Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design PDF Author: Charles Montgomery
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429969539
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
A globe-trotting, eye-opening exploration of how cities can—and do—make us happier people Charles Montgomery's Happy City will revolutionize the way we think about urban life. After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling an improvement on the car-dependence of sprawl? The award-winning journalist Charles Montgomery finds answers to such questions at the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, and during an exhilarating journey through some of the world's most dynamic cities. He meets the visionary mayor who introduced a "sexy" lipstick-red bus to ease status anxiety in Bogotá; the architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan hill towns to modern-day New York City; the activist who turned Paris's urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have transformed their lives by hacking the design of their streets and neighborhoods. Full of rich historical detail and new insights from psychologists and Montgomery's own urban experiments, Happy City is an essential tool for understanding and improving our own communities. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting our cities for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city, the green city, and the low-carbon city are the same place, and we can all help build it.

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design PDF Author: Charles Montgomery
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429969539
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
A globe-trotting, eye-opening exploration of how cities can—and do—make us happier people Charles Montgomery's Happy City will revolutionize the way we think about urban life. After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling an improvement on the car-dependence of sprawl? The award-winning journalist Charles Montgomery finds answers to such questions at the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, and during an exhilarating journey through some of the world's most dynamic cities. He meets the visionary mayor who introduced a "sexy" lipstick-red bus to ease status anxiety in Bogotá; the architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan hill towns to modern-day New York City; the activist who turned Paris's urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have transformed their lives by hacking the design of their streets and neighborhoods. Full of rich historical detail and new insights from psychologists and Montgomery's own urban experiments, Happy City is an essential tool for understanding and improving our own communities. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting our cities for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city, the green city, and the low-carbon city are the same place, and we can all help build it.

Planning and Urban Design for Attractive Arctic Cities

Planning and Urban Design for Attractive Arctic Cities PDF Author: David Chapman
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040128521
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
This book takes a deep dive into the design and planning, and unique challenges of settlements in the European Arctic. Attractive Arctic Cities require job opportunities, good societal and commercial services, and importantly, high-quality built environments in order to thrive. The cities of the European Arctic are generally small and sit in sparsely populated regions, with large travel times between places, making them uniquely challenging from a planning and design perspective. The chapters detail the planning process and place-shaping in the Arctic. Emphasis is placed on the importance of urban design, microclimate, cultural heritage, and movement and transport. The objective is to provide an overview for students and practitioners of architecture, urban design and town planning, of the design and planning of Arctic settlements in the European Arctic (Finland, Norway, Sweden) as well as in North America, Canada, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and China.

Urban Meteorology

Urban Meteorology PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309252202
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
According to the United Nations, three out of five people will be living in cities worldwide by the year 2030. The United States continues to experience urbanization with its vast urban corridors on the east and west coasts. Although urban weather is driven by large synoptic and meso-scale features, weather events unique to the urban environment arise from the characteristics of the typical urban setting, such as large areas covered by buildings of a variety of heights; paved streets and parking areas; means to supply electricity, natural gas, water, and raw materials; and generation of waste heat and materials. Urban Meteorology: Forecasting, Monitoring, and Meeting Users' Needs is based largely on the information provided at a Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate community workshop. This book describes the needs for end user communities, focusing in particular on needs that are not being met by current urban-level forecasting and monitoring. Urban Meteorology also describes current and emerging meteorological forecasting and monitoring capabilities that have had and will likely have the most impact on urban areas, some of which are not being utilized by the relevant end user communities. Urban Meteorology explains that users of urban meteorological information need high-quality information available in a wide variety of formats that foster its use and within time constraints set by users' decision processes. By advancing the science and technology related to urban meteorology with input from key end user communities, urban meteorologists can better meet the needs of diverse end users. To continue the advancement within the field of urban meteorology, there are both short-term needs-which might be addressed with small investments but promise large, quick returns-as well as future challenges that could require significant efforts and investments.

Urban Design and Representation

Urban Design and Representation PDF Author: Barbara E.A. Piga
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319518046
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
This book explores how environmental urban design can benefit from established and emerging representation and simulation techniques that meet the need for a multisensory approach. Bringing together contributions by researchers and practicing professionals that approach the topics discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives and draw on case-study applications, it addresses important themes including digital modeling, physical modeling, mapping, and simulation. The chapters are linked by their relevance to simple but crucial questions: How can representational solutions enhance an urban design approach in which people’s well-being is considered the primary goal? How can one best represent and design the ambiance of places? What kinds of technologies and tools are available to support multisensory urban design? How can current and future environments be optimally represented and simulated, taking into account the way in which we experience places? Shedding new light on these key questions, the book offers both a reference guide for those engaged in applied research, and a toolkit for professionals and students.

