{"id":18516,"date":"2016-12-14T15:55:04","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T20:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/?p=18516"},"modified":"2025-05-15T05:54:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T09:54:33","slug":"read-this-from-your-world-view-and-perspective-what-is-the-one-book-about-or-relevant-to-cities-that-everyone-should-read-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/2016\/12\/14\/read-this-from-your-world-view-and-perspective-what-is-the-one-book-about-or-relevant-to-cities-that-everyone-should-read-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Read this! 90 recommendations for the one book about (or relevant to) cities that everyone should read"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authors in This Roundtable<\/h3>\n
Pippin Anderson, Cape Town<\/a>Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World,<\/i> by Emma Marris<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Gloria Aponte, Medell\u00edn<\/a>Cities and Natural Process,<\/em> by Michael Hough<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Ana Luisa Artesi, Buenos Aires<\/a>Horizon 101 \u2013 Reflections and Paintings<\/em>, by Jala Makhzoumi<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Xuemei Bai, Canberra<\/a>\u738b\u5982\u677e:\u300a\u9ad8\u6548\u3001\u548c\u8c10–\u57ce\u5e02\u8c03\u63a7\u539f\u7406\u4e0e\u65b9\u6cd5, Efficiency and Harmony: Principles and methods of urban system regulation and control,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by Rusong Wang<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Stephan Barthel, Stockholm<\/a>The\u00a0Death and Life of Great American Cities<\/em>, by Jane Jacobs<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Jane Battersby, Cape Town<\/a>Hungry City<\/em>, by Carolyn Steel <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Adrian Benepe, New York<\/a>The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York<\/em>, by Robert Caro<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Genie Birch, Philadelphia & New York<\/a>The Works: Anatomy of a City<\/em>, by Kate Ascher<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Timothy Bonebrake, Hong Kong<\/a>The Ecology of a City and its People: The Case of Hong Kong<\/em>, by S. Boyden, S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O\u2019Neill
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Eduardo Brondizio, Bloomington<\/a>Dreaming Equality: Color, Race, and Racism in Urban Brazil<\/em>, by Robin Sheriff
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Steve Brown, Sydney<\/a>Stories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia’s Immigrant Past<\/em>, by Peter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick and Anne Clarke
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Lindsay Campbell, New York <\/a>Crabgrass Frontier<\/em>, by Kenneth Jackson<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Lena Chan, Singapore <\/a>Design With Nature<\/em>, by Ian McHarg<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Katrine Claassens, Cape Town<\/a>Preludes<\/em>, by T.S. Eliot<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Lorenzo Chelleri, L’Aquila<\/a>The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects,\u00a0<\/em>by Lewis Mumford<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Bharat Dahiya, Bangkok<\/a>Banaras: Making of India\u2019s Heritage City<\/em>, by Rana P.B. Singh<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
PK Das, Mumbai<\/a>Ecology and Equity<\/em>, by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Samarth Das, Mumbai<\/a>Housing Without Houses: Participation, Flexibility, Enablement<\/em>, by Nabeel Hamdi<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Marcelo de Souza, Rio de Janeiro<\/a>From Urbanization to Cities<\/em>, by Murray Bookchin
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Anna Dietzsch, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>The Death and Life of Great American Cities<\/em>,\u00a0by Jane Jacobs<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Paul Downton, Melbourne<\/a>Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future<\/em>,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by Richard Register\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Katerina Elias-Trostmann, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>Cities for a Small Planet<\/em>,\u00a0by Richard Rogers<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Thomas Elmqvist, Stockholm<\/a>Global Cities: A Short History<\/em>,\u00a0by Greg Clark<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Jayne Engle, Montreal<\/a>Sharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities<\/em>, by Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Ana Faggi, Buenos Aires<\/a>Cities for People<\/em>,\u00a0by