The Greenway Imperative

Trailblazing greenway projects from vision to reality In this eye-opening journey through some of America’s most innovative landscape architecture projects, Charles Flink shows why we urgently need greenways. A leading authority in greenway planning, design, and development, Flink presents inspiring examples of communities that have come together to build permanent spaces for the life-sustaining power of nature. The Greenway Imperative reveals the stories behind a variety of multiuse natural corridors, taking readers to Grand Canyon National Park, suburban North Carolina, the banks of the Miami River, and many other settings. Flink, who was closely involved with each of the projects in this book during his 35-year career, introduces the people who jumpstarted these initiatives and the challenges they overcame in achieving them. Flink explains why open green spaces are increasingly critical today. “Much more than a path through the woods,” he says, greenways conserve irreplaceable real estate for the environment, serve as essential green infrastructure, shape the way people travel within their communities, reduce impact from flooding and other natural disasters, and boost the economies of cities and towns. Greenways can and should dramatically reshape the landscape of America in the coming years, Flink argues. He provides valuable reflections and guidance on how we can create resilient communities and satisfy the human need for connection with the natural world.

Trailblazing greenway projects from vision to reality In this eye-opening journey through some of America's most innovative landscape architecture projects, Charles Flink shows why we urgently need greenways. A leading authority in greenway planning, design, and development, Flink presents inspiring examples of communities that have come together to build permanent spaces for the life-sustaining power of nature. The Greenway Imperative reveals the stories behind a variety of multiuse natural corridors, taking readers to Grand Canyon National Park, suburban North Carolina, the banks of the Miami River, and many other settings. Flink, who was closely involved with each of the projects in this book during his 35-year career, introduces the people who jumpstarted these initiatives and the challenges they overcame in achieving them. Flink explains why open green spaces are increasingly critical today. "Much more than a path through the woods," he says, greenways conserve irreplaceable real estate for the environment, serve as essential green infrastructure, shape the way people travel within their communities, reduce impact from flooding and other natural disasters, and boost the economies of cities and towns. Greenways can and should dramatically reshape the landscape of America in the coming years, Flink argues. He provides valuable reflections and guidance on how we can create resilient communities and satisfy the human need for connection with the natural world.

A description of the citizen-led effort to get Americans out of their cars and into the landscape via greenways - linear open spaces that preserve and restore nature in cities, suburbs and rural areas. These can link parks and open spaces and provide corridors for wildlife migration.

Would you experience your city differently if your doorstep were a trailhead? Many people don't have close-by, safe places to walk, despite walking's known benefits. In Beyond Greenways: The Next Step for City Trails and Walking Routes, greenways expert Robert Searns introduces a new generation of more accessible pathways that stitch together urban and suburban areas. Searns introduces two models--grand loop trails and town walks. Grand loop trails are 20 to 350-mile systems that encircle metro areas. Town walks are shorter--2 to 6-mile routes in cities. He then lays out how to plan, design, and build support for them, drawing inspiration from trails in the US and abroad. Planners, trail advocates, and community leaders will find the tools here to develop successful and affordable trails. Now is the time to pursue accessible pedestrian routes for this, and future, generations.

The establishment of ecological networks in Europe and greenways in America has required some of the most advanced applications of the principles of landscape ecology to land use planning. This book provides a thorough overview of recent developments in this emerging field, combining theoretical concepts of landscape ecology with the actual practice of landscape planning and management. In addition to biological and physical considerations important to biodiversity protection and restoration, equal weight is given to cultural and aesthetic issues to illustrate how sympathetic, sustainable land use policies can be implemented. Examples are given for large scale areas (Estonia and Florida) as well as regional areas such as Milano, Chicago and the Argentinian Yungas. This invaluable book will provide a wealth of information for all those concerned with biodiversity conservation through networks and greenways and their relevance to the planning process, whether researcher, land manager or policy maker.

Greenways--linear open spaces that preserve and restore nature in cities, suburbs, and rural areas--are proving to be the most innovative land protection concept of the decade. This book provides professionals and citizen activists with the tools they need for developing a greenway plan. An invaluable source of information for professional and volunteer planners, with important recommendations, guidelines, warnings, and support. Photos, figures, tables, index.

In Wild Capital, Barbara Jones demonstrates that looking at nature through the lens of the marketplace is a surprisingly effective approach to protecting the environment. Showing that policy-makers and developers rarely associate wild places with monetary values, Jones argues that nature can and should be viewed as a capital asset like any other in order for environmental preservation to be a competitive alternative to development. Jones describes how the ecosystem services model, a tool that connects human well-being with the services nature provides, can play a critical role in assigning species and their habitats measurable values. She uses five highly recognizable animal species—moose, manatees, sharks, wolves, and bald eagles—as examples to show how highly valued charismatic fauna can serve as symbolic representations of entire ecosystems at risk. Through an emphasis on branding, incentives, and ecotourism, Jones advocates for channeling the social and economic power of these and other faces of nature to inspire greater environmental awareness and stewardship. Contending that many people don’t realize how fiscally pragmatic environmental initiatives can be, Jones is optimistic that by recognizing the costs of habitat destruction and diminished biodiversity, we will make better choices regarding conservation and development. In doing so, we can more readily move toward co-existence with nature and a sustainable future.

At the turn of the nineteenth century—when most food in America was bland and brown and few people appreciated the economic potential of then-exotic foods—David Fairchild convinced the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finance overseas explorations to find and bring back foreign cultivars. Fairchild traveled to remote corners of the globe, searching for fruits, vegetables, and grains that could find a new home in American fields and in the American diet. In Fruits of Eden, Amanda Harris vividly recounts the exploits of Fairchild and his small band of adventurers and botanists as they traversed distant lands—Algeria, Baghdad, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Java, and Zanzibar—to return with new and exciting flavors. Their expeditions led to a renaissance not only at the dinner table but also in horticulture, providing diversity of crops for farmers across the country. Not everyone was supportive, however. The scientific community was concerned with invasive species, and World War I fanned the flames of xenophobia in Washington. Adversaries who believed Fairchild’s discoveries would contaminate the purity of native crops eventually shut down his program, but his legacy lives on in today’s modern kitchen, where navel oranges, Meyer lemons, honeydew melons, soybeans, and durum wheat are now standard.