Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems
Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems

Author: Peter Newman

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2012-09-26

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1597267473

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Modern city dwellers are largely detached from the environmental effects of their daily lives. The sources of the water they drink, the food they eat, and the energy they consume are all but invisible, often coming from other continents, and their waste ends up in places beyond their city boundaries. Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems shows how cities and their residents can begin to reintegrate into their bioregional environment, and how cities themselves can be planned with nature’s organizing principles in mind. Taking cues from living systems for sustainability strategies, Newman and Jennings reassess urban design by exploring flows of energy, materials, and information, along with the interactions between human and non-human parts of the system. Drawing on examples from all corners of the world, the authors explore natural patterns and processes that cities can emulate in order to move toward sustainability. Some cities have adopted simple strategies such as harvesting rainwater, greening roofs, and producing renewable energy. Others have created biodiversity parks for endangered species, community gardens that support a connection to their foodshed, and pedestrian-friendly spaces that encourage walking and cycling. A powerful model for urban redevelopment, Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems describes aspects of urban ecosystems from the visioning process to achieving economic security to fostering a sense of place.

Science for the Sustainable City
Science for the Sustainable City

Author: Steward T. A. Pickett

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 0300249381

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A presentation of key findings and insights from over two decades of research, education, and community engagement in the acclaimed Baltimore Ecosystem Study In a world of more than seven billion people—who mostly reside in cities and towns—the Baltimore Ecosystem Study is recognized as a pioneer in modern urban social-ecological science. After two decades of research, education, and community engagement, there are insights to share, generalizations to examine, and research needs to highlight. This timely volume synthesizes the key findings, melds the perspectives of different disciplines, and celebrates the benefits of interacting with diverse communities and institutions in improving Baltimore’s ecology. These widely applicable insights from Baltimore contribute to our understanding the ecology of other cities, provide a comparison for the global process of urbanization, and inform establishment of urban ecological research elsewhere. Comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and highly original, it gives voice to the wide array of specialists who have contributed to this living urban laboratory.

Sustainable City Regions:
Sustainable City Regions:

Author: Tetsuo Kidokoro

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-08-27

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 4431781471

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How should regional cities develop regional development strategies for their sustainable future? How can such strategies work effectively? Regional cities are now at a crossroads: will they decline or be regenerated under the impacts of globalization? Their sustainable regeneration as creative regional centers will play a decisive role in their sustainable development as a whole, but only with viable regional spatial strategies that strengthen the network of cities and their hinterlands. The concern here lies in urban regeneration and strategic spatial planning at the city-region level. This book records observations of 12 dynamically changing regional cities in Asia, Europe and the United States. The form of the city region, urban regeneration and strategic spatial planning as well as the local and regional governance of each city are examined. Through this empirical and comparative analysis, essential lessons are drawn, which will add a new perspective to discussions on the sustainable future of regional cities in an age of globalization.

Sustainable Place
Sustainable Place

Author: Christine Phillips

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2003-06-02

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 0470847409

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This landmark publication examines the need for establishing a universal framework for assessing the sustainability of a place that can be used for any place, in any part of the world. Using two case studies of two towns (San Gimignano, Italy and Ludlow, England) as a backdrop, the book examines their distinctive features and develops a framework for assessing their energy and environmental capabilities in light of their social, economic, political and cultural prerequisites. Discussion includes such key aspects of sustainability as geological formation, climate, external dependencies, communication and infrastructure, historical heritage, community and permanence of population. Includes the author's own annotated drawings that complement the text. Examines the background and current state of sustainability and provides practical examples of assessments of specific localities Based on the author's own research

Sustainable Cities
Sustainable Cities

Author: Pierre Laconte

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-05-31

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0857727540

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Sustainable Cities is about the challenges faced by our urban environments and how these can be met. Examining the built environment at three levels of observation - individual buildings, urban neighbourhoods, and entire cities and towns, the first part of the book reveals the scale of the task. The second part of the book offer a critical assessment of the techniques used to assess urban development, including the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, ecological footprint analysis, and the measurement of urban biodiversity, where different approaches can yield significantly different results. It concludes with an alternative approach to greenhouse gases, making the case for them to be seen as a resource rather than as a liability. In the final part, case studies of best practice are presented. With contributions from a range of leading international specialists, Sustainable Cities will be essential reading for academics and professionals in urban and municipal planning, environmental policy and planning, architecture, urban geography, climate change, energy resources and environmental science and technology.

