The Great American Transit Disaster
The Great American Transit Disaster

Author: Nicholas Dagen Bloom

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2023-05-03

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0226824403

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"One of the most enduring American urban myths concerns the death of the Red Car Trolley, an extensive and equitable system in Los Angeles County that some say was weakened and then eradicated by US car manufacturers. Yet as Nicholas Dagen Bloom shows, an array of larger yet less tangible forces together interacted to practically murder public transportation of all kinds in cities nationwide. Most centrally, public transit collapsed because essentially we wanted it to-no conspiracy necessary. Detailing the histories of transportation in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco, Bloom seeks to set all of our transit myths to rest for the sake not only of accuracy but in order to enrich our conversations about public transportation funding today"--

The U.S. Navy and the Rise of Great Power Competition
The U.S. Navy and the Rise of Great Power Competition

Author: James J. Wirtz

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-01-23

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13: 1003837204

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This volume describes how technological and geo-political trends are rapidly transforming maritime affairs. A mix of original and previously published material, this volume describes how the 21st-century great power competition is changing the face of naval operations in general, and U.S. Navy operations in the Western Pacific in particular. The rise of an assertive China and its new anti-access and area-denial capabilities threaten the aircraft carrier-based maritime dominance of the U.S. Navy. Military and political trends in the Western Pacific and beyond suggest that the world is encountering a pivotal moment when existing weapons, tactics, and operations might be rendered obsolete by techno-strategic change. This volume considers these developments from three perspectives by describing: (1) the techno-strategic setting; (2) the institutional constraints that impede the ability of the U.S. Navy to respond to these changes; and (3) a new approach to naval force planning and strategy to cope with these developments. The volume culminates in a discussion of sophisticated strategies and operational concepts that position the U.S. Navy and its maritime allies and partners to prevail in today’s techno-strategic churn. This book will be of much interest to students of naval policy, strategic studies, Asia-Pacific politics, and International Relations.

Future Tense
Future Tense

Author: Tony Leon

Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers

Published: 2021-03-03

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1776190750

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'From the vantage point of years in active politics, Tony Leon provides a lucid analytical balance sheet of SA Ltd 2021. Eschewing political correctness, Leon tells it as he sees it.' – Judge Dennis Davis 'Anyone who wants to understand South Africa today – a country so beautiful, yet so broken – simply has to read this book.' - Niall Ferguson, author of The Ascent of Money In his riveting new book, Future Tense, Tony Leon captures and analyses recent South African history, with a focus on the squandered and corrupted years of the past decade. With unique access and penetrating insight, Leon presents a portrait of today's South Africa and prospects for its future,based on his political involvement over thirty years with the key power players: Cyril Ramaphosa, Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk. His close-up and personal view of these presidents and their history-making, and many encounters in the wider world, adds vivid colour of a country and planet in upheaval. Written during the first coronavirus lockdown, Future Tense examines the surge of the disease and the response, both of which have crashed the economy and its future prospects. As the founding leader of the Democratic Alliance, Leon also provides an insider view for the first time of the power struggles within that party, which saw the exit of its first black leader in 2019. There is every reason to fear for the future of South Africa but, as Leon argues, 'the hope for a better country remains an improbable, but not an impossible, dream'.

Planning and Design Perspectives for Land Take Containment
Planning and Design Perspectives for Land Take Containment

Author: Benedetta Giudice

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-03

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 3030910660

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This book aims to provide a framework for the concept of land take, the practice by which natural lands are lost to artificial land development practices, and present its ecological implications in urban environments. In particular, the book intends to contextualize land take and its ecological implications in the field of planning through the analysis of the evolution of the relationship that exists between ecology and urban and regional planning, with case studies focusing on cities in Europe. Urban and regional planning (specifically in terms of tools, policies and strategies) play a central role in the redevelopment of this relationship, and through this perspective the text explores some operational criteria and guiding strategies for the creation of innovative scenarios of planning and design. The book is indeed mainly based upon an ecological planning-oriented perspective, with the attempt of creating a strong link between the plan and the project that will be useful for students, researchers, policy makers, and urban planners and designers.