Overview
People who live in compact, traditional towns have far smaller environmental footprints than those who live in sprawling suburbs. So why are we in thrall to urban sprawl? Are there better ways of getting about than by car? And how can 60 million people crammed into a small island find ways of treating it with respect? Urban sprawl is unsustainable in an age of climate change and peak oil. But for 100 years the UK's planning policies have been based on ideals of low-density living and attitudes that favour the individual over community, creating car-dependent lifestyles and destroying the countryside we love. This book explains what we must do to improve the quality of life in our overcrowded land. Smart Growth argues that we should look to America - a country that embraced urban sprawl and car dependency on a far grander scale than we ever did, and is now finding answers to the problem. Its 'Smart Growth' movement is steering a course towards better-designed, compact cities and rail-based transit systems, thereby restoring communities ruined by decades of suburban insularity.
Full Product Details
Author: Jon Reeds
Publisher: Green Books
Imprint: Green Books
Edition: 1st
Volume: 3
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.10cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.585kg
ISBN: 9781900322829
ISBN 10: 190032282
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 25 February 2011
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Jon Reed's book lays bare the ghastliness of the sprawling development that has destroyed our cities, communities and much countryside, but is ultimately hopeful in charting a way to a better future through application of the principles of 'smart growth Lynn Sloman - author of Car Sick Reeds' acccount shows him to be knowledgeable, passionate, irreverent and, at times, exasperated about the state of our settlements. Smart Growth is required reading for anyone who cares about the future of land use planning in the UK. Rebecca Willis - Vice Chair, Sustainable Development Commission i ? Jon Reeds sets out clearly the roots of car-dependent urban sprawl and charts a way out of it. This book should be read by anyone interested in practical ways to tackle climate change and car dependency. Stephen Joseph - Chief Executive, Campaign for Better Transport. i ?
Jon Reed's book lays bare the ghastliness of the sprawling development that has destroyed our cities, communities and much countryside, but is ultimately hopeful in charting a way to a better future through application of the principles of 'smart growth Lynn Sloman - author of Car Sick
Jon Reed's book lays bare the ghastliness of the sprawling development that has destroyed our cities, communities and much countryside, but is ultimately hopeful in charting a way to a better future through application of the principles of 'smart growth Lynn Sloman - author of Car Sick Reeds' acccount shows him to be knowledgeable, passionate, irreverent and, at times, exasperated about the state of our settlements. Smart Growth is required reading for anyone who cares about the future of land use planning in the UK. Rebecca Willis - Vice Chair, Sustainable Development Commission i ? Jon Reeds sets out clearly the roots of car-dependent urban sprawl and charts a way out of it. This book should be read by anyone interested in practical ways to tackle climate change and car dependency. Stephen Joseph - Chief Executive, Campaign for Better Transport. i ? It's both a great modern history of the British Landscape, and a handbook of good ideas for it's future development. It should be on the reading list for every planner in the country. Make Wealth History - April 2011 Reeds is a zealous advocate for limiting car use, sprawl and Tesco; promoting localism, land re-use and dense city developments; and encouraging walking, cycling and something called 'functional communities'. The Architectual Review - May 2011
Author Information
Jon Reeds is a long-established environmental journalist currently specialising in planning and regeneration. With a career spanning local government, specialist magazines and freelance writing, he has worked alongside and written about planners and transport planners for nearly 40 years, long enough to observe the emergence of modern environmentalism and their very mixed response to its demands. He has been involved with both local civic societies and national environmental groups. In 2006 he helped found Smart Growth UK, a national coalition engaged in promoting Smart Growth principles as a way of bringing a strong sustainable development ethos into the way we plan spatial development, transport and communities. He has convened its Steering Group and this book derives in part from its work and partly from his own experiences. He lives in London with his family.
