Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs

by Jonathan Barnett, Larry Beasley

As world population grows, and more people move to cities and suburbs, they place greater stress on the operating system of our whole planet. But urbanization and increasing densities also present our best opportunity for improving sustainability, by transforming urban development into desirable, lower-carbon, compact and walkable communities and business centers.

Jonathan Barnett and Larry Beasley seek to demonstrate that a sustainable built and natural environment can be achieved through ecodesign, which integrates the practice of planning and urban design with environmental conservation, through normal business practices and the kinds of capital programs and regulations already in use in most communities. Ecodesign helps adapt the design of our built environment to both a changing climate and a rapidly growing world, creating more desirable places in the process.

In six comprehensively illustrated chapters, the authors explain ecodesign concepts, including the importance of preserving and restoring natural systems while also adapting to climate change; minimizing congestion on highways and at airports by making development more compact, and by making it easier to walk, cycle and take trains and mass transit; crafting and managing regulations to insure better placemaking and  fulfill consumer preferences, while incentivizing preferred practices; creating an inviting and environmentally responsible public realm from parks to streets to forgotten spaces; and finally how to implement these ecodesign concepts.          

Throughout the book, the ecodesign framework is demonstrated by innovative practices that are already underway or have been accomplished in many cities and suburbs—from Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm to False Creek North in Vancouver to Battery Park City in Manhattan, as well as many smaller-scale examples that can be adopted in any community. 

Ecodesign thinking is relevant to anyone who has a part in shaping or influencing the future of cities and suburbs – designers, public officials, and politicians.

Genres: Architecture

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2015

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be a very good overview of what’s “hot” in urban planning right now. Despite the title it’s really about how to make cities liveable and attract people away from the suburbs. As for the title, I don’t think the book really focuses very much on “eco”design. The authors define ecodesign as “a way of looking at cities and their hinterlands that integrates considerations of environmental soundness and resilience with human health and well-being”. Which is all well and good: but much of the book has nothing to do with environmental health, or what I call ecodesign - i.e. taking lessons from nature and biological systems to inform how we design cities. One example of what I mean - they talk about climate change adaptation for sea level rise, and the first choice is to build sea walls/flood gates. Other options (i.e. natural sand barriers, wetland restoration, etc.) are only recommended for areas where flood gates aren’t economical because there are fewer people. A true ecodesign book would advocate for natural barriers first, and only reluctantly accept gates as a last resort. Overall, I enjoyed the book and think making cities more attractive is, ultimately, good for the environment since it helps contain sprawl, but I don’t think it’s true to its title.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Small time bureaucrats who badly want to become big time bureaucrats and order people around.