Triumph of the City

Triumph of the City
Author: Edward Glaeser
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2012-01-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0143120549

Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Best Book of the Year Award in 2011 “A masterpiece.” —Steven D. Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics “Bursting with insights.” —The New York Times Book Review A pioneering urban economist presents a myth-shattering look at the majesty and greatness of cities America is an urban nation, yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, environmentally unfriendly . . . or are they? In this revelatory book, Edward Glaeser, a leading urban economist, declares that cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in both cultural and economic terms) places to live. He travels through history and around the globe to reveal the hidden workings of cities and how they bring out the best in humankind. Using intrepid reportage, keen analysis, and cogent argument, Glaeser makes an urgent, eloquent case for the city's importance and splendor, offering inspiring proof that the city is humanity's greatest creation and our best hope for the future.

Driving and the Built Environment

Driving and the Built Environment
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2010-01-25
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 030915054X

TRB Special Report 298: Driving and the Built Environment: Effects of Compact Development on Motorized Travel, Energy Use, and CO2 Emissions examines the relationship between land development patterns and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States to assess whether petroleum use, and by extension greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, could be reduced by changes in the design of development patterns. The report estimates the contributions that changes in residential and mixed-use development patterns and transit investments could make in reducing VMT by 2030 and 2050, and the impact this could have in meeting future transportation-related GHG reduction goals.

Climate Adaptation and Resilience Across Scales

Climate Adaptation and Resilience Across Scales
Author: Nicholas B. Rajkovich
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2021-11-15
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1000470997

Climate Adaptation and Resilience Across Scales provides professionals with guidance on adapting the built environment to a changing climate. This edited volume brings together practitioners and researchers to discuss climate-related resilience from the building to the city scale. This book highlights North American cases that deal with issues such as climate projections, public health, adaptive capacity of vulnerable populations, and design interventions for floodplains, making the content applicable to many locations around the world. The contributors in this book discuss topics ranging from how built environment professionals respond to a changing climate, to how the building stock may need to adapt to climate change, to how resilience is currently being addressed in the design, construction, and operations communities. The purpose of this book is to provide a better understanding of climate change impacts, vulnerability, and resilience across scales of the built environment. Architects, urban designers, planners, landscape architects, and engineers will find this a useful resource for adapting buildings and cities to a changing climate.

Spatial Modeling and Assessment of Urban Form

Spatial Modeling and Assessment of Urban Form
Author: Biswajeet Pradhan
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2017-05-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319542176

This book discusses the application of Geospatial data, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technologies in analysis and modeling of urban growth process, and its pattern, with special focus on sprawl and compact form of urban development. The book explains these two kinds of urban forms (sprawl and compact urban development) in detail regarding their advantages, disadvantages, indicators, assessment, modeling, implementation and their relationship with urban sustainability. It confirms that the proposed modeling approaches, geospatial data and GIS are very practical for identifying urban growth, land use change patterns and their general trends in future. The analyses and modeling approaches presented in this book can be employed to guide the identification and measurements of the changes and growth likely to happen in urban areas. In addition, this book can be helpful for town planning and development in order to design urban areas in a compact form and eventually sustainable manner.