The last twenty years have witnessed an important movement in the aspirations of public policy beyond meeting merely material goals towards a range of outcomes captured through the use of the term 'wellbeing'. Nonetheless, the concept of wellbeing is itself ill-defined, a term used in multiple different contexts with different meanings and policy implications. Bringing together a range of perspectives, this volume examines the intersections of wellbeing and place, including immediate applied policy concerns as well as more critical academic engagements. . Conceptualisations of place, context and settings have come under critical examination, and more nuanced and varied understandings are drawn out from both academic and policy-related research. Whilst quantitative and some policy approaches treat place as a static backdrop or context, others explore the interrelationships of emotional, social, cultural and experiential meanings that are both shape place and are shaped in place. Similarly, wellbeing may be understood as a relatively stable and measurable entity or as a more situation-dependent and relational effect. The book is structured into two sections: essays that explore the dynamics that determine wellbeing in relation to place and essays that explore contested understandings of wellbeing both empirically and theoretically.

Originally published in 1992, this book discusses a contemporary growth in environmental awareness, reflected in an increasing concern about the pollution caused by motor cars.The author considers the problem of congestion bringing traffic to a halt in the major cities and the increasingly controversial nature of contemporary transport planning. Professor Dimitriou provides a thorough and incisive contemporary analysis and suggests some appropriate solutions for the future.

Traditional studies of the property market have tended to focus solely on commercial and legal issues, but the growing importance of the issue of sustainability means that a different approach is needed.

This new textbook provides an overview of property within a market context, examining the complex nature of property rights and issues related to both investors and occupiers. At the same time it assesses property from the perspective of financial, social and environment sustainability. Topics covered range from the characteristics of property and depreciation, to ownership and development through to investments and sustainability reporting. The book concludes with key skills in sustainable knowledge needed by those working in the real estate industry.

Written by an author team of experienced property professionals, this essential introductory textbook is well suited for property, planning and architecture students on undergraduate, graduate and conversion courses, as well as those on CPD and training programmes in related areas.

English Regional Planning 2000-2010 chronicles a vital feature of recent UK planning activity, during the period of the Blair and Brown Labour governments up to 2010. It deals particularly with the regional scale of planning during these years, whereby large steps forward were made, but where policy making often proved very controversial. One purpose of the book is to learn from the many areas of policy development, method and skills which evolved during the decade up to 2010. This will mean that a future return to strategic planning should not have to reinvent the wheel. This book also helps to inform such planning in the rest of the developed world where higher-level planning is more prevalent.

The book has eight chapters written by experts active in English regional planning during these years, alongside two chapters by the editors introducing and concluding on the experience as a whole. Thematic topics covered include the way in which housing and employment development was tackled in the varying English regional contexts, and the growing influence of transport and environmental factors on the spatial strategy. Process elements covered include how policy was made through public consultation and working with numerous stakeholders (economic, social, environmental), how the public examination of issues was organised, followed by final consideration by central government, and how monitoring informed the next policy review.

The authors do not gloss over the difficulties encountered in the highly contested world of English local and regional politics, or the ways in which central government management of the regional planning process made life on the ground difficult for those engaged in the process. Nevertheless the account as a whole shows how a wealth of innovative and forward looking practices were developed. This multi-faceted study contributes to the understanding of how strategic planning can provide the framework for guiding spatial change and allocating resources, looking to a long-term sustainable future.

The East and Southeast Asia region constitutes the world 's most compelling theatre of accelerated globalization and industrial restructuring. Following a spectacular realization of the industrialization paradigm and a period of services-led growth, the early twenty-first century economic landscape among leading Asian states now comprises a burgeoning New Economy spectrum of the most advanced industrial trajectories, including finance, the knowledge economy and the new cultural economy . In an agenda-setting volume, New Economic Spaces in Asian Cities draws on stimulating research conducted by a new generation of urban scholars to generate critical analysis and theoretical insights on the New Economy phenomenon within Asia.

New industry formation and the transformation of older economic practices constitute instruments of development, as well as signifiers of larger processes of change, expressed in the reproduction of space in the city. Asia 's major cities become the key staging areas for the New Economy, driven by the growing wealth of an urban middle and professional class, higher education institutions, city-based inter-regional movements and urban mega-projects. New Economic Spaces in Asian Cites animates this New Economy discourse by means of vibrant storylines of instructive cities and sites, including cases studies situated in cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Singapore. Theoretical and normative issues associated with the emergence of the new cultural economy are the subject of the book 's context-setting chapters, and each case study presents an evocative narrative of development interdependencies and exemplary outcomes on the ground.

