This book examines the skyline as a space for radical urban politics. Focusing on the relationship between aesthetics and politics in London's tall-building boom, it develops a critique of the construction of more and more speculative towers as well as a critique of the claim that these buildings ruin the historic cityscape. Gassner argues that the new London skyline needs to be ruined instead and explores ruination as a political appropriation of the commodified and financialised cityscape. Aimed at academics and students in the fields of architecture, urban design, politics, urban geography, and sociology, Ruined Skylines engages with the work of Walter Benjamin and other critical and political theorists. It examines accounts of sometimes rebellious and often conservative groupings, including the City Beautiful movement, the English Townscape movement, and the Royal Fine Art Commission, and discusses tower developments in the City of London - 110 Bishopsgate, the Pinnacle, 22 Bishopsgate, 1 Undershaft, 122 Leadenhall, and 20 Fenchurch - in order to make a case for reanimating urban politics as an art of the possible.

Open Architecture for the People explores Japanese architecture and the three different phases of development between the years 1950 and 2018. Changing ways of life through differing generations have caused fluctuations in the building industry. This book demonstrates how each generation's expectations have resulted in discernible eras in architecture which can be examined collectively as well as in isolation. For example, the sudden increase in productivity from 1950 brought about by the Industrial Revolution flowed to the production of buildings and homes and designs were influenced by modern ideas. With over thirty black and white images to illustrate the changes, Matsumura brings to light architectural developments that have previously been confined to Japanese speaking academics. In doing so, the book broadens the scope for further architectural examinations internationally. It would be ideal for academics, students and professionals within the areas of architecture and urban planning, particularly those with an interest in Japanese architecture.

This volume draws together original research related to conceptual and practical advances at the interface of urban safety and peacebuilding. The book reflects the advances in urban safety and peacebuilding to help address the rapidly increasing risk of conflict and insecurity in cities. Specifically, it draws on contributions to the Technical Working Group on the Confluence of Urban Safety and Peacebuilding Practice, an informal expert network co-facilitated by the United Nations Office at Geneva, UN-Habitat's Safer Cities Programme, and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. A focus on 'sustaining peace' serves as a framework for situating new policy responses against conflict, violence, and exclusion in the city, and for promoting a conversation across disciplinary and specialist silos. The volume thereby broadens the optic of peacebuilding practice beyond interstate and intrastate armed conflicts - and especially their aftermath - and reconnects it to the community-level origins of building peace. The analysis and practice presented here will remind those willing to work towards peaceful and inclusive cities that there are tried and tested approaches available, and a host of experts and practitioners ready to accompany those prepared to lead in their respective contexts. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of peacebuilding, urban studies, security studies, and international relations.

Over half of the global population now lives in cities. This ongoing urbanisation is making it increasingly important to adequately manage urban systems and preserve urban environments. This book is the outcome of the 11th Urban Environment Symposium (UES) held on 16-19 September 2012 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The UES aims at providing a forum on the sciences and practices needed to promote a sustainable future in urban environments. Papers by leading experts are presented in sections on Urban Management and Spatial Planning, Green Cities and Urban Ecosystems, Urban Planning and Development, Air Quality and Noise, Urban Climate Change and Adaptation, and Contamination of Urban Waters and its Effects.

Shaping Terrain shows how the physical landscape and local ecology have influenced human settlement and built form in Latin America since pre-Columbian times. Most urban centers and capitals of Latin American countries are situated on or near dramatically varied terrain, and this book explores the interplay between built works and their geographies in various cities including Bogota, Caracas, Mendoza, Mexico D. F., Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, and Valparaiso. The multi-national contributors to Shaping Terrain have a broad range of professional experience as urbanists, historians, and architects, and many are globally renowned for their design work. They examine how humans negotiate with the existing environment and how the built form expresses that relationship. The result is a wide-ranging representation of the unique legacy of Latin America's urban heritage, which is a repository of possibilities for future cities.