Condoland

Condoland PDF Author: James T. White
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774868414
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Condoland casts CityPlace – a massive residential development of more than thirty condominium towers just outside Toronto’s downtown core – as a microcosm of twenty-first-century urban intensification that has transformed the city skyline beyond all recognition. Built almost entirely by a single private developer, this immense neighbourhood took decades to plan, design, and develop, but the end result lacks a sense of place and is not widely accessible to those who need homes: only a small number of its 13,000 units constitute affordable housing, and public amenities are limited. James T. White and John Punter journey through the forty-year development of Toronto’s largest residential megaproject, focusing on its urban design and architectural evolution. They also delve into the background, summarizing the tools used to shape Toronto’s built environment, and critically explore the underlying political economy of planning and real estate development in the city. Using detailed field studies, interviews, archival research, and with nearly two hundred illustrations, they reveal an alarmingly flexible approach to planning and design that is acquiescent to the demands of a rapacious development industry. Condoland raises key questions about the sustainability and long-term resilience of city planning.

Global Models of Urban Planning

Global Models of Urban Planning PDF Author: Roger L. Kemp
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786468521
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
This volume is based on an international literature search of the best urban planning practices being used in dozens of cities around the world. Such topics as green technology, conservation, infrastructure maintenance, alternative energy, downtown business districts, and recycling are covered, with many others. Additional information is provided for each community: population, location, website. There are eight appendices: periodicals bibliography, glossary, list of acronyms and abbreviations, U.S. state municipal league directory, both U.S. and international planning and development resource directories, international local government directory and U.S. state library resource directory. Thoroughly indexed.

Canadian Urban Growth Trends

Canadian Urban Growth Trends PDF Author: Ira M. Robinson
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 0774845120
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Canadian Urban Growth Trends is a penetrating analysis of the conditions and the sometimes perplexing recent trends in urban population growth in Canada which presents a strong argument for the adoption of a settlements policy at the federal level.

Identifying Models of National Urban Agendas

Identifying Models of National Urban Agendas PDF Author: Francesca Gelli
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031083881
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
This book utilises comparative diachronic and synchronic analyses to investigate models of national urban agendas. Encompassing cases from Europe, North America, South America and Asia, it examines the changing global geography of national urban agendas since the second post-war period. The book demonstrates that whilst some discontinuities and differences exist between countries, they each demonstrate a common systematic investment in urban policies, that are considered as programmes of intervention and funding schemes for cities. Furthermore, in such programmes a political vision is evident which recognizes an important role for cities and urbanization processes at a national level. The book will appeal to scholars and students of public policy, urban planning and public administration, as well as practitioners and policymakers at the national and local levels.

Spatial Modeling and Assessment of Urban Form

Spatial Modeling and Assessment of Urban Form PDF Author: Biswajeet Pradhan
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319542176
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
This book discusses the application of Geospatial data, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technologies in analysis and modeling of urban growth process, and its pattern, with special focus on sprawl and compact form of urban development. The book explains these two kinds of urban forms (sprawl and compact urban development) in detail regarding their advantages, disadvantages, indicators, assessment, modeling, implementation and their relationship with urban sustainability. It confirms that the proposed modeling approaches, geospatial data and GIS are very practical for identifying urban growth, land use change patterns and their general trends in future. The analyses and modeling approaches presented in this book can be employed to guide the identification and measurements of the changes and growth likely to happen in urban areas. In addition, this book can be helpful for town planning and development in order to design urban areas in a compact form and eventually sustainable manner.

Operational Urban Models

Operational Urban Models PDF Author: David Foot
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351600729
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
First published in 1981. Urban modelling techniques are an established tool in assessing the possible repercussions of major changes in land use. This book is an introductory guide to the various models that have been developed and to how they can be applied in planning practice, particularly with relation to land use activities such as residential, industrial and retail development, and changes in the transport network. The author has provided a coherent and reliable introductory text which will be welcomed by students and teachers in search of a guide to current methods in the field of urban modelling.