New Economic Spaces in Asian Cities offers a vivid contribution to our understanding of the ongoing transformation of Asia 's urban system, including the critical intersections of global and local-regional dynamics in processes of new industry formation and the relayering of space in the Asian metropolis. The synthesis of empirical profiles, normative insights, and theoretical reference points enhances the book 's interest for scholars and students in fields of Asian studies, urban and cultural studies, and urban and economic geography, as well as for policy specialists and urban/community planners.

Charting the development of the travel plan as a concept, this book draws on a range of research-based contributions to determine the state-of-the-art and to explore a series of future scenarios in this area for practitioners and policy makers. Site-based mobility management or 'travel plans' address the transport problem by engaging with those organisations such as employers that are directly responsible for generating the demand for travel, and hence have the potential to have a major impact on transport policy. To do this effectively however, travel plans need to be reoriented to be made more relevant to the needs of these organisations, whilst the policy framework in which they operate needs modifying to better support their diffusion and enhance their effectiveness. Marcus Enoch breaks down the travel plan concept into four axes related to its development (namely segment, scale, structure and support), and investigates the following questions: - What makes them special? - Why are they introduced? - What do they look like in terms of their design and the measures they use? - How common are they and in what sectors and location types? - How effective are they? - What barriers do they face and how might these be overcome?

The value of design for contributing to environmental solutions and a sustainable future is increasingly recognised. It spans many spheres of everyday life, and the ethical dimension of design practice that considers environmental, social and economic sustainability is compelling. Approaches to design recognise design as a practice that can transform human experience and understanding, expanding its role beyond stylistic enhancement. The traditional roles of design, designer and designed object are therefore redefined through new understanding of the relationship between the material and immaterial aspects of design where the design product and the design process are embodiments of ideas, values and beliefs. This multi-disciplinary approach considers how to create design which is at once aesthetically pleasing and also ethically considered, with contributions from fields as diverse as architecture, fashion, urban design and philosophy. The authors also address how to teach design based subjects while instilling a desire in the student to develop ethical work practices, both inside and outside the studio.

Japanese cities are amongst the most intriguing and confounding anywhere. Their structures, patterns of building and broader visual characteristics defy conventional urban design theories, and the book explores why this is so. Like its cities, Japan s written language is recognized as one of the most complicated, and the book is unique in revealing how the two are closely related. Set perceptively against a sweep of ideas drawn from history, geography, science, cultural and design theory, Learning from the Japanese City is a highly original exploration of contemporary urbanism that crosses disciplines, scales, time and space.

This is a thoroughly revised and much extended version of a book that drew extensive praise in its first edition. Most parts have stood the test of time and remain. A few are replaced or removed; about a hundred figures appear for the first time. Most important is an entirely new (sixth) section. This brings together many of the urban characteristics, otherwise encountered in fragments through the book, in one walkable district of what is arguably Japan s most convenient metropolis, Nagoya.

The interplay between culture, built form and cities remains at the heart of this highly readable book, while a change in subtitle to Looking East in Urban Design reflects increased emphasis on real places and design implications.

The Art of City Sketching: A Field Manual guides readers through the process of freehand architectural sketching and explains orthographic, diagrammatic, three-dimensional, and perceptual-type drawings. The book presents hundreds of drawings of historic buildings and urban spaces, examples, and exercises, which help readers develop their drawing skills and employ sketching as an analytical tool. The book is divided into three parts, based on the reader's skill level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. As an architect and field sketching instructor, the author shows that through drawing the reader can discover, analyze, and comprehend the built environment. The new edition of The Art of City Sketching expands on the drawing techniques of the previous version by adding new drawing examples, exercises, and two new chapters-Chiaroscuro and Storyboard. New drawing tips, demonstrations, and composition "do's and don'ts" will support readers when they illustrate their viewpoint of the city by using simple drawing tools. The lessons in this book will allow readers to mix method with imagination and sensibility.

