Prairie Crossing

Carved out of century-old farmland near Chicago, the Prairie Crossing development is a novel experiment in urban public policy that preserves 69 percent of the land as open space. The for-profit project has set out to do nothing less than use access to nature as a means to challenge America's failed culture of suburban sprawl. The first comprehensive look at an American conservation community, Prairie Crossing goes beyond windmills and nest boxes to examine an effort to connect adults to the land while creating a healthy and humane setting for raising a new generation attuned to nature. John Scott Watson places Prairie Crossing within the wider context of suburban planning, revealing how two first-time developers implemented a visionary new land ethic that saved green space by building on it. The remarkable achievements include a high rate of resident civic participation, the reestablishment of a thriving prairie ecosystem, the reintroduction of endangered and threatened species, and improved water and air quality. Yet, as Watson shows, considerations like economic uncertainty, lack of racial and class diversity, and politics have challenged, and continue to challenge, Prairie Crossing and its residents.

Essential information for the design of housing Building Type Basics for Housing, Second Edition is your one-stop reference for the essential information you need to confidently begin the design process and successfully complete the design for housing, large or small, on time and within budget. Members of the award-winning design firm Goody Clancy share their firsthand knowledge to guide you through all aspects of designing and building residences. The book presents knowledgeable, real-world advice for architects, planners, engineers, and developers to create excellent residential design projects for a variety of housing types. This updated edition offers a new collection of detailed project examples that represent the best in today's housing designs, including more information on sustainable design and a fresh look at mixed-use developments increasingly popular in urban areas. It walks the reader through the guidelines, planning concepts, and lessons learned—from single-family detached homes and townhouses to multi-family, mid-rise, and high-rise buildings. Coverage also includes essential topics such as community planning, site layout, zoning and code issues, parking strategies, and the selection of building materials. This new edition: Asks and answers twenty questions that frequently arise in the early phases of a residential commission Provides a number of residential examples—new to this edition—from the last decade, covering the full range of housing densities Is illustrated with numerous photographs, diagrams, plans, and sections Shows how to obtain financing, approvals, and support for developments Includes new information on sustainability, which is incorporated throughout the book This conveniently organized quick reference is an invaluable guide for busy, dedicated professionals who want to get moving quickly as they embark on a new project. Like every Building Type Basics book, it provides authoritative, up-to-date information instantly and saves professionals countless hours of research.

Current patterns of land use and development are at once socially, economically, and environmentally destructive. Sprawling low-density development literally devours natural landscapes while breeding a pervasive sense of social isolation and exacerbating a vast array of economic problems. As more and more counties begin to look more and more the same, hope for a different future may seem to be fading. But alternatives do exist. The Ecology of Place, Timothy Beatley and Kristy Manning describe a world in which land is consumed sparingly, cities and towns are vibrant and green, local economies thrive, and citizens work together to create places of eduring value. They present a holistic and compelling approach to repairing and enhancing communities, introducing a vision of "sustainable places" that extends beyond traditional architecture and urban design to consider not just the physical layout of a development but the broad set of ways in which communities are organized and operate. Chapters examine: the history and context of current land use problems, along with the concept of "sustainable places" the ecology of place and ecological policies and actions local and regional economic development links between land-use and community planning and civic involvement specific recommendations to help move toward sustainability The authors address a variety of policy and development issues that affect a community -- from its economic base to its transit options to the ways in which its streets and public spaces are managed -- and examine the wide range of programs, policies, and creative ideas that can be used to turn the vision of sustainable places into reality. The Ecology of Place is a timely resource for planners, economic development specialists, students, and citizen activists working toward establishing healthier and more sustainable patterns of growth and development.

Creative Participation presents the theory and practice of new innovative forms of political participation. Examples covered in the book include consumers engaging in political shopping, capitalists building green developments, UK Muslim youth campaigning on the internet, Sicilian housewives taking on the Mafia, young evangelical ministers becoming concerned with social change and vegetarians making political statements. The authors show how in these new campaigns individuals swarm like honeybees around particular issues, causing those in power to sit up and take notice. This is the essential guide to the new politics of participation.

What is global citizenship, exactly? Are we all global citizens? In The Practices of Global Citizenship, Hans Schattle provides a striking account of how global citizenship is taking on much greater significance in everyday life. This lively book includes many fascinating conversations with global citizens all around the world. Their personal stories and reflections illustrate how global citizenship relates to important concepts such as awareness, responsibility, participation, cross-cultural empathy, international mobility, and achievement. Now more than ever, global citizenship is being put into practice by schools, universities, corporations, community organizations, and government institutions. This book is a must-read for everyone who participates in global events--all of us.

The Call of the Land is a sourcebook exploring positive pathways for food security, economic stability, environmental repair, and cultural renewal. This book shows how everyone can respond creatively to the challenges we face. From community gardens and locavore restaurants to urban farms and local food banks, this book is a survey and synthesis of the great transition that is underway.

Designing Healthy Communities, the companion book to the acclaimed public television documentary, highlights how we design the built environment and its potential for addressing and preventing many of the nation's devastating childhood and adult health concerns. Dr. Richard Jackson looks at the root causes of our malaise and highlights healthy community designs achieved by planners, designers, and community leaders working together. Ultimately, Dr. Jackson encourages all of us to make the kinds of positive changes highlighted in this book. 2012 Nautilus Silver Award Winning Title in category of “Social Change” "In this book Dr. Jackson inhabits the frontier between public health and urban planning, offering us hopeful examples of innovative transformation, and ends with a prescription for individual action. This book is a must read for anyone who cares about how we shape the communities and the world that shapes us." —Will Rogers, president and CEO, The Trust for Public Land "While debates continue over how to design cities to promote public health, this book highlights the profound health challenges that face urban residents and the ways in which certain aspects of the built environment are implicated in their etiology. Jackson then offers up a set of compelling cases showing how local activists are working to fight obesity, limit pollution exposure, reduce auto-dependence, rebuild economies, and promote community and sustainability. Every city planner and urban designer should read these cases and use them to inform their everyday practice." —Jennifer Wolch, dean, College of Environmental Design, William W. Wurster Professor, City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley "Dr. Jackson has written a thoughtful text that illustrates how and why building healthy communities is the right prescription for America." —Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director, American Public Health Association Publisher Companion Web site: www.josseybass.com/go/jackson Additional media and content: http://dhc.mediapolicycenter.org/

This book provides a unique synthesis of concepts and tools to examine natural resource, socio-economic, legal, policy and institutional issues that are important for managing urban growth into the future. The book will particularly help the reader to understand the current issues and challenges and develop strategies and practices to cope with future pressures of urbanisation and peri-urban land, water and energy use challenges. In particular, the book will help the reader to discover underlying principles for the planning of future cities and peri-urban regions in relation to: (i) Balanced urban development policies and institutions for future cities; (ii) Understanding the effects of land use change, population increase, and water demand on the liveability of cities; (iii) Long-term planning needs and transdisciplinary approaches to ensure the secured future for generations ahead; and (iv) Strategies to adapt the cities and land, water and energy uses for viable and liveable cities. There are growing concerns about water, food security and sustainability with increased urbanisation worldwide. For cities to be liveable and sustainable into the future there is a need to maintain the natural resource base and the ecosystem services in the peri-urban areas surrounding cities. This need is increasing under the looming spectre of global warming and climate change. This book will be of interest to policy makers, urban planners, researchers, post-graduate students in urban planning, environmental and water resources management, and managers in municipal councils.