Jan Gehl\u00a0<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Martha Fajardo, Bogota<\/a>Design With Nature<\/em>, by Ian McHarg<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Emilio Fantin, Bologna<\/a>L\u2019anima dei Luoghi: conversazione con Carlo Truppi<\/em>,\u00a0by James Hillman<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Ben Feldman, Los Angeles<\/a>Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder<\/em>, by Richard Louv<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Sheila Foster, New York<\/a>Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier<\/em>, by Edward Glaeser<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Niki Frantzeskaki, Rotterdam<\/a>Greening the Red Zone<\/em>, by Keith Tidball and Marianne Krasny<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
David Goode, Bath<\/a>Swifts in a Tower<\/em>, by David Lack<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Divya Gopal, Berlin<\/a>Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future<\/em>, by Harini Nagendra<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Andrew Grant, Bath<\/a>The Night Life of Trees<\/em>, by Durga Bai, Bhajju Shyam, and Ram Singh Urveti<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Bram Gunther, New York<\/a>Baltimore School of Urban Ecology: Space, Scale, and Time for the Study of Cities<\/em>, by J. Morgan Grove, Mary Cadenasso, Steward T. Pickett, Gary E. Machlis, William R. Burch Jr., Laura A. Ogden<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Jonathan Halfon, New York<\/a>This Changes Everything<\/em>, by Naomi Klein<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Fadi Hamdan, Beirut<\/a>Al Muqaddimah,<\/em> by Ibn Khaldoun<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Zo\u00e9 Hamstead, Buffalo<\/a>The Manhattan Project: Theory of a City<\/em>, by David Kishik
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mathieu H\u00e9lie, Montreal<\/a>Delirious New York, A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan<\/em>, by Rem Koolhaas<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Tom Henfrey, Bristol<\/a>The Oregon Experiment<\/em>, by Christopher Alexander<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Cecilia Herzog, Rio de Janeiro<\/a>The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design<\/em>, by Anne \u00a0Spirn<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mark Hostetler, Gainesville<\/a>Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors<\/em>, by J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mike Houck, Portland<\/a>The Last Landscape<\/em>, by William H. Whyte <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Todd Lester, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a>The Practice of Everyday Life<\/em>, by Michel de Certeau<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Nina-Marie Lister, Toronto<\/a>The Culture of Nature: The North American Landscape from Disney to the Exxon Valdez<\/em>, by Alexander Wilson <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Shuaib Lwasa, Kampala<\/a>Urban Environments in Africa: A Critical Analysis of Environmental Politics<\/em>, by Garth Myers
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Patrick Lydon, Seoul<\/a>Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered<\/em>, by E.F. Schumacher<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Yvonne Lynch, Melbourne<\/a>The City and the Coming Climate<\/em>, by Brian Stone Jr.
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Ian MacGregor-Fors, Veracruz<\/a>Concrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future<\/em>, by Niles Eldredge & Sidney Hohenstein<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mahim Maher, Karachi<\/a>Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City<\/em>, by Laurent Gayer<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Jala Makhzoumi, Beirut<\/a>Damascus City: A Study in Urban Geography<\/em>, by Safouh Khair<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Fran\u00e7ois Mancebo, Paris<\/a>The Right to the City<\/em>, by Henri Lefebvre<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
E.J. McAdams<\/a>City Eclogue<\/em>, by Ed Roberson
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Rob McDonald, Washington<\/a>City Trees: A Historical Geography from the Renaissance through the 19th Century<\/em>, by Henry Lawrence <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Brian McGrath, Newark<\/a>Nature’s Metropolis<\/em>, by William Cronon<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Timon McPhearson, New York<\/a>Concrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York<\/em>, by Matthew Gandy<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Hitesh Mehta, Miami<\/a>Life between Buildings<\/em>, by Jan Gehl<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Patrice Milillo, Los Angeles<\/a>The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It\u2019s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life<\/em>, by Richard Florida<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mary Miss, New York<\/a>The Great Derangement<\/em>, by Amitav Ghosh<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Franco Montalto, Philadelphia<\/a>Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things<\/em>, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Polly Moseley, Liverpool<\/a>The Growing Stone<\/em>, by Albert Camus
