Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities

by Timothy Beatley

Book Overview

As the need to confront unplanned growth increases, planners, policymakers, and citizens are scrambling for practical tools and examples of successful and workable approaches. Growth management initiatives are underway in the U.S. at all levels, but many American "success stories" provide only one piece of the puzzle. To find examples of a holistic approach to dealing with sprawl, one must turn to models outside of the United States.

In Green...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559636823
• ISBN13: 9781559636827
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Island Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

What exists is possible!

As a college student with a focus on planning and green design I found Timothy Beatley's book inspiring. So inspiring in fact that I am travelling to Europe this fall in search of solutions to urban issues of sustainability which can be used in the states. I agree with the reviewer who said that there are large differences in structure, funding and politics in Northern Europe but I strongly disagree with his dismissive assertion that those solutions are irrelevant or impossible in the United States. What exists is possible. Livable, walkable, sustainable cities are important for people everywhere and we should look for ideas anywhere we can get them. As for Beatley's "slanted" case studies, he includes at the end of each chapter examples of similar initiatives and programs in American cities. Personally I don't think the author is scolding American cities for not being progressive so much as offering examples of what is possible. Are we capable of "Learning From European Cities?" Absolutely. Can they be adapted to the realities of American cities? Of course.

Ample introduction on how to make cities "Green"

Beatley shows there is much to learn from the Europeans when it come to the ecological and environmental city planning. Although it would be hard to implement European planning practices on American soil, it brings a new, and beneficial perspective that many can use towards an incremental change.