Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities

by Peter Plastrik, John Cleveland

The future of our cities is not what it used to be. The modern-city model that took hold globally in the twentieth century has outlived its usefulness. It cannot solve the problems it helped to create—especially global warming. Fortunately, a new model for urban development is emerging in cities to aggressively tackle the realities of climate change. It transforms the way cities design and use physical space, generate economic wealth, consume and dispose of resources, exploit and sustain the natural ecosystems, and prepare for the future.

In Life After Carbon , urban sustainability consultants Pete Plastrik and John Cleveland assemble this global pattern of urban reinvention from the stories of 25 "innovation lab" cities across the globe—from Copenhagen to Melbourne. A city innovation lab is the entire city —the complex, messy, real urban world where innovations must work. It is a city in which government, business, and community leaders take to heart the challenge of climate change and converge on the radical changes that are necessary. They free downtowns from cars, turn buildings into renewable-energy power plants, re-nature entire neighborhoods, incubate growing numbers of clean-energy and smart-tech companies, convert waste to energy, and much more. Plastrik and Cleveland show that four transformational ideas are driving urban climate innovation around the world, in practice, not just in carbon-free advantage, efficient abundance, nature's benefits, and adaptive futures. And these ideas are thriving in markets, professions, consumer trends, community movements, and "higher" levels of government that enable cities.

Life After Carbon presents the new ideas that are replacing the pillars of the modern-city model, converting climate disaster into urban opportunity, and shaping the next transformation of cities worldwide. It will inspire anyone who cares about the future of our cities, and help them to map a sustainable path forward.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urbanism, Environment

304 pages, Paperback

Published December 4, 2018

Reviews

[Claudia Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a somewhat mediocre book. In all its endless lists of urban centers for environmental change, it does more praise for politics and business than for specific scientific innovations. The few it has totally disregard the primary sources of CO2 emissions. I don’t believe animal agriculture (the number one source of climate change) is mentioned one single time and the environmental importance of a global shift toward plant-based diets is very very briefly hinted at, making this book occasionally interesting but most predominantly.... dull and pointless.

[Christine Luong · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a disappointment. I attended a presentation by the authors, which was far more compelling then the book itself, which was a mediocre summary of innovations for climate mitigation and adaptation by cities, with some history lessons mixed in. The best part was reading quotes from colleagues in the sustainability field.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

You need to keep in mind that this book is 5 years old. It feature what several cities are doing to reduced GHG emissions in many different ways. A lot of these depended on the density of people living in a contained area. At the time it was something hopeful that cities could make a big contribution to overall emissions. However, there are only a few cities worldwide that are taking actions and a lot of them are only starting on the pathway. Thus in the book, the author had to jump around the different cities to talk about their actions within a category. Unfortunately there wasn't one city that had it all and had a plan that could be shared to other cities. (Note that there is a more recent book, "Spolved" by former Toronto Mayor David Miller which has similar details, but more actions.

Unfortunately the effort in cities is still not growing quick enough to reduce GHG levels which continue to increase and and allow the worsening of the effects on climate and all associated areas of living (air, water, food supply, spread of disease). Also the underlying issue of inequalities (those feeling the effects in disadvantaged neighborhoods are the ones who primarily contributed to the problem. Nothing is said about holding the fossil fuel industry responsible for the damages and not taking quick action to curb use.

It would be nice since so long has past if there could be a follow up volume with more examples from more cities. The aspects of fixing inequalities among the community need to be addressed as well (Green New Deal approach).

[Rebecca Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would describe this book as a high level overview, a good primer for people interested in urban planning, decarbonization, and the intersection between the two. I certainly learned something about transit-oriented development. To give the authors credit, there was clearly an attempt to include examples from cities outside of Western Europe and North America--but I still would have liked to have seen a few more examples from places like Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, South Africa, etc. At times, I felt like the authors provided location-specific solutions but did not make it clear how they would translate in other locales.

That being said, I understand that this book's purpose is to whet the appetite to go learn more, not to provide in-depth knowledge about planning and implementing these solutions and transformations. If that's what you want to read, then I recommend it!

[Fred Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, a good summary of new ideas and trends around climate adaptation for cities. It doesn't go in depth but does a good job of summarizing things going on in some leading cities around the world. The book is a little breezy sometimes and makes some long ongoing initiatives sound simple. But I learned some things and it is a good reference book for students or others looking to see what new and interesting things are going on in cities. C40 is another group to check. Cities are the place where things are happening. They are not as partisan and people care about their backyard, so keep an eye on cities for the innovations.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bunch of boosterism. Not a lot of new thinking if you already follow news on climate policy online. Would probably make an okay text for an intro urban and environmental studies course, though should be matched with something more critical as well. There are a few pretty clueless statements--like the sidebar crediting all millennials' awareness and concern about climate issues to Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. If only Gore had been that effective...

[Lily Keefauver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book for a class on Urban world systems. Discusses examples of innovation lab cities, one of them being Austin which made me excited personally. Very informational and helpful for looking at possible solutions to the modern issues cities face. I didn't finish this front to back, but used it as a resource for a school project. Would recommend if you're into nonfiction and want something on urban sustainability and adaptation.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5, the book is a high level overview of what some cities, organizations, and businesses are doing to address climate change in cities around the world. Nothing in this book is particularly surprising, if you have relative knowledge of the field. There are a handful of good resources referenced that are useful to look up separately and explore which is cool.

[Danny Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dull and repetitive, but offers good insight into climate-driven solutions that are changing our urban areas for the better.