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Harini Nagendra, Bangalore<\/a>Landscapes of Urban Memory: The Sacred and the Civic in India’s High-Tech City<\/em>, by Smriti Srinivas<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Kate Orff, New York<\/a>Great Expectations<\/em>, by Charles Dickens<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Susan Parnell, Cape Town<\/a>New Babylon New Nineveh: Everyday Life on the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914<\/em>, by Charles Van Onselen <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Raquel Pe\u00f1alosa, Montreal<\/a>The Death and Life of Great American Cities<\/em>, by Jane Jacobs<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Steward Pickett, Poughkeepsie<\/a>The Granite Garden<\/em>, by Anne Spirn<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Stephanie Pincetl, Los Angeles<\/a>Architecture Without Architects:\u00a0A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture<\/em>,\u00a0by Bernard Rudofsky<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Christine Platt, Durban<\/a>Arrival City<\/em>, by Doug Sanders<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Andrew Revkin, New York<\/a>The Well-Tempered City<\/em>, by Jonathan F.P. Rose
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Debra Roberts, Durban<\/a>Design with Nature<\/em>, by Ian McHarg <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Eric Sanderson, New York<\/a>Carfree Cities<\/em>, by J.H. Crawford<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Jason Schupbach, Washington<\/a>The Image of the City<\/em>, by Kevin Lynch <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Richard Scott, Liverpool<\/a>Cities For People<\/em>, by Jan Gehl<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Paula Segal, New York<\/a>Invisible Cities<\/em>, by Italo Calvino<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Huda Shaka, Dubai<\/a>Dubai Amplified<\/em>, by Stephen Ramos<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Laura Shillington, Managua & Montreal<\/a>The City & The City<\/em>, by China Mi\u00e9ville<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Philip Silva, New York<\/a> Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature<\/em>, edited by William Cronon<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
David Simon, Gothenburg<\/a> Designing Public Policy for Co-production: Theory, practice and change<\/em>, edited by Catherine Durose and Liz Richardson<\/span>\n<\/div>
Kevin Sloan, Dallas-Fort Worth<\/a> The Matrix of Man: Illustrated History of Urban Environment,<\/em> by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy<\/span>\n<\/div>
Laura Spinadel, Vienna<\/a> Campus WU: A Holistic History<\/em>, by Ila Berman
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n[\/contributor]
David Tittle, London<\/a> Cities in Civilisation<\/em>, by Peter Hall<\/span>\n<\/div>
Anne Trumble, Los Angeles<\/a> Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species<\/em>, by Ursula K. Heise<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Naomi Tsur, Jerusalem<\/a> If Mayors Ruled The World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities<\/em>, by Benjamin Barber<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Chantal van Ham, Brussels<\/a> Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning<\/em>, by Timothy Beatley<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Shawn Van Sluys, Guelph<\/a> The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination<\/em>, by Sarah Schulman
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Claire Weisz, New York<\/a> The Fall of Public Man<\/em>, by Richard Sennett <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Mike Wells, Bath<\/a> Green Design: From Theory to Practice<\/em>, by Ken Yeang and Arthur Spector<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Diana Wiesner, Bogot\u00e1<\/a> Naturaleza Urbana. plataforma de experiencias<\/em>, edited by Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Kathleen Wolf, Seattle<\/a> With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature<\/em>, by Rachel Kaplan, Stephen Kaplan, and Robert L. Ryan<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
David Maddox<\/div>\n
\n