The book focuses on the cities and urban policy systems analysed in the strategic (long-term) perspective. Due to this unique perspective, the book enables the multifactorial analysis of the conditions and mechanisms of creating the urban policy system in the Visegrad Group states and Ukraine. Undoubtedly, there is a lack of studies presenting the strategic approach to creating urban policy system discussed in the broad context of the transformations of the modern democratic state and, what is connected with it, through the prism of the processes of decentralization, Europeanization and regionalization. The monograph, in the intention of the editor and the team of authors, is to fill this undeniable gap.

This book provides insights on skills required to achieve success in smart cities from a variety of industry and human factors perspectives. It emphasizes the balance between learning skills, technical skills, and domain-specific skills in these industries, with special emphasis given to innovative software development models. The authors note that digital transformation requires complementary measures that are not overtly aimed to support infrastructure investment but are instead directed at promoting entrepreneurship, improving digital skills, engaging citizens, applying new transformation strategies, and developing innovative software. All of the above are considered strategically important, especially for medium-sized cities since that enable them to be more competitive in the global economy.

Originally published in 1980. A clear understanding of how radioactivity moves through the environment is essential to discussions on nuclear power. This book describes, in didactic rather than polemic style, the nature of radioactivity, how it arises in the day-to-day running of nuclear reactors, how and why a small fraction is introduced into the environment in a controlled manner, and on what basis judgements on these processes should be made.

Originally published in 1987. The Chernobyl disaster intensified the whole debate on the nuclear power industry. There was great public concern about the industry regulation, about the siting of nuclear facilities, including the dumping of nuclear waste, and about the alleged secretiveness of the industry. This book examines these and many other important aspects of the industry worldwide and provides much important original research. It focuses in particular on the political processes which control the industry, on waste disposal and on the social impact.

Originally published in 1983. The Indian nuclear power programme, both the earliest in the Third World and also one of the most comprehensive, is an important and instructive subject for a wide-ranging and detailed study. This book examines the origins and rationale of the Indian programme in the context of energy resources and consumption. It traces the progress of its historical development and leads up to an evaluation of its performance, in both technical and economic terms of both individual reactors and the programme as a whole. In addition, the book discusses India's nuclear explosion of 1974 and the possibilities for novel developments in nuclear power and other energy sources, such as coal, biogas, hydro and solar power. The author then sets the Indian programme into the world picture by comparing developments in India with those of the Third World (including developments in China and South Africa) and discusses the overall prospects for the Third World. This extremely informative account will appeal to readers with interest in energy, science, technology and Third World developments.

Originally published in 1984. This annotated bibliography will serve as a starting point for information on the issue of nuclear power. Arranged for easy use into three sections - Pro-Nuclear, Anti-Nuclear, and Neutral - the book cites over a hundred of the most important books on the subject, offering for each full bibliographic data and a lengthy annotation that is balanced and informative. This work, which features author, title and subject indexes, is simultaneously a collection-building tool, a guide for non-specialist library patrons and an invaluable aid for research.

Originally published in 1986. Nuclear power is now regarded as essential to survival in the twenty-first century. But the safety of nuclear power stations is a highly controversial topic, and where they will be sited is a most vital question. In this independent critique, based on four years of research, Stan Openshaw argues that reactor siting provides a simple means of offering additional, design-independent margins of safety. Reactor siting policies in the UK and USA are examined and it is suggested that UK siting practices need to be updated. The large number of potential alternative sites should be used to devise new planning strategies - strategies which will minimise both the residual health risks from accidents and the danger that a future change in public opinion might lead to calls for the closure of many existing sites on safety grounds.