Sustainable Cities
Sustainable Cities

Author: Claudio Scardovi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-03-27

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 3030684385

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Global cities are facing an almost unprecedented challenge of change. As they re-emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic and get ready to face climate change and other, potentially existential threats, they need to look for new ways to support wealth and wellbeing creation – leveraging Big Data and AI and suing them into their physical reality and to become greener, more inclusive and resilient, hence sustainable. This book describes how new digital technologies could be used to design digital and physical twins of cities that are able to feed into each other to optimize their working and ability to create new wealth and wellbeing. The book also describes how to increase cities’ social and economic resilience during crisis time and addressing their almost fatal weaknesses – as it became all too obvious during the recent COVID 19 crisis. Also, the book presents a framework for a critical discussion of the concept of “smart-city”, suggesting its development into a “cyber” and “meta” one – meaning, not only digital systems can allow physical ones (e.g. cities, citizens, households and companies) to become “smarter”, but also the vice versa is true, as off line data and real life behaviours can support the optimization and development of virtual brains as a sum of big data and artificial intelligence apps all sitting “over the cloud”. An analysis of the fundamental dynamics of this emerging “info-telligence” economy, and of the potential role of big digital players like Amazon, Google and Facebook is then paving the way to discuss a few strategic forays on how traditional sectors such as financial services, real estate, TMT or health could also evolve, leveraging Big Data and AI in a cyber-physical integrated setting. Finally, a number of thought provoking use cases that could be designed around individuals, and to improve the success and the resilience of households and companies living and working in urban areas are discussed, as an example of one of the most exciting future markets to come: the one of global, sustainable cities

The Sustainable City VII
The Sustainable City VII

Author: M. Pacetti

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2012-05-07

Total Pages: 1279

ISBN-13: 1845645782

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Containing research on sustainable urban redevelopment presented at the latest in a biennial series organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology, this book addresses an area of growing interest. The conference series was first held in 2000. These proceedings are split into two volumes. Urban areas produce a series of environmental challenges arising from the consumption of natural resources and the consequent generation of waste and pollution, contributing to the development of social and economic imbalances. All these problems, which continue to grow in our society, require the development of new solutions. Topics include: Volume I – Urban Strategies; Eco-town Planning; Planning, development and management; Planning, development and management for urban conservation and regeneration; Case studies; Landscape planning and design; Environmental management; Intelligent environments and emerging technologies. Volume II – Sustainable energy and the city; Waterfront developments; The community and the city; Quality of life; Cultural heritage issues; Transportation; Planning for risk; Planning for risk; Transport models in emergency conditions; Industrial wastes as raw materials; Waste management; Safety and security; The city heritage.

Collaborative Strategies for Sustainable Cities
Collaborative Strategies for Sustainable Cities