about the writer
\n David Maddox<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n

David loves urban spaces and nature. He loves creativity and collaboration. He loves theatre and music. In his life and work he has practiced in all of these as, in various moments, a scientist, a climate change researcher, a land steward, an ecological practitioner, composer, a playwright, a musician, an actor, and a theatre director. David's dad told him once that he needed a back up plan, something to \"fall back on\". So he bought a tuba.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

Introduction<\/h3>\n

We have assembled\u00a0a list of 90\u00a0must-reads<\/em>\u00a0on cities from a\u00a0diverse group of TNOC contributors\u2014a nature of cities reader’s digest.<\/strong> The recommendations are as wide-ranging as the TNOC community, from many points of view and from around the world. They are a reflection of the breadth of thought that cities need. And, as my grandmother would have said: “This will keep you off the street and out of trouble”.<\/p>\n

The prompt seems easy, but it turns out to be difficult to recommend the one thing everyone should read on cities, and what we have created here is a remarkable and diverse reading list.\u00a0You will likely think\u00a0of other\u00a0essential works\u00a0yourself, and when you do, leave them here as a comment. There is a rich\u00a0conversation to experience simply by exchanging ideas on great books.<\/p>\n

The list below could serve as a wonderful primer\u00a0for courses or other gatherings. You can download the entire list as a PDF here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out these titles at your local, corner bookstore. But if you choose to buy one of these titles online, please click here to go to Amazon<\/a>\"\". Some of the sales price will benefit TNOC.<\/p>\n

The books are listed in a random order. Refresh your screen to see the list displayed in a different order.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Get busy.<\/p>\n

\u2014David Maddox<\/strong>
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

,\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n

Kevin Sloan, Dallas\/Fort Worth<\/h3>\n

The Matrix of Man: Illustrated History of Urban Environment<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Sibyl Moholy-Nagy
\n1968, Pall Mall Press<\/p>\n

Every time I open The Matrix of Man: Illustrated History of Urban Environment<\/em> by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, I learn something important.<\/p>\n

This is a book that contains an inventory of urban models as well as speculations on the contemporary city as it was imagined in the 20th century. While recent texts discuss mega-cities as they have unfolded, this book was published as they began to appear.<\/p>\n

Beautifully and intelligently written, the book\u2019s author, Moholy-Nagy, was the wife of a Lazlo Moholy Nagy, a seminal figure in the early 20th century who also taught at the Bauhaus.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Harini Nagendra, Bangalore<\/h3>\n

Landscapes of Urban Memory: The Sacred and the Civic in India’s High-Tech City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Smriti Srinivas
\n2001, University of Minnesota Press and Orient Longman<\/p>\n

My book is set in the southern hemisphere, a fascinating account of how traditional and modern cultures, ecologies, and visualisations of the sacred and the civic influence each other, in the backdrop of the globalising city of Bangalore. It focuses on an iconic sacred event, the annual Karaga performance. Conducted by a traditional community of gardeners, the Karaga is organised around a network of garden and lake sites. Many of these sites have now vanished from the city, but survive vividly in memory and imagination, while others are still physically extant, though substantially altered in form and function. Through the lens of the Karaga, Smriti Srinivas describes the complex, changing matrix of cultural, political, and social ties to nature in an Indian city where tradition and modernity are two sides of the same coin. The book provides a scholarly insight into social transformations in a modern Indian city, but at the same time takes you deep into the lives and imagination of people in the city, describing how they see and value nature, and how this has changed over time. It’s one of my favorite books, on my favorite city. Happy reading!
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Anna Dietzsch, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/h3>\n

The Death and Life of Great American Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Jane Jacobs
\n1961, Random House<\/p>\n

The classic. Because it is the mother of everything we think is good for cities now: walking, meeting people, being diverse.<\/p>\n

And worth re-reading, because it has been so much quoted and talked about, some of the ideas and principles have been kind of distorted.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Lorenzo Chelleri,\u00a0L’Aquila<\/h3>\n

\"thecityinhistory\"The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Lewis Mumford
\n1961,\u00a0Houghton Mifflin Harcourt<\/p>\n