This book examines the overlapping spaces in modern Western cities to explore the small-scale processes that shaped these cities between c.1750 and 1900. It highlights the ways in which time and space matter, framing individual actions and practices and their impact on larger urban processes. It draws on the original and detailed studies of cities in Europe and North America through a micro-geographical approach to unravel urban practices, experiences and representations at three different scales: the dwelling, the street and the neighbourhood. Part I explores the changing spatiality of housing, examining the complex and contingent relationship between public and private, and commercial and domestic, as well as the relationship between representations and lived experiences. Part II delves into the street as a thoroughfare, connecting the city, but also as a site of contestation over the control and character of urban spaces. Part III draws attention to the neighbourhood as a residential grouping and as a series of spaces connecting flows of people integrating the urban space. Drawing on a range of methodologies, from space syntax and axial analysis to detailed descriptions of individual buildings, this book blends spatial theory and ideas of place with micro-history. With its fresh perspectives on the Western city created through the built environment and the everyday actions of city dwellers, the book will interest historical geographers, urban historians and architects involved in planning of cities across Europe and North America.

Informality through Sustainability explores the phenomenon of informality within urban settlements and aims to unravel the subtle links between informal settlements and sustainability. Penetrating its global profile and considering urban informality through an understanding of local implications, the authors collectively reveal specific correlations between sites and their local inhabitants. The book opposes simplistic calls to legalise informal settlements or to view them as 'problems' to be solved. It comes at a time when common notions of 'informality' are being increasingly challenged. In 25 chapters, the book presents contributions from well-known scholars and practitioners whose theoretical or practical work addresses informality and sustainability at various levels, from city planning and urban design to public space and architectural education. Whilst previous studies on informal settlements have mainly focused on cases in developing countries, approaching the topic through social, cultural and material dimensions, the book explores the concept across a range of contexts, including former Communist countries and those in the so-called Global North. Contributions also explore understandings of informality at various scalar levels - region, precinct, neighbourhood and individual building. Thus, this work helps reposition informality as a relational concept at various scales of urbanisation. This book will be of great benefit to planners, architects, researchers and policymakers interested in the interplay between informality and sustainability.

Urban Sensographies views the human body as a highly nuanced sensor to explore how various performance-based methods can be implemented to gather usable 'felt data' about the environment of the city as the basis for creating embodied mappings. The contributors to this fascinating volume seek to draw conclusions about the constitution, character and morphology of urban space as public, habitable and sustainable by monitoring the reactions of the human body as a form of urban sensor. This co-authored book is centrally concerned, as a symptom of the degree to which cities are evolving in the 21st century, to examine the effects of this change on the practices and behaviours of urban dwellers. This takes into account such factors as: defensible, retail and consumer space; legacies of modernist design in the built environment; the effects of surveillance technologies, motorised traffic and smart phone use; the integration of 'wild' as well as 'domesticated' nature in urban planning and living; and the effects of urban pollution on the earth's climate. Drawing on three years of funded practical research carried out by a multi-medial team of researchers and artists, this book analyses the presence and movement of the human body in urban space, which is essential reading for academics and practitioners in the fields of dance, film, visual art, sound technology, digital media and performance studies.

The 21st century has been called the "century of the city." Unprecedented and uneven urban growth and expansion coupled with climate change have compounded concerns that current urbanization pathways are not sustainable. Calls for scholarship on urban sustainability among geographers cite strengths in both examining human-environment interactions and unravelling urbanization patterns and processes that positioned the discipline to make unique contributions to critical research needs. Geographic Perspectives on Urban Sustainability reflects on the contributions that geographers have made to urban sustainability scholarship on varied domains such as transportation, green infrastructure, and gentrification. Contributed chapters probe uniquely geographic perspectives on urban resilience, environmental justice, political ecology, and planning that arise from empirically integrating social and biophysical realms that arise from considering spatial dimensions of problems like scale- and place-based peculiarities of phenomena. This book will be of great value to scholars, students, and policymakers interested in Urban and City Planning, Political Ecology, and Sustainable Urbanism. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Urban Geography.

