The Green City: Sustainable Homes, Sustainable Suburbs

A team of city-building professionals explain in straightforward terms how the idea of ecological sustainability can be embodied in the everyday life of homes, communities and cities to make a better future. The book considers - and answers - three questions: What does the global agenda of sustainable development mean for the urban spaces where most people live, work and move? Can we keep what we love about suburban life and still save the environment? And what new methods of planning and building will be needed in the 21st century? Rejecting both economic and environmental orthodoxy, the book's essential message is that the sustainable city can be built by a thousand well-directed small changes. It draws on practical case material from around the world and weaves together four critical aspects of urban life: housing, open space, workplaces and transport. A 'photographic essay' of 32 colour plates illustrates the ideas discussed.

Table of Contents:
Authors Acknowledgments 1. What does sustainability mean for cities? 2. Sustainable homes and suburbs 3. Nature in the city 4. Sustainable workplaces 5. Sustainable transport 6. Making the green city 7. Green-shaded cities Notes and references Index

About the Author :
Nicholas Low is Associate Professor of Environmental Planning at the University of Melbourne and the author or editor of eight books. Low is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Planning Institute and a member of the editorial board of four international journals in planning and environment. He is currently researching transport institutions and policy in Australia. Brendan Gleeson is Professor of Urban 'Policy and Management at Griffith University, Brisbane. His research interests include urban planning and governance, urban social policy, disability studies, and environmental theory and policy. He is co-author and co-editor with Nicholas Low of a variety of books on urban planning, environmental policy and transport issues. Gleeson has worked professionally in many countries, including the UK, Germany, New Zealand, the USA and Australia. Dr Ray Green is a landscape architect, environmental planner and Head of Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne. He has also practised professionally as a landscape architect in the Untied States, Mexico, Australia and Southeast Asia. Dr Darko Radovic has taught, researched and practised architecture and urban design in Europe, Australia and Asia. He heads the Masters of Urban Design Program at the University of Melbourne.

Review :
'There is much in the polemics of this book to sympathise with and much in the examples of sustainable practice to admire.' - Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 'The authors make a strong commitment to the perspective of the citizen, the result is a very refreshing analysis and prescription.' - Urban Studies, Volume 43, No 10 'There is much in the polemics of this book to sympathise with and much in the examples of sustainable practice to admire.' - Nicholas A. Phelps, Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2006