There is no book like this in addressing how and why cities evolved, from the medieval villages to the modern post-industrial metropolis. Mumford was among the few able to grasp and communicate, through a clear and extraordinary narrative style, the very \u201cnature\u201d of cities, explaining the root causes of the processes which remain\u00a0at the forefront of urban studies debates. His half century old insights explain most of the problem we\u2019re still facing and about which any reader could deepen her knowledge with hundreds of books. But no other book\u00a0could provide you the big picture, the bases for understanding “what is a city”.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Ana Faggi, Buenos Aires<\/h3>\n

Cities for People<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Jan Gehl
\n2010, Island Press<\/p>\n

Very easy to read for everyone, this book shows how real urban life takes place in the streets. A livable city is one that considers the human dimension and offers a friendly and safe environment. The book, available in English and in Spanish,\u00a0gives many useful recommendations for planning and management.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Pippin Anderson, Cape Town<\/h3>\n

Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Emma Marris
\n2011, Bloomsbury USA<\/p>\n

Touches critically on so many debates in ecology (well, in many quarters they are not debated). Re-wilding, novel ecosystems, are invasive aliens always bad, old conservation models \u2026 etc. Her writing feels effortless and then she gives you lots to kick back against. Rather like finding yourself eating an exotic flavour of ice cream (ice cream\u2014yum, popcorn flavoured\u2014gosh!).
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Christine Platt, Durban<\/h3>\n

Arrival City<\/strong>
\nby Doug Sanders
\n2011, Windmill Books<\/p>\n

It is a remarkable book telling the story of what happens to people arriving in a series of world cities. It explains how they have adapted to the barriers that face them and gives us a much keener understanding of just why the peripheral\u2014or arrival\u2014places in our cities are the way they are. It covers cities in countries as far flung as China, Iran, and France.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Nina-Marie Lister, Toronto<\/h3>\n

The Culture of Nature: The North American Landscape from Disney to the Exxon Valdez<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Alexander Wilson
\n1991, Between the Lines Press<\/p>\n

The late Alexander Wilson (a Canadian landscape designer and cultural critic) pre-dates Cronon in exploring the hierarchical dualisms that underlie our perceptions of nature in an urbanizing world. Wilson asserts that the environmental crisis is a cultural crisis, beyond the confines of landscape, which itself is full of deeply conflicting ideas about the natural world\u2014and these are manifest most powerfully in our cities and suburbs. (For those who can\u2019t access this out-of-print Canadian volume, you might go to David Orr\u2019s [2002]\u00a0The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention<\/em>\u00a0[Oxford Press] for related reasons, but that would be a second recommendation, so\u2026. there.)
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Polly Moseley, Liverpool<\/h3>\n

The Growing Stone<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Albert Camus
\n1957<\/p>\n

In French, La pierre qui pousse<\/em>. A short story, this is brilliant in terms of a story of myth blending with city engineering. It\u2019s about inequalities, about myth-making, about changing the narrative of a town in a deeply democratic way. When I read it a centenary on from Camus\u2019 birth, it blew my mind.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Todd Lester, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/h3>\n

The Practice of Everyday Life<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Michel de Certeau
\n1984, University of California Press<\/p>\n

\u2026and specifically the chapter on “Walking in the City” in which he offers an “operational concept” that attempts to subordinate urban growth to user needs. While one of the primary references for his 1984 work\u2014the World Trade Center\u2014no longer exists and has certainly been surpassed in terms of largesse, de Certeau reaches ahead and amply problematizes extreme edifice for cities “founded by utopian and urbanistic discourse.” He reminds of the “tactics” required to navigate the contemporary city, and equally reaches back to LeFebvre’s \u201cdemand [for] a transformed and renewed access to urban life.\u201d
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Paul Downton, Melbourne<\/h3>\n

Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future<\/strong> <\/em>
\nby Richard Register
\n1987, North Atlantic Books<\/p>\n

