Description
Book SynopsisA cutting-edge, solutions-oriented analysis of how we can reimagine cities around the world to build sustainable futures. What would it take to make urban places greener, more affordable, more equitable, and healthier for everyone? In recent years, cities have stepped up efforts to address climate and sustainability crises. But progress has not been fast enough or gone deep enough. If communities are to thrive in the future, we need to quickly imagine and implement an entirely new approach to urban development: one that is centered on equity and rethinks social, political, and economic systems as well as urban designs. With attention to this need for structural change, Reimagining Sustainable Cities advocates for a community-informed model of racially, economically, and socially just cities and regions. The book aims to rethink urban sustainability for a new era. In Reimagining Sustainable Cities, Stephen M. Wheeler and Christina D. Rosan ask big-picture questions of interest to readers worldwide: How do we get to carbon neutrality? How do we adapt to a climate-changed world? How can we create affordable, inclusive, and equitable cities? While many books dwell on the analysis of problems, Reimagining Sustainable Cities prioritizes solutions-oriented thinkingsurveying historical trends, providing examples of constructive action worldwide, and outlining alternative problem-solving strategies. Wheeler and Rosan use a social ecology lens and draw perspectives from multiple disciplines. Positive, readable, and constructive in tone, Reimagining Sustainable Cities identifies actions ranging from urban design to institutional restructuring that can bring about fundamental change and prepare us for the challenges ahead.
Trade Review"Half a century on, drastic change is still needed, warn urban ecologists Stephen Wheeler and Christina Rosen in their enlightening survey of today’s cities."
* Nature *
"This book is an ideal companion to a wide range of readers wishing to think again about sustainable cities and stimulate change across urban areas. The narrative of positivity and optimism laid out in the context of achieving sustainability makes this book a refreshing and welcome addition to a mounting body of literature dedicated to sustainable urban action." * Buildings & Cities *
"This book is a compendium of the many changes that will be necessary to make a sustainable and equitable future possible." * Journal of Urban Affairs *
"A much needed, holistically integrative, overview of sustainability strategies for designing greener, more just, resilient, adaptable and climate friendly communities." * Urban Studies Online *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Introduction
1. How Do We Get to Climate Neutrality?
2. How Do We Adapt to the Climate Crisis?
3. How Might We Create More Sustainable Economies?
4. How Can We Make Affordable, Inclusive, and Equitable Cities?
5. How Can We Reduce Spatial Inequality?
6. How Can We Get Where We Need to Go More Sustainably?
7. How Do We Manage Land More Sustainably?
8. How Do We Design Greener Cities?
9. How Do We Reduce Our Ecological Footprints?
10. How Can Cities Better Support Human Development?
11. How Might We Have More Functional Democracy?
12. How Can Each of Us Help Lead the Move toward Sustainable Communities?
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