Originally published in 1981. Examining in detail the best evidence on the likely level of domestic and overseas demand for British coal over the following 20 years, this study raised questions about the declared development and investment strategy of the National Coal Board. It exposes a central dilemma facing both the management and the unions of the British coal industry consequent upon their commitment to production objectives substantially out of line with likely market opportunities. It also poses questions for government and the EEC regarding the industry's finances and market prospects. The study concludes that Britain is unlikely to need both the scale of investment proposed for the coal industry and the nuclear programme endorsed by both the government and the electricity supply industry. The author argues for a rigorous reinterpretation of the prospects and a revision of the plans of Western Europe's largest coal industry. This is a fascinating snapshot of a changing industry and is interesting to those in geography, economics and industrial management and anyone interested in energy.

Biophilic Urbanism provides readers with the tools to create more nature-based urban environments that are climate positive, sustainable, and healthy. The principles of biophilia are intended to support appreciation and direct engagement with nature, to responsibly utilize on-site natural resources, and to plan according to climatic conditions and local ecological processes. It seeks to create resilient and equitable human places capable of providing critical life-support functions and a strong sense of community, and to foster experiences that raise the human spirit creating a sense of awe. Twenty-five pattern attributes are defined and explored, each of which contributes to these goals. Because of the dire necessity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Biophilic Urbanism includes discussion of our need for connections, both to nature and one another, and the physical characteristics of cities and buildings relative to the contagious qualities of the air-borne virus. Case studies, found throughout the world, are presented illustrating detailed biophilic planning and design strategies. The book will be of use to practitioners and students in the fields of natural and social sciences, behavioral science and psychology, environmental engineering, health and wellness professionals, architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, and planning.

Imagine living in a city where people could move freely and buildings could be replaced at minimal cost. Reality cannot be further from such. Despite this imperfect world in which we live, urban planning has become integral and critical especially in the face of rapid urbanization in many developing and developed countries. This book introduces the axiomatic/experimental approach to urban planning and addresses the criticism of the lack of a theoretical foundation in urban planning. With the rise of the complexity movement, the book is timely in its depiction of cities as complex systems and explains why planning from within is useful in the face of urban complexity. It also includes policy implications for the Chinese cities in the context of axiomatic/experimental planning theory.

Activating Urban Waterfronts shows how urban waterfronts can be designed, managed and used in ways that can make them more inclusive, lively and sustainable. The book draws on detailed examination of a diversity of waterfronts from cities across Europe, Australia and Asia, illustrating the challenges of connecting these waterfront precincts to the surrounding city and examining how well they actually provide connection to water. The book challenges conventional large scale, long-term approaches to waterfront redevelopment, presenting a broad re-thinking of the formats and processes through which urban redevelopment can happen. It examines a range of actions that transform and activate urban spaces, including informal appropriations, temporary interventions, co-design, creative programming of uses, and adaptive redevelopment of waterfronts over time. It will be of interest to anyone involved in the development and management of waterfront precincts, including entrepreneurs, the creative industries, community organizations, and, most importantly, ordinary users.

This text on the origins and history of city planning in Australian cities covers the emergence of the Town Planning Movement, and planning from the nineteenth century through to the post-1980s period. Looking at the cities of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

What do economists know about land-and how they know? The Oxford Handbook of Land Economics describes the latest developments in the fields of economics that examine land, including natural resource economics, environmental economics, regional science, and urban economics. The handbook argues, first, that land is a theme that integrates these fields and second, that productive integration increasingly occurs not just within economics but also across disciplines. Greater recognition and integration stimulates cross-fertilization among the fields of land economics research. By providing a comprehensive survey of land-related work in several economics fields, this handbook provides the basic tools needed for economists to redefine the scope and focus of their work to better incorporate the contemporary thinking from other fields and to push out the frontiers of land economics. The first section presents recent advances in the analysis of major drivers of land use change, focusing on economic development and various land-use markets. The second section presents economic research on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of land use and land use change. The third section addresses six cutting-edge approaches for land economics research, including spatial econometric, simulation, and experimental methods. The section also includes a synthetic chapter critically reviewing methodological advances. The fourth section covers policy issues. Four chapters disentangle the economics of land conservation and preservation, while three chapters examine the economic analysis of the legal institutions of land use. These chapters focus on law and economic problems of permissible government control of land in the U.S. context.