The first book with “ecocity” in its title and perhaps the key text of the ecocity movement, this slim volume describes a vision of Berkeley (but it could be any city) as a place of wildness and life, dense with vegetation and people but empty of cars, with a narrative propelled by exuberant enthusiasm and a kind of wild-eyed joy that is rare in city literature. From buildings covered with trees and vegetation to precarious glass-bottomed walkways, recovered creeks, and cars converted into planter boxes, this is the book that let loose many of the memes that now populate city disourse and urban design. Neither conventionally academic nor stiflingly professional, Ecocity Berkeley<\/em> is richly illustrated with naive and quirky drawings that help communicate sublime and sophisticated ideas about fitting a city within the full embrace of nature\u2014read it alongside Murray Bookchin\u2019s Limits of the City<\/em> for a radical social and political analysis of urbanisation and the incomparable Lewis Mumford\u2019s City in History<\/em> for a comprehensive overview of cities that, like Ecocity Berkeley<\/em>, remain absolutely pertinent to understanding that we cannot make a healthy future without balancing our cities with nature.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Mahim Maher, Karachi<\/h3>\n

Karachi: Ordered Disorder and the Struggle for the City<\/em><\/strong>
\nLaurent Gayer
\n2014, OUP & Hurst<\/p>\n

We were lucky, oh so lucky, to have Laurent Gayer explode onto the scene in 2014. Laurent works at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, but came to Karachi for several years to do this book, after having learnt Urdu in India. I believe his ability to conduct his interviews in Urdu, often shocking his unsuspecting subject, was the secret to the success of this granular examination of the forces that shape Karachi. Karachi has a rep for being the most violent city in the world (never mind that Oakland and Ciudad Juarez also once had a higher homicide rate). The violence was inexplicable; sure, experts had their theories, but none of them satisfied me. (I was working as the head of the metropolitan pages during some of its most violent years). What Laurent has done is explain \u201cus\u201d. His brilliant theory is “ordered disorder” or managed chaos. He explains why Karachi continues to function while falling apart every day. Best of all, it is a riveting read because he approaches it almost like a journalist and tells the story. Ordered Disorder<\/em> is essential reading also for anyone who wants to understand the history of modern Karachi, how certain factors have influenced its growth, decay, and resilience, and how we often work \u201cthrough\u201d violence.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Jayne Engle, Montreal<\/h3>\n

Sharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
\n2015, MIT Press<\/p>\n

Everyone should read this book because it makes a case that the guiding purpose of the future city should be understanding the whole city as shared space, and acting to share it fairly. It brings together the notion of the city as a commons with a critical perspective on the sharing economy. Its compelling theory and a rich mix of city cases move the conventional smart city discourse from multinational companies driving city change, to technological innovation in the service of social innovation and well being for all urban dwellers.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Timothy Bonebrake, Hong Kong<\/h3>\n

The Ecology of a City and its People: The Case of Hong Kong<\/em><\/strong>
\nby S. Boyden, S. Millar, K. Newcombe, and B. O\u2019Neill
\n1981, Australian National University Press<\/p>\n

This is a classic book in urban ecology that examines the city from an ecosystem perspective, with humans as a key and integral component of the ecosystem. In the 35 years since the book was published, Hong Kong has changed dramatically in many ways, including a 40 percent increase in population size and skyrocketing rates of consumption\u2014this book provides a fascinating source of perspective in light of these changes. While some of the specific conclusions may well be unique to Hong Kong, the general patterns are largely applicable to growing cities worldwide.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Laura Shillington, Managua & Montreal<\/h3>\n

The City & The City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby China Mi\u00e9ville
\n2003, Penguin\/Random House<\/p>\n

The fundamental idea in The City &\u00a0The City i<\/em>s that two different cities occupy the exact same geographical site. The spaces in the cities overlap, but they are legally separate entities. The cities in the book symbolise the ways in which there are multiple and diverse spaces in real cities, but how certain spaces (and the people who produce and occupy them) are “othered”.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Cecilia Herzog, Rio de Janeiro<\/h3>\n