Author: Eric S. Zeemering

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-05-09

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1135130760

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Baltimore, like many other cities around the globe, is redesigning local government policy and programs in order to become a more sustainable city. Sustainability, as a concept guiding public action, encourages city officials to integrate policy and programs addressing the economic, environmental, and social health of the community. City governments, including Baltimore, have adopted plans to integrate this new priority into local policy and program management. Reorienting city policy and programs to address an emergent concern like sustainability requires collaboration between city government and various actors and organizations in the community. Collaborative Strategies for Sustainable Cities examines how cities define sustainability and form policy implementation networks to integrate sustainability into city programs. Using the city of Baltimore to describe and analyze the involvement of the participants in local sustainability efforts in rich detail, Eric S. Zeemering argues that when we think about the sustainable city, the city government is not the best unit of analysis for our investigations or policy planning. Instead, policy networks within cities carve out slices of a sustainability agenda, define sustainability in their own ways, and form implementation networks with city government officials, neighborhood and community organizations, funders, and state and federal agencies in order to achieve specific goals. When cities begin to integrate sustainability into policies and programs, surveying and understanding competing definitions of sustainability within the community may be central to their success. The book’s rich array of data, including qualitative data from elite interviews and public documents, Q-methodology and social network analysis will make for an engaging read to scholars of political science or public affairs as well as the interested citizen or policy advocate.

The Sustainable City IX
The Sustainable City IX

Author: N. Marchettini

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2014-09-23

Total Pages: 1767

ISBN-13: 184564820X

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Containing the proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability this book addresses the multi-disciplinary aspects of urban planning; a result of the increasing size of cities; the amount of resources and services required and the complexity of modern society. Most of earth’s population now lives in cities and the process of urbanisation still continues generating many problems deriving from the drift of the population towards them. These problems can be resolved by cities becoming efficient habitats, saving resources in a way that improves the quality and standard of living. The process however, faces a number of major challenges, related to reducing pollution, improving main transportation and infrastructure systems. New urban solutions are required to optimise the use of space and energy resources leading to improvements in the environment, i.e. reduction in air, water and soil pollution as well as efficient ways to deal with waste generation. These challenges contribute to the development of social and economic imbalances and require the development of new solutions. Large cities are probably the most complex mechanisms to manage. However, despite such complexity they represent a fertile ground for architects, engineers, city planners, social and political scientists, and other professionals able to conceive new ideas and time them according to technological advances and human requirements. The challenge of planning sustainable cities lies in considering their dynamics, the exchange of energy and matter, and the function and maintenance of ordered structures directly or indirectly, supplied and maintained by natural systems. Topics covered include: Urban strategies; Planning, development and management; Urban conservation and regeneration; The community and the city; Eco-town planning; Landscape planning and design; Environmental management; Sustainable energy and the city; Transportation; Quality of life; Waterfront development; Case studies; Architectural issues; Cultural heritage issues; Intelligent environment and emerging technologies; Planning for risk; Disaster and emergency response; Safety and security; Waste management; Infrastructure and society; Urban metabolism.

Resilient Sustainable Cities
Resilient Sustainable Cities

Author: Leonie Pearson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 1135071454

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Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented rate; by 2050 three quarters of the world’s people will live in urban environments. The cars we drive, products we consume, houses we live in and technology we use will all determine how sustainable our cities will be. Bridging the increasing divide between cross-disciplinary academic insights and the latest practical innovations, Resilient Sustainable Cities provides an integrated approach for long term future planning within the context of the city as a whole system. In the next 30 years cities will face their biggest challenges yet, as a result of long term, or ‘slow burn’ issues: population growth will stretch to the breaking point urban infrastructure and service capacity; resource scarcity, such as peak oil; potable water and food security, will dramatically change what we consume and how; environmental pressures will change how we live and where and; shifting demographic preferences will exacerbate urban pressures. Cities can’t keep doing what they’ve always done and cope – we need to change current urban development to achieve resilient, sustainable cities. Resilient Sustainable Cities provides practical and conceptual insights for practitioners, researchers and students on how to deliver cities which are resilient to ‘slow burn’ issues and achieve sustainability. The book is organized around three overarching themes: pathways to the future innovation to deliver the future leadership and governance issues The book includes a variety of perspectives conveyed through international case studies and examples of cities that have transformed for a sustainable future, exploring their successes and failures to ensure that readers are left with ideas on how to turn their city into a resilient sustainable city for the future.