Smart Growth

People who live in compact, traditional towns have far smaller environmental footprints than those who live in sprawling suburbs. So why are we in thrall to urban sprawl? Are there better ways of getting about than by car? And how can 60 million people crammed into a small island find ways of treating it with respect? Urban sprawl is unsustainable in an age of climate change and peak oil. But for 100 years the UK's planning policies have been based on ideals of low-density living and attitudes that favour the individual over community, creating car-dependent lifestyles and destroying the countryside we love. This book explains what we must do to improve the quality of life in our overcrowded land. Smart Growth argues that we should look to America - a country that embraced urban sprawl and car dependency on a far grander scale than we ever did, and is now finding answers to the problem. Its 'Smart Growth' movement is steering a course towards better-designed, compact cities and rail-based transit systems, thereby restoring communities ruined by decades of suburban insularity.

ISBN 190032282X   Pages 296 ISBN13 9781900322829 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 585 Publisher Green Books   Published in Totnes Imprint Green Books   Height (mm) 234 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 156 Publication date 04 Mar 2011   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 307.1416   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Introduction Part I - How we got here 1 A squandered land 2 The germination of a bad idea 3 Decline and sprawl - a century of spatial planning 4 The death and life of great British cities 5 Travelling hopelessly - a century of unsustainable transport [there is more after this page break - may not display at first view of table!] Part II - Where we are 6 An unsustainable communities plan 7 Climate change and other future challenges 8 America - land of dreams Part III - Where we need to be 9 Care and maintenance for a small country - Smart Growth planning 10 Care and maintenance of the countryside 11 Smart Growth transport 12 From consumers to citizens 13 News from Somewhere: a Smart Growth vision 14 Conclusions: urban rides References

Jon Reed's book lays bare the ghastliness of the sprawling development that has destroyed our cities, communities and much countryside, but is ultimately hopeful in charting a way to a better future through application of the principles of 'smart growth" Lynn Sloman - author of Car Sick Reeds' acccount shows him to be knowledgeable, passionate, irreverent and, at times, exasperated about the state of our settlements. Smart Growth is required reading for anyone who cares about the future of land use planning in the UK. Rebecca Willis - Vice Chair, Sustainable Development Commission i"? "Jon Reeds sets out clearly the roots of car-dependent urban sprawl and charts a way out of it. This book should be read by anyone interested in practical ways to tackle climate change and car dependency." Stephen Joseph - Chief Executive, Campaign for Better Transport. i"? "It's both a great modern history of the British Landscape, and a handbook of good ideas for it's future development. It should be on the reading list for every planner in the country." Make Wealth History - April 2011 "Reeds is a zealous advocate for limiting car use, sprawl and Tesco; promoting localism, land re-use and dense city developments; and encouraging walking, cycling and something called 'functional communities'." The Architectual Review - May 2011

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