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Summary
Summary
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.
Author Notes
Peter Newman is professor of sustainability at Curtin University in Western Australia. He is the author of Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems (Island Press, 2007). Timothy Beatley is Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the University of Virginia. His books include Green Urbanism (Island Press, 2000) and Ecology of Place (Island Press, 1997). Heather Boyer is senior editor at Island Press and 2005 Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Newman (Curtin Univ.), Beatley (Univ. of Virginia), and Boyer (editor, Island Press) outline the 21st-century "double whammy" of peak oil and climate change, suggesting the solution to sustainability rests firmly with a fundamental redesign of cities, as they consume 75 percent of the world's energy and emit 80 percent of its greenhouse gases. Their analysis offers a persuasive road map and concludes with ten pragmatic steps that students, scholars, urban planners, politicians, and even home buyers seeking a wise investment will find useful. Newman et al. contend that London, New York, and Stockholm are progressive examples, moving to more transit, pedestrian, and green-oriented development and emphasizing local approaches as well as multiple sources of renewable power. Still too many inefficient transportation systems and poorly designed buildings remain, especially in the US (e.g., Atlanta, New Orleans). Drawing upon Jared Diamond's argument in Collapse (CH, Oct'05, 43-1028) that unless societies adapt, they undermine the natural resource base on which they depend, the authors discuss four possible scenarios for future cities: collapse, ruralized, divided, and resilient. Their preference is for the latter, and the work gives a comprehensive overview as to how a sixth wave of industrial innovation ushers in a post-oil economy and thus resilient city. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. M. M. Gunter Jr. Rollins College
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. ix |
| Acknowledgments | p. xiii |
| 1 Urban Resilience: Cities of Fear and Hope | p. 1 |
| 2 Climate Change and Peak Oil: The Double Whammy for Resource-Intensive Cities | p. 15 |
| 3 Four Scenarios for the Future of Cities: Collapse, Ruralized, Divided, or Resilient City | p. 35 |
| 4 A Vision for Resilient Cities: The Built Environment | p. 55 |
| 5 Hope for Resilient Cities: Transport | p. 86 |
| 6 Conclusion: Ten Strategic Steps toward a Resilient City | p. 112 |
| References | p. 149 |
| Index | p. 161 |
