Why dig deeper into the earth when tons of metal lay dormant beneath the city? Why exploit distant countries for scarce resources when they can be recovered from the waste cities produce every day? 50 Ways to Mine the City is an exploration of ways in which the city's outputs, byproducts, and under-utilized assets can be recovered, reimagined, and used in new ways. It reveals how innovators are transforming the function of the city from a consumer of resources to a generator of them.Featuring a diverse range of projects from around the world, this book creates a global narrative of how the circular economy, urban mining, and resource recovery are coming together to create a more sustainable and resourceful future.
Tells how to reexamine projects, include design from the start, use business plans as a guideline, involve customers in the development, and attract the best team members
How to Reprogram the City is a 40-page self-guided collection of insights, examples, and exercises to help people discover the untapped potential in their own city. Based on dozens of workshops held around the world, this is the first time the Reprogramming the City methodology has been documented in workbook form. The toolkit provides people with the tools to address a pressing problem: the new reality facing cities is one of limited resources. Whether financial, spatial, or material, the content of cities is finite. Yet the context of that content – how we use the assets we already have – is where the opportunity exists to respond to increasing urban needs using limited resources. The dozens of workshops I have led in numerous cities have honed my abilities to get people to think outside the box – to move their thinking from “this is” to “this could” – and shown me the most effective way to provide them with the tools to improve life in their city using what they already have. It has been, and continues to be, a tremendous privilege to work with groups of people from numerous cities on repurposing urban objects to do more with the structures, surfaces and systems in their city. I realized though that a toolkit can reach far more people than I am able to. In short: it is time to open up the opportunities that urban resourcefulness can create. This toolkit is meant to serve as a companion to the Reprogramming the City book. The book is a global overview of how the urban landscape’s untapped potential is being utilized to improve life in cities using what already exists in new ways.
NatureStructure: Infrastructure for Nature is a collection of projects that represent a new generation of nature-centric design and infrastructure. Infrastructure designed for nature that nurtures and restore ecosystems and employs nature and natural processes to address the problems human development has created for itself. “As cities reckon with the impact of a changing climate and activities that have created ecological change go unabated, there will be more of a need to consider organically inclined architecture….this response, and instinct to repair, is what NatureStructure is all about.” – CURBED.COM
A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.
