planetary scale and that links unpredictable dynamics to the potential for innovation. It is a science that considers interactions - at all scales - between people and built environments and between cities and their larger environments. Cities That Think like Planets advances strategies for planning a future that may look very different from the present, as rapid urbanization could tip the Earth toward abrupt and nonlinear change. Alberti's analyses of the various hybrid ecosystems, such as self-organization, heterogeneity, modularity, multiple equilibria, feedback, and transformation, may help humans participate in guiding the Earth away from inadvertent collapse and toward a new era of planetary co-evolution and resilience.

Download or read book Cities People Planet written by Herbert Girardet and published by Academy Press. This book was released on 2004-12-15 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description

Download or read book Cities on a Finite Planet written by Sheridan Bartlett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-14 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities on a Finite Planet: Transformative responses to climate change shows how cities can combine high quality living conditions, resilience to climate change, disaster risk reduction and contributions to mitigation/low carbon development. It also covers the current and potential contribution of cities to avoiding dangerous climate change and is the first book with an in-depth coverage of how cities and their governments, citizens and civil society organizations can combine these different agendas, based on careful city-level analyses. The foundation for the book is detailed city case studies on Bangalore, Bangkok, Dar es Salaam, Durban, London, Manizales, Mexico City, New York and Rosario. Each of these was led by authors who contributed to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment and are thus acknowledged as among the world’s top specialists in this field. This book highlights where there is innovation and progress in cities and how this was achieved. Also where there is little progress and no action and where there is no capacity to act. It also assesses the extent to which cities can address the Sustainable Development Goals within commitments to also dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this, it highlights how much progress on these different agendas depends on local governments and their capacities to work with their low-income populations.

Download or read book Regenerating Cities written by Maria Elena Zingoni de Baro and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book sets out the discussion on how cities can contribute solutions to some of the challenges the urbanised world is facing, such as the pressure of growing populations, mitigation of effects of, and adaptation to globally changing environmental, climate and public health conditions. Presenting a detailed explanation of the causes behind the current state of modern cities, the book advocates for a paradigm shift to improve the quality of life of ever-increasing urban inhabitants whilst nourishing the natural systems that sustain human and non-human life in the planet. Recognising the precious role that nature plays in the functioning of cities, it delves into the study of biophilic design and regenerative development. The book argues that these social-ecological design approaches can act as catalysts to develop conditions in urban settings that are beneficial for natural and human systems to thrive and flourish, both in ecosystem services and social-cultural systems. This is particularly relevant for the design of new quality precincts or the regeneration of degraded urban spaces to promote health, wellbeing and urban resilience. A framework is proposed to guide the process of thinking about, designing and building healthier, more liveable and resilient urban environments that raise the quality of life in cities. The method can be used by researchers, practitioners -urban designers, urban planners, architects and landscape architects- interested in developing their work within a social-ecological perspective. It can also be used by local governments and agencies to underpin policy making, and by educational institutions to prepare graduates with necessary skills to respond to current and future built environment challenges.

Download or read book The Cities Book written by Lonely Planet Kids and published by Lonely Planet. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take a trip through 86 of the world's greatest cities. A mix of photography, beautiful illustrations and hand drawn maps take readers on an incredible world tour. Each page is packed with facts on city living - from food and festivals to architecture and history. This stunning compendium of cities is the perfect gift for curious kids everywhere.

Download or read book Urban Planet written by Thomas Elmqvist and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global urbanization promises better services, stronger economies, and more connections; it also carries risks and unforeseeable consequences. To deepen our understanding of this complex process and its importance for global sustainability, we need to build interdisciplinary knowledge around a systems approach. Urban Planet takes an integrative look at our urban environment, bringing together scholars from a diverse range of disciplines: from sociology and political science to evolutionary biology, geography, economics and engineering. It includes the perspectives of often neglected voices: architects, journalists, artists and activists. The book provides a much needed cross-scale perspective, connecting challenges and solutions on a local scale with drivers and policy frameworks on a regional and global scale. The authors argue that to overcome the major challenges we are facing, we must embark on a large-scale reinvention of how we live together, grounded in inclusiveness and sustainability.

