Artful Rainwater Design has three main parts: first, the book outlines five amenity-focused goals that might be highlighted in a project: education, recreation, safety, public relations, and aesthetic appeal. Next, it focuses on techniques for ecologically sustainable stormwater management that complement the amenity goals. Finally, it features diverse case studies that show how designers around the country are implementing principles of artful rainwater design.
The rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation's rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system. The Clean Water Act regulatory framework for addressing sewage and industrial wastes is not well suited to the more difficult problem of stormwater discharges. This book calls for an entirely new permitting structure that would put authority and accountability for stormwater discharges at the municipal level. A number of additional actions, such as conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads and parking lots), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater, are recommended.
A new approach to addressing the contemporary world’s most difficult challenges, such as climate change and poverty. Conflicts over “the problem” and “the solution” plague the modern world and land problem solvers in what has been called “wicked problem territory”—a social space with high levels of conflict over problems and solutions. In Design Strategy, Nancy C. Roberts proposes design as a strategy of problem solving to close the gap between an existing state and a desired state. Utilizing this approach, designers and change agents are better able to minimize self-defeating conflicts over problems and solutions, break the logjam of opposition, and avoid the traps that lock problem solvers into a never-ending cycle of conflict. Design as a field continues to grow and evolve, but Design Strategy focuses on three levels of design where “wicked problems” tend to lurk—strategic design (of private and public organizations), systemic design (of networked and overlapping economic, technical, political, and social subsystems), and regenerative design (of life-giving realignment between humanity and nature). Within this framework, Roberts presents refreshingly interdisciplinary case studies that integrate theory and practice across diverse fields to guide professionals in any domain—from business and nonprofit organizations to educational and healthcare systems—and finally offers hope that humanity can tackle the existential challenges we face in the twenty-first century.
Are Britain’s cities attractive places in which to live, work and play? Asking that question, this is a critical review of how the design dimension of the Urban Renaissance strategy was developed and applied, based on expert academic assessments of progress in Britain’s thirteen largest cities. The case studies are preceded by a dissection of New Labour’s renaissance agenda, and concluded by a synthesis of achievements and failings. Exploring the implications of this strategy for the future of urban planning and design, this is a must-read for students, practitioners of these subjects and for all those who wish to improve the quality of the British urban environment.
Including papers presented at the 11th International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability held in Alicante, Spain, this book addresses the multidisciplinary 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 the earth’s population live in cities and the process of urbanisation continues generating problems originating 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 standard of living. The process faces a number of challenges related to reducing pollution, improving main transportation and infrastructure systems and these challenges can 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, nevertheless they represent a productive ground for architects, engineers, city planners, social and political scientists able to conceive new ideas and time them according to technological advances and human requirements. The papers in this book cover such topics as: Appropriate technologies for smart cities; Architectural issues; Case studies - sustainable practices; Cultural quarters and interventions; Disaster and emergency response; Eco-town planning; Environmental management; Landscape planning and design; Planning for resilience; Quality of life; Socio-economic and political considerations; Pedestrians behaviour in different situation of traffic, modelling and safety; Sustainable urban regeneration and public space; City and beach; Sustainability and the built environment; Sustainable energy and the city; The community and the city; Transportation; Urban conservation and regeneration; Urban development and management; Urban infrastructure; Urban metabolism; Urban planning and design; Urban safety and security; Urban strategies; Waterfront development.
A brand-new collection of 32 case studies that further demonstrate the retrofitting of suburbia This amply-illustrated book, second in a series, documents how defunct shopping malls, parking lots, and the past century’s other obsolete suburban development patterns are being retrofitted to address current urgent challenges they weren’t designed for: improving public health, increasing resilience in the face of climate change, leveraging social capital for equity, supporting an aging society, competing for jobs, and disrupting automobile dependence. Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges provides summaries, data, and references on how these challenges manifest in suburbia and discussion of successful urban design strategies to address them in Part I. Part II documents how innovative design strategies are implemented in a range of northern American contexts and market conditions. From modest interventions with big ripple effects to ambitious do-overs, examples of redevelopment, reinhabitation, and regreening of changing suburban places from coast to coast are described in depth in 32 brand new case studies. Written by the authors of the highly influential Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs Demonstrates changes that can and already have been realized in suburbia by focusing on case studies of retrofitted suburban places Illustrated in full-color with photos, maps, plans, and diagrams Full of replicable lessons and creative responses to ongoing problems and potentials with conventional suburban form, Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges is an important book for students and professionals involved in urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, development, civil engineering, public health, public policy, and governance. Most of all, it is intended as a useful guide for anyone who seeks to inspire revitalization, justice, and shared prosperity in places they know and care about.
This open access book outlines new concepts, development models, governance and implementation processes capable of addressing the challenges of transformative urban regeneration of cities at precinct scale.
Urban Regeneration — A Manifesto for transforming UK Cities in the Age of Climate Change explores and offers guidance on the complex process of how to transform cities, continuing the unfinished project of the seminal 1999 text Towards an Urban Renaissance. It is a 21st-century manifesto of urban principles compiled by a prominent urbanist, for the regeneration of UK cities, focusing on the characteristics of a ‘good place’ and the strategies of sustainable urbanism. It asks readers to consider how we can best transform the derelict, abandoned and run-down parts of cities back into places where people want to live, work and play. The book frames an architecture of re-use that translates and combines the complex ‘science of cities’ and the art of urban and architectural design into actionable and practical guidance on how to regenerate cities. Fascinated by the typology and value of the compact UK and European city model, Lehmann introduces the concept of ‘high density without high buildings’ as a solution that will make our cities compact, walkable, mixed-use and vibrant again.
The role of real estate in our cities is crucial to building sustainable and resilient urban futures. Smart Urban Regeneration brings together institutional, planning and real estate insights into an innovative regeneration framework for academics, students and property professionals. Starting by identifying key urban issues within the historical urban and planning backdrop, the book goes on to explore future visions, the role of institutions and key mechanisms for smart urban regeneration. Throughout the book, international case studies and discussion questions help to draw out global implications for urban stakeholders. Real estate professionals face a real challenge to build visionary developments which resonate locally yet mitigate climate change and curb sprawl, and foster biodiversity. By avoiding the dangers of speculative excess on one side and complacency on the other, Smart Urban Regeneration shows how transformation aspirations can be achieved sustainably. Academics, students and professionals who are involved in real estate, urban planning, property investment, community development and sustainability will find this book an essential guide to smart urban regeneration investment.
