Most of the world’s population now live in cities, but despite wide agreement on the core values of sustainable societies, municipalities are so busy solving current problems, they don’t have the time or resources to plan effective action for sustainability. The Key to Sustainable Cities uses the principles of system dynamics to demonstrate how today’s problems were yesterday’s solutions. The book points to a new approach to city planning that builds on assets as a starting point for cities to develop healthy social, governance, economic, and environmental systems. Gwendolyn Hallsmith has worked to build sustainable communities for over twenty years as a municipal manager, a regional planning director, and with the Institute for Sustainable Communities. She lives in Marshfield, Vermont.

This title was first published in 2003. Seven years after Habitat II culminated with the Istanbul agreement on Sustainable Urban Development, this book brings together many of the world's leading experts from the fields of architecture, urban planning, economics, sociology, politics, environment and geography to assess the successes and failures in fulfilling the objectives decided upon at this historic meeting. Illustrated with a wide range of case studies, this volume is divided into three main sections; firstly examining the challenges, secondly, the approaches, and finally, the practices. The book represents a critical appraisal not only of the issues related to urban development but also of the modalities to face these issues from real examples, these in return can be used as starting points to construct new 'real utopias' or at least, to future 'best practices'.

This book emphasizes new ways of designing for a sustainable city and urban environment. From several angles the future of our urbanism is illuminated. From a philosophical point of view, the city is seen as an organism, following complex ecosystemic principles, shining light on indigenous perspectives to become beneficial for sustainable design and core questions are asked whether current architectural practice is really sustainable. Simultaneously concrete practices are presented for cities in transformation, focusing on green infrastructure, smart city principles and health.

This book focuses on the human and societal aspects of sustainable development. Three major perspectives are considered: governance and its influence on sustainable development; urban environments and their broader human and environmental impacts; and disaster management. Each of these elements is critical in considering the current and prospective development of societies towards a sustainable future in which human security is guaranteed. This 2-volume set discusses a wide range of topics concerning sustainability and human security in Asia, particularly South East Asia. The individual chapters have been contributed by authors from various fields, and due to the breadth of the material are separated into two thematic volumes.The set offers a valuable resource for professionals and researchers in the urban planning industry, postgraduates, policymakers, government officials and natural resources managers. In addition, it can be used in courses on Environmental Engineering, Agriculture and Forestry, Public Policy and Earth Science.

This book brings together the papers presented at the Smart and Sustainable Built Environments Conference, 2018 (SASBE).This latest research falls into two tracks: smart and sustainable design and planning cities; and the technicalities of smart and sustainable buildings. The growth of smart cities is evident, but not always linked to sustainability. This book gives an overview of the latest academic developments in increasing the smartness and sustainability of our cities and buildings. Aspects such as inclusivity, smart cities, place and space, the resilient city, urbanity and urban ecology are prominently featured in the design and planning part of the book; while energy, educational buildings, comfort, building design, construction and performance form the sub-themes of the technical part of the book. This book will appeal to urban designers, architects, urban planners, smart city designers and sustainable building experts.

This volume first puts our current moment in context, tracing cities in the arc of human history. It also examines the basic structural elements of every city: materials and fuels; people and economics; and biodiversity. In part two, professionals working on some of the world's most inventive urban sustainability projects share their first-hand experience. Success stories come from places as diverse as Ahmedabad, India; Freiburg, Germany; and Shanghai, China. In many cases, local people are acting to improve their cities, even when national efforts are stalled. Parts three and four examine cross-cutting issues that affect the success of all cities. Topics range from the nitty-gritty of handling waste and developing public transportation to civic participation and navigating dysfunctional government. Throughout, readers discover the most pressing challenges facing communities and the most promising solutions currently being developed. The result is a snapshot of cities today and a vision for global urban sustainability tomorrow.

This book is about the growth and future development of cities. Its collection of nine essays brings together a variegation of views and visions of how we might build sustaining cities into the 21st century, with one staying concern: a better tomorrow. The essays do not profess to provide answers but rather, alternative starting points for further explorations and reflections on the meaning of sustainable development for our cities.