Download or read book Climate of Hope written by Michael Bloomberg and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2017-04-18 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2016 election left many people who are concerned about the environment fearful that progress on climate change would come screeching to a halt. But not Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope. They approach climate change from different perspectives, yet they arrive at similar conclusions: without agreeing on every point, they share a belief that cities, businesses, and citizens can lead and win the battle against climate change, no matter which way the political winds in Washington may shift. In Climate of Hope, Bloomberg and Pope offer an optimistic look at the challenge of climate change, the solutions they believe hold the greatest promise, and the practical steps that are necessary to achieve them. Writing from their own experiences, and sharing their own stories from government, business, and advocacy, Bloomberg and Pope provide a road map for tackling the most complicated challenge the world has ever faced. Along the way, they turn the usual way of thinking about climate change on its head: from top down to bottom up, from partisan to pragmatic, from costs to benefits, from tomorrow to today, and from fear to hope.Bloomberg and Pope explore climate change solutions that will make the world healthier and more prosperous. They aim to begin a new type of conversation on the issue that will spur bolder action by cities, businesses, and citizens - and even, someday, by Washington.

Download or read book Suburban Planet written by Roger Keil and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-12-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The urban century manifests itself at the peripheries. While the massive wave of present urbanization is often referred to as an 'urban revolution', most of this startling urban growth worldwide is happening at the margins of cities. This book is about the process that creates the global urban periphery – suburbanization – and the ways of life – suburbanisms – we encounter there. Richly detailed with examples from around the world, the book argues that suburbanization is a global process and part of the extended urbanization of the planet. This includes the gated communities of elites, the squatter settlements of the poor, and many built forms and ways of life in-between. The reality of life in the urban century is suburban: most of the earth's future 10 billion inhabitants will not live in conventional cities but in suburban constellations of one kind or another. Inspired by Henri Lefebvre's demand not to give up urban theory when the city in its classical form disappears, this book is a challenge to urban thought more generally as it invites the reader to reconsider the city from the outside in.

Download or read book The Cities Book written by Lonely Planet Publications (Firm) and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities represent civilisation and human achievement: they are bubbling microcosms of virtues and vices, vanguards of technology and creative pursuits, incubators of traditions and melting-pots of diversity. More than half the world's population now lives in cities, and for travellers they hold an-endless fascination. Here we present the 200 most vibrant, diverse, hypnotic and chaotic cities in the world, ranked in order as voted for by people who know - Lonely Planet's staff, authors, and readers. The list is as diverse as the people that created it. Of course, there are the usual suspects: Paris, London, New York - but also the unfamiliar, the exotic, and the tiny: Abuja (Nigeria), Nuuk (Greenland), Saint-Denis (Réunion) and Ulaanbataar (Mongolia). Every city has its own personality, in the form of its streets and buildings and in its human architecture. Taking our cue from the buzz on the street, we have captured the flavour of each city through the eyes of the typical citizen: hot conversation topics, urban myths, the best places to eat and drink and to seek out after dark. It's a tempting cocktail for the urban adventurer.

Download or read book One Planet Cities written by David Thorpe and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the crucial question of how the essential needs of the growing human population can be met without breaking the Earth's already-stretched life-support system. With four out of five people predicted to be urban dwellers by 2080, 'One Planet' Citiesproposes a pathway to genuine sustainability for cities and neighbourhoods, using an approach based on contraction and convergence. Utilising interviews with key players, including the Global Footprint Network, World Future Council, WWF, mayors and officials, and case studies from across the globe, including Europe, North and South America, Australia, Sweden, South Africa, China, and India, David Thorpe examines all aspects of modern society from food provision to neighbourhood design, via industry, the circular economy, energy and transport through the critical lens of the ecological footprint and relevant supporting international standards and indicators. Recommendations on managing supply chains and impacts, how the transition to a world within limits might be financed, and a deep examination of the Welsh Government's pioneering efforts follow. It concludes with an imagined vision of what a genuinely sustainable future might be like, and an appeal for 'one planeteers' everywhere to step up to the challenge. This book will be of great interest to practitioners and policymakers involved in governance, administration, urban environments and sustainability, alongside students of the built environment, urban planning, environmental policy and energy.