Most of the professional training, thinking and strategies of architects, urban designers and planners, are strictly three-dimensional. In reality of course the city is four dimensional, and one needs to acknowledge the influence of time in planning and design strategies. Similarly, there has been relatively little analysis of the importance of interim, short-term or meanwhile activities in urban areas. In an era of increasing pressure on scarce resources, we cannot wait for long-term solutions to vacancy or dereliction. Instead, we need to view temporary uses as increasingly legitimate and important in their own right. They can be a powerful tool through which we can drip-feed initiatives for incremental change as and when we have the resources while being guided by a loose-fit vision.

Peter Bishop and Lesley Williams explore the growing interest among practitioners at the cutting edge of architecture, urban design and regeneration, in temporary, interim, pop-up or meanwhile uses for land and buildings in our urban areas. They explore the origins and the social, economic and technological drivers behind this phenomenon, and its place within modern planning theory and practice. The Temporary City challenges our preoccupation with long-term strategies and masterplans and questions our ability to achieve these in the face of increasing resource constraints and political and economic uncertainty. The book includes sixty-eight diverse case studies from Europe and North America which illustrate the range of temporary use opportunities and the benefits that these can bring.

This is essential reading for all those struggling to address the current problems of urban renewal in an era of great change. It offers a prism through which to view the city as a rich mosaic of time-limited, but inspiring urban interventions."

Innate Terrain addresses the varied perceptions of Canada’s natural terrain, framing the discussion in the context of landscapes designed by Canadian landscape architects. This edited collection draws on contemporary works to theorize a distinct approach practiced by Canadian landscape architects from across the country. The essays – authored by Canadian scholars and practitioners, some of whom are Indigenous or have worked closely with Indigenous communities – are united by the argument that Canadian landscape architecture is intrinsically linked to the innate qualities of the surrounding terrain. Beautifully illustrated, Innate Terrain aims to capture distinct regional qualities that are rooted in the broader context of the Canadian landscape.

Geography Speaks is an investigation of how geography is informed by speech act theory and performativity. Starting with a critical analysis of how J.L. Austin's speech act theory probed the permeability between fact and fiction, it then assesses oppositional interpretations by John Searle and Jacques Derrida, and in doing so, it explores the fictional aspects within scientific knowledge. The book then focuses on five key aspects of the geographical discipline and analyses them using the theories of speech acts and performance: the performative aspects of the creation of place; speech act performances and geopolitics; acts of cartographical construction as variations of speech act performance; the performative aspects of the creation of public and private space, and, finally; the history of the discipline as a sequence of performative acts that attempt to establish geography as being constitutive of this or that type of disciplinary method or scientific viewpoint. Geography Speaks is an interdisciplinary text with a distinct and clear focus on cultural geography while also synthesizing into geography ideas germane to historiography, the philosophy of language, the history of science, and comparative literature.

This book considers urban development in China, highlighting links between China's history and civilization and the rapid evolution of its urban forms. It explores the early days of urban dwelling in China, progressing to an analysis of residential environments in the industrial age. It also examines China's modern and postmodern architecture, considered as derivative or lacking spiritual meaning or personality, and showcases how China's traditional culture underpins the emergence of China's modern cities. Focusing on the notion of "courtyard spirit" in China, it offers a study of the urban public squares central to Chinese society, and examines the disruption of the traditional Square model and the rise and growth of new architectural models.

Contrary to accepted wisdom, rapid urban growth can leave communities permanently scarred, deeply in debt, with unaffordable housing, a lost sense of community, and sacrificed environmental quality. In Better NOT Bigger, Fodor explodes the fundamental myth that growth is good for us and that more development will bring in more tax money, add jobs, lower housing costs, and reduce property taxes. Lively and well-illustrated, Better NOT Bigger provides insights, ideas, and tools to empower citizens to switch off their local "growth machine" by debunking the pro-growth rhetoric. Highly accessible to ordinary citizens as well as professional planners. Better NOT Bigger has been made available through New Catalyst Books. New Catalyst Books is an imprint of New Society Publishers, aimed at providing readers with access to a wider range of books dealing with sustainability issues by bringing books back into print that have enduring value in the field. For more information on New Catalyst Books click here.

Product information not available.