This book delves into the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe to provide insight into how it facilitated the delivery of housing for low-income urban households. It highlights the politics of land reforms and the power of community engagement in housing development in urban areas. Prior to the FTLRP, the Zimbabwean governments had never embraced popular modes of housing production as key factors in urban development. In the area of low-income housing, informal housing schemes have always been treated with apathy and indifference. This left the conventional mode of housing production to be the only legitimate means to house low-income households despite its shortcomings. However, the onset of the FTLRP in 2000 resulted in homeless urban households grasping the opportunity to invade farms for housing development. Through the lenses of Marxism and Neoliberalism, this book analyses housing schemes that emerged and the overall impact of the FTLRP on housing and land delivery in Harare. This analysis is based on empirical evidence obtained from key informants and household surveys conducted in Harare. The authors argue that the FTLRP provided a platform for innovativeness by households, supported by the unpronounced national urban vision and prowess of the political leadership. Hence the success of these housing schemes can be measured by acquisition of land which guarantees households access to the city. However, some of these housing schemes pose challenges - key among them being lack of infrastructure. The book concludes by presenting a new model for effective delivery of land and housing for the urban poor. This is envisaged as a useful policy tool for urban planners, housing experts, land economists, urban and regional geographers, as well as sociologists, political scientists and social workers engaged in public administration of land and housing.

Combining elements of sustainable and resilient cities agendas, together with those from social justice studies, and incorporating concerns about good governance, transparency and accountability, the book presents a coherent conceptual framework for the ethical city, in which to embed existing and new activities within cities so as to guide local action. The authors' observations are derived from city-specific surveys and urban case studies. These reveal how progressive cities are promoting a diverse range of ethically informed approaches to urbanism, such as community wealth building, basic income initiatives, participatory budgeting and citizen assemblies. The text argues that the ethical city is a logical next step for critical urbanism in the era of late capitalism, characterised by divisive politics, burgeoning inequality, widespread technology-induced disruptions to every aspect of modern life and existential threats posed by climate change, sustainability imperatives and pandemics. Engaging with their communities in meaningful ways and promoting positive transformative change, ethical cities are well placed to deliver liveable and sustainable places for all, rather than only for wealthy elites. Likewise, the aftermath of shocks such as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic reveals that cities that are not purposeful in addressing inequalities, social problems, unsustainability and corruption face deepening difficulties. Readers from across physical and social sciences, humanities and arts, as well as across policy, business and civil society, will find that the application of ethical principles is key to the pursuit of socially inclusive urban futures and the potential for cities and their communities to emerge from or, at least, ameliorate a diverse range of local, national and global challenges.

Urban and regional planning programs aspire to prepare practitioners to write and implement comprehensive plans. Yet, academic planning programs often place greater emphasis on theory than practice. To help address this gap, Fundamentals of Plan Making gives planning students an understanding of research and methods of analysis that apply to comprehensive planning. Its informative text and examples will help students develop familiarity with various data sources and acquire the knowledge and ability to conduct basic planning analyses such as population projections, housing needs assessments, development impact analyses, and land-use plans. Students will also learn how to implement the various citizen participation methods used by planners and develop an appreciation of the values and roles of practicing planners. In this revised second edition, Edward Jepson and Jerry Weitz bring their extensive experience as practicing planners and teaching faculty to give planning students the practical, hands-on tools they need to create and implement real plans and policies. With an entirely new census data set, expanded discussions of sustainability and other topics, as well as new online resources-including a companion website-the book is now more accessible and more informative, and its updated chapters on transportation, housing, environment, economic development, and other core planning elements also make it a handy reference for planning practitioners.