Since 1945, North Americans have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on urban development, literally transforming the landscape of the continent. This development has been disastrous, Edmund Fowler maintains, because it is inordinately expensive, destructive of the environment, and disruptive of healthy social life and authentic politics. Revealing the connections between our basic cultural beliefs and why we build the way we do, he stresses that to build cities that work we must become aware of how our personal choices contribute to the form of the built environment.

For too long, cities have been thought of as environmental blackspots, with high levels of air and soil pollution, overcrowding, poor sanitation and growing waste disposal problems. This book takes a more positive attitude: cities can be made to work sustainably. Their high population density can work in the environment's favour if they can achieve efficient use of resources such as energy and water supplies, and improve transport and infrastructure. The best cities today are clean, resource efficient, green and pleasant, and not only act as cultural and entertainment centres, but also harbour great varieties of wildlife. Making Cities Work looks at the vital role which local authorities can - and must - play in safeguarding and developing our towns and cities. Their role is crucial, and the aim of the book is to make governments, international bodies and local authority associations aware of how potential environmental and social problems can be overcome, and what can be achieved. This book is being written by urban development experts, based on material supplied by the world's leading city associations. It is being edited by one of the world's most highly regarded cultural ecologists, and has been commissioned by UNHCS for the Habitat II conference. Clearly written, accessible, and fully illustrated throughout with photographs, figures and graphs, it is ideal for students, fascinating reading for the general public, and essential for those involved in local authorities, planning and development.

Renowned architect Eberhard Zeidler tells his story in a two-volume book that explores his early life in Germany and his years in Canada after he moved there in 1951. Architect of Toronto's Eaton Centre and Trump International Hotel and Tower, Zeidler has left his stamp on the urban landscape of Canada, the United States, and the rest of the world.

Making Cities Work brings together leading writers and scholars on urban America to offer critical perspectives on how to sustain prosperous, livable cities in today's fast-evolving economy. Successful cities provide jobs, quality schools, safe and clean neighborhoods, effective transportation, and welcoming spaces for all residents. But cities must be managed well if they are to remain attractive places to work, relax, and raise a family; otherwise residents, firms, and workers will leave and the social and economic advantages of city living will be lost. Drawing on cutting-edge research in the social sciences, the contributors explore optimal ways to manage the modern city and propose solutions to today's most pressing urban problems. Topics include the urban economy, transportation, housing and open space, immigration, race, the impacts of poverty on children, education, crime, and financing and managing services. The contributors show how to make cities work for diverse urban constituencies, and why we still need cities despite the many challenges they pose. Making Cities Work brings the latest findings in urban economics to policymakers, researchers, and students, as well as anyone interested in urban affairs. In addition to the editor, the contributors are David Card, Philip J. Cook, Janet Currie, Edward L. Glaeser, Joseph Gyourko, Richard J. Murnane, Witold Rybczynski, Kenneth A. Small, and Jacob L. Vigdor.

This report provides ground-breaking, internationally comparable data on economic growth, inequalities and well-being at the city level in OECD countries, and a framework for action, to help national and local governments reorient policies towards more inclusive growth in cities.

For the past 150 years, architecture has been a significant tool in the hands of city planners and leaders. In Creating Cities/Building Cities, Peter Karl Kresl and Daniele Ietri illustrate how these planners and leaders have utilized architecture to achieve a variety of aims, influencing the situation, perception and competitiveness of their cities.

This book is an outcome of the conference 'Urban Innovation: Working Solutions to the Problems of Human Settlement' held in 1977. It focuses on urban innovations as working alternatives that reflect an institutional capacity to adapt complex human systems in response to basic environmental change.