Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area, Urban Ecology,
Oakland, CA, 1996. An extensively illustrated look at how the San Francisco Bay
Area can become more sustainable, written for a popular audience.
Ecological Design, by Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan,
Island Press, Washington, D.C., 1995 (reviewed in 1996 #1). An elegant,
theoretical look at principles of ecological design, as applied in settings
such as sewage treatment marshes, industrial ecosystems, and ecological
buildings.
The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken, Harper-Collins, New
York, 1993 (reviewed Winter 1994). A visionary work looking at how economics
can be retooled to support the restoration of natural systems. Discusses
specific mechanisms such as green taxes, and provides a theoretical overview of
“sustainable businesses.”
End of the Road: The World Car Crisis and How We Can Solve
It, by Wolfgang Zuckerman, Chelsea Green Publishing, Post Mills, VT, 1991
(reviewed Spring 1993). Dealing with the growth of automobile use is one of the
biggest challenges of sustainable urban development, and this entertaining book
systematically lists steps to end the “car crisis.”
The GAIA Atlas of Cities: New Directions in Sustainable
Urban Living, by Herbert Girardet, Anchor Books/Doubleday, New York, 1992
(reviewed Spring 1992). A beautifully illustrated popular overview of urban
history, problems and futures, with emphasis on developing world megacities.
The book’s final section, “Healing the City,” summarizes themes such as urban
greening, energy efficiency, recycling, alternative transport, and traffic
calming.
Green Plans: Greenprint for Sustainability, by Huey D.
Johnson, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1995. A look at how national
green plans can set the stage for sustainable development, with examples from
The Netherlands, Canada, and New Zealand.
Making Development Sustainable: Redefining Institutions,
Policy, and Economics, edited by Johan Holmberg, Island Press, Washington,
D.C., 1992. A reader covering topics such as public institutions, public
participation, environmental economics, sustainable agriculture, and industry.
Contains a good chapter on “The Future City.”
Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on Earth, by
William Rees, New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, 1996 (reviewed in 1997 #I).
A popular book with catchy illustrations in which the author presents a
“footprint” model for determining how much land area is required to support
urban inhabitants.
Planning for a Sustainable Environment. A Report by the Town
and Country Planning Association, Earthscan Publications, London, 1993. A
thorough but dry consideration of topics such as land use planning, energy
policy, ecosystems, natural resources, pollution, waste, transport, regional
planning, and economic development, by a Sustainable Development Study Group
consisting of many leading British researchers.
Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development, by John
Tillman Lyle, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1994. A lengthy examination of
theoretical and practical aspects of ecological design, covering topics such as
solar design, water conservation, waste assimilation, and building
construction.
Reviving the City: Toward Sustainable Urban Development, by
Tim Elkin and Duncan McLaren, with Mayer Hillman, Friends of the Earth, London,
1990 (reviewed Spring 1992). A look at sustainable urban development from an
environmental perspective, emphasizing steps to address energy use and
pollution rather than social issues or land use.
Shaping Cities: The Environmental and Human Dimensions, by
Marcia Lowe, Worldwatch Paper 105, The Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C.,
1991. An excellent, concise overview of ways that cities can be made more
sustainable, including discussions of urban form, transportation, energy use,
water use, housing, land use, and social justice issues, with examples from
around the globe.
Sustainable America: A New Consensus, President’s Council on
Sustainable Development, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.,
1996. Although a consensus document that doesn’t go nearly far enough in some
ways, the PCSD’s report does outline many useful principles and examples of
sustainable development, and is remarkable in that it exists at all.
Sustainable Cities, Graham Haughton and Colin Hunter,
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Ltd., London and Bristol PA, 1994. A thoughtful
and thorough analysis by two English academics, focusing on environmental
aspects of urban development but bringing in social and economic factors as
well. The authors adopt a strongly international perspective and discuss
historical ideas about ideal city form as well as current implications of the
Earth Summit’s Agenda 21. A potential textbook for university courses.
Sustainable Cities: Urbanization and the Environment in
International Perspective, edited by Richard Stren, Rodney White, and Joseph
Whitney, Westview Press, Boulder CO, 1992. An excellent international survey of
sustainable urban development issues, edited by three geographers associated
with the University of Toronto, with sections on western Europe, eastern
Europe, Africa, Canada, the U.S., Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, and
Japan.