For nearly a century the Garden City movement has represented one end of a continuum in an ongoing debate about the future of the modern city. In 1898 Ebenezer Howard envisioned an experimental community as the alternative to huge, teeming cities. Small, planned "garden cities" girdled by greenbelts were to serve in time as the "master key" to a higher, more cooperative stage of civilization based on ecologically balanced communities. Howard soon founded an international planning movement which ever since has represented a remarkable blend of accommodation to and protest against urban changes and the rise of the suburbs. In this interconnected history of the Garden City movement in the United States and Britain, Buder examines its influence, strengths and limitations. Howard's garden city, he shows, joined together two very different types of late-nineteenth-century experimental communities, creating a tension never fully resolved. One approach, utopian and radical in nature, challenged conventional values; the other, the model industrial towns of "enlightened" capitalists, reinforceed them. Buder traces this tension through planning history from the nineteenth-century world of visionaries, philanthropy, and self help into our own with its reliance on the expert, bureaucracy, and governmental policy, shedding light on the complex changes in the way we have thought in the twentieth century about community, urban design, and indeed the process of change. His final chapters examine the world-wide enthusiasm for "New Towns" between 1945-1975 and recent political and social trends which challenge many fundamental assumptions of modern planning.

Architects, landscape designers, builders, gardeners and teachers have all at some time been called upon to design a play area. Unfortunately, this diversity has not resulted in a similar diversity of design solutions for this very problematic task. Despite a proliferation of 'how to' books on this subject, playgrounds have remained virtually the same throughout the world since their creation over a century ago. This is not a 'how to' design book. Instead, based on thirty years' experience as a specialist play area designer, Barbara Hendricks details a radically new approach, applying cutting-edge thinking from child development and child psychology to find innovative design solutions, challenging the established notions of play provision. Covering key sociological, public policy, environmental and design issues, this book provides designers with an exploration of and guide to, designing from a 'child's eye' view of the world. Beautifully crafted and copiously illustrated with numerous examples of recently designed playgrounds, this book is not only stimulating and informative, but fun to read and seriously playful in itself. This second edition brings the text up to date from 2001 to 2010 with added discussion about new ideas for play area designs and what has not worked in the past decade.

Understanding Cities is richly textured, complex and challenging. It creates the vital link between urban design theory and praxis and opens the required methodological gateway to a new and unified field of urban design. Using spatial political economy as his most important reference point, Cuthbert both interrogates and challenges mainstream urban design and provides an alternative and viable comprehensive framework for a new synthesis.

He rejects the idea of yet another theory in urban design, and chooses instead to construct the necessary intellectual and conceptual scaffolding for what he terms 'The New Urban Design'. Building both on Michel de Certeau's concept of heterology - 'thinking about thinking' - and on the framework of his previous books Designing Cities and The Form of Cities, Cuthbert uses his prior adopted framework - history, philosophy, politics, culture, gender, environment, aesthetics, typologies and pragmatics - to create three integrated texts.

Overall, the trilogy allows a new field of urban design to emerge. Pre-existing and new knowledge are integrated across all three volumes, of which Understanding Cities is the culminating text.

Spatial planning is a process. The focus of this book is on the sequence of key tasks that constitute the process and on special techniques that are suitable to conduct these tasks. Spatial planners require a number of skills to manage this process in an efficient manner, select the necessary tasks for each specific planning context, as well as the appropriate techniques for each task always considering the people with whom and for whom they plan.

Rather than recommending options, or recipes, this book stimulates critical thinking and questioning: What do we want to achieve? How can we do that? What options do we have? Which option is the best for our case? This book contains enough planning theory to discuss the function of the planner and the alternative approaches, as well as to provide the background for defining a core set of planning tasks.

Building Competences for Spatial Planners is ideal for both planning students and newly qualified planners who are rapidly accumulating knowledge and experience. Perdicoulis uses practice examples, diagrams and thought provoking chapter questions to help planners develop high-level skills such as efficient organisation, communication and thinking. His engaging style carries the reader through areas such as team functions, how to define the planning problem, organising timings and how to use charts and diagrams to help planners and their clients.

More details at http: //www.tasso.utad.pt/

Spatial planning is a process. The focus of this book is on the sequence of key tasks that constitute the process and on special techniques that are suitable to conduct these tasks. Spatial planners require a number of skills to manage this process in an efficient manner, select the necessary tasks for each specific planning context, as well as the appropriate techniques for each task always considering the people with whom and for whom they plan.

