Sprawl is the single most significant and urgent issue in American land use at the turn of the twenty-first century. Efforts to limit and reform sprawl through legislative “Smart Growth†initiatives have been enacted around the country while the neotraditionalist New Urbanism has been embraced by many architects and urban planners. Yet most Americans persist in their desire to live farther and farther away from urban centers; moving to exurbs made up almost entirely of single-family residential houses and stand-alone shopping areas. Sprawl and Suburbia brings together some of the foremost thinkers in the field to present in-depth diagnosis and critical analysis of the physical and social realities of exurban sprawl. Along with an introduction by Robert Fishman; these essays call for architects; urban planners; and landscape designers to work at mitigating the impact of sprawl on land and resources and improving the residential and commercial built environment as a whole. In place of vast residential exurbs; these writers offer visions of a fresh urbanism—appealing and persuasive models of life at greater density; with greater diversity; and within genuine communities. With sprawl losing the support of suburban citizens themselves as economic; environmental; and social costs are being paid; Sprawl and Suburbia appears at a moment when design might achieve some critical influence over development—if architects and planners accept the challenge. Contributors: Mike Davis; Ellen Dunham-Jones; Peter Hall; David Harvey; Jerold S. Kayden; Matthew J. Kiefer; Alex Krieger; Andrew Ross; James S. Russell; Mitchell Schwarzer. William S. Saunders is editor of Harvard Design Magazine and assistant dean for external relations at the Harvard Design School. He is the author of Modern Architecture: Photographs by Ezra Stoller. Robert Fishman is professor of architecture and urban planning at the Taubman College of Architecture; University of Michigan. He is author of Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia and editor of The American Planning Tradition: Culture and Policy.
#481464 in eBooks 2010-07-15 2010-07-15File Name: B0042FZRDE
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Ms. Huxtables informed and thoughtful writing was a pleasure ...By Peter M. MitsakosMs. Huxtables informed and thoughtful writing was a pleasure to read. Her thorough understanding of the subject allowed her writing to be topical when it was contemporary. and viewed over the span if years: her assessments remarkably accurate and true to a well formed sense of the value of architecture and its role in our culture. I grew up as a student and then a practicing professional architect reading many of these reviews. Reading this material now put into context and perspective many of the issues. developments and debates we have been participating in as a culture and profession.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy JOHN BOWENInformative. insiteful. and opinionated. A must read to be informed about modern and post modern architecture.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The superior writing is as entertaining as the wonderful insights about ...By george brennanRemarkably well written. The superior writing is as entertaining as the wonderful insights about the subject. Exceptionally intelligent criticism.. .