Rather than recommending options, or recipes, this book stimulates critical thinking and questioning: What do we want to achieve? How can we do that? What options do we have? Which option is the best for our case? This book contains enough planning theory to discuss the function of the planner and the alternative approaches, as well as to provide the background for defining a core set of planning tasks.

Building Competences for Spatial Planners is ideal for both planning students and newly qualified planners who are rapidly accumulating knowledge and experience. Perdicoulis uses practice examples, diagrams and thought provoking chapter questions to help planners develop high-level skills such as efficient organization, communication and thinking. His engaging style carries the reader through areas such as team functions, how to define the planning problem, organizing timings and how to use charts and diagrams to help planners and their clients.

More details at http: www.tasso.utad.pt

Architecture is a Verb outlines an approach that shifts the fundamental premises of architectural design and practice in several important ways. First, it acknowledges the centrality of the human organism as an active participant interdependent in its environment. Second, it understands human action in terms of radical embodiment-grounding the range of human activities traditionally attributed to mind and cognition: imagining, thinking, remembering-in the body. Third, it asks what a building does-that is, extends the performative functional interpretation of design to interrogate how buildings move and in turn move us, how they shape thought and action. Finally, it is committed to articulating concrete situations by developing a taxonomy of human/building interactions. Written in engaging prose for students of architecture, interiors and urban design, as well as practicing professionals, Sarah Robinson offers richly illustrated practical examples for a new generation of designers.

Presenting diverse case studies of contemporary sustainable urban practice from Europe, Africa, India, South America, the USA and Australia, this book offers the reader a fantastic wealth of practical material from a range of internationally renowned authors.

Each practical case study has addressed issues and then offered solutions to implement sustainable cities across a range of urban scales and cultures. Urgent design challenges explored include population density, recreating infrastructure that supports carbon neutral or low carbon (emission) intensive urban activities, and retrofitting for sustainability.

Highly illustrated, thematically focused and with superb global coverage, this book presents a multi-voiced and yet highly cohesive reference for anyone interested in green issues in urban design and architecture.

This book highlights radical urban transformation in eight cities spread across continental Europe. The point of departure, and the foundation of European urbanisation, is the Roman colonial town. In every case social dynamics guided the urban transitions in a traceable way, such that it has been possible to deduce the intellectual underpinnings of the contemporary built environments, as featured in these pages. Differing contexts of time and place show the overarching march of European history and related themes at the urban level. Fundamental changes are brought to light. Each story demonstrates a separate and fundamental transition, ranging from earlier collective configurations to the more institutionalised structures of later periods.

Presenting diverse case studies of contemporary sustainable urban practice from Europe, Africa, India, South America, the USA and Australia, this book offers the reader a fantastic wealth of practical material from a range of internationally renowned authors.

Each practical case study has addressed issues and then offered solutions to implement sustainable cities across a range of urban scales and cultures. Urgent design challenges explored include population density, recreating infrastructure that supports carbon neutral or low carbon (emission) intensive urban activities, and retrofitting for sustainability.

Highly illustrated, thematically focused and with superb global coverage, this book presents a multi-voiced and yet highly cohesive reference for anyone interested in green issues in urban design and architecture.

In recent years there has been a growing focus on urban and environmental studies, and the skills and techniques needed to address the wider challenges of how to create sustainable communities. Central to that demand is the increasing urgency of addressing the issue of urban decline, and the response has almost always been to pursue growth policies to attempt to reverse that decline. The track record of growth policies has been mixed at best.

Until the first decade of the twenty-first century decline was assumed to be an issue only for former industrial cities the so-called Rust Belt. But the sudden reversal in growth in the major cities of the American Sunbelt has shown that urban decline can be a much wider issue. Justin Hollander 's research into urban decline in both the Sun and Rust Belts draws lessons planners and policy makers that can be applied universally.

Hollander addresses the reasons and statistics behind these "shrinking cities" with a positive outlook, arguing that growth for growth 's sake is not beneficial for communities, suggesting instead that urban development could be achieved through shrinkage. Case studies on Phoenix, Flint, Orlando and Fresno support the argument, and Hollander delves into the numbers, literature and individual lives affected and how they have changed in response to the declining regions.

Written for urban scholars and to suit a wide range of courses focused on contemporary urban studies, this text forms a base for all study on shrinking cities for professionals, academics and students in urban design, planning, public administration and sociology.