The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Anne Spirn
\n1984, Basic Books<\/p>\n

The book that made me look at cities in a totally new way is Anne W. Spirn\u2019s The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design<\/em>. It goes deep on how landscape interventions can impact the quality of the urban environment for better or worse. It even predicts what is happening now in many cities around the world.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Naomi Tsur, Jerusalem<\/h3>\n

If Mayors Ruled The World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Benjamin Barber
\n2013, Yale University Press<\/p>\n

Why? Because it addresses boldly, if impractically, the total dysfunctionality of the global division of the world into so-called nations. In an increasingly urban world, the reins of management will be more effective in the hands of cities, especially if their jurisdiction takes in their entire bio-shed. In a world ruled by cities, we can hopefully talk more about urbanism, nature, sewage, garbage, transportation, education, health, prosperity, and cultural diversity\u2014and less about war and peace…
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Steward Pickett, Poughkeepsie<\/h3>\n

The Granite Garden<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Anne\u00a0Spirn
\n1984, Basic Books<\/p>\n

Anne is one of the pioneers and continuing deep thinkers about the relationship of ecological, geological, and climatic processes and context that interact with urban design. Her approach is based on data and knowledge, yet informs the creative and human-centered intentionality of urban design. Her writing is a joy to read, and her insights are still fresh today.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Mark Hostetler, Gainesville<\/h3>\n

Sustainable Landscape Construction: A Guide to Green Building Outdoors<\/strong><\/em>
\nby J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig
\n2007, Island Press<\/p>\n

This book is important because the best design can fail if it is not implemented properly during the construction phase. For example, heritage trees that are marked for conservation in a subdivision development can subsequently die if heavy earthwork machines run over the root zone during construction.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Lindsay Campbell, New York<\/h3>\n

Crabgrass Frontier<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Kenneth Jackson
\n1985, Oxford University Press<\/p>\n

Because to understand the city, we have to understand the suburb. While conditions have changed since this 1985 book, Jackson investigates the role of multiple forces, including technology, transportation, federal policy, culture, and demographic shifts in shaping the suburban form of the United States. I read it as an undergrad in my first geography course, and this book sparked my interest in studying urban planning and later human geography. \u00a0Particularly insightful is his chapter on early federal policies\u2014such as the Federal Highway Act, Home Owners Loan Corporation (origin of redlining), and the Federal Housing Act, showing the institutionalized roots of spatial unevenness and inequality in our urban and suburban form.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

David Simon, Gothenburg<\/h3>\n

Designing Public Policy for Co-production: Theory, practice and change<\/strong>
\nEdited by Catherine Durose and Liz Richardson
\n2016, Policy Press<\/p>\n

This is arguably the best guide to the shortcomings of conventional public policymaking and the potential of co-production methodologies. The diverse authors, a mix of academics and practitioners based in the U.K. and U.S.A., draw on long experience at the (mainly urban) public policy-practice interface to explore the potentials and challenges of experience with diverse forms of transdisciplinary co-design or co-production.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Debra Roberts, Durban<\/h3>\n

Design with Nature<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Ian McHarg
\n1969,\u00a0Natural History Press<\/p>\n

This was one of the first “how to” books addressing nature and cities. Instead of just theorizing about the city and how it might be changed, McHarg offered a practical approach to urban design that allowed the incorporation of nature into city plans. His “overlay” thinking paved the way for subsequent GIS based planning approaches, without which it would be impossible to protect nature and biodiversity in the 21st Century city.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Mathieu H\u00e9lie, Montreal<\/h3>\n

Delirious New York, A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Rem Koolhaas
\n1997,\u00a0The Monacelli Press<\/p>\n

The concept of a retroactive manifesto is a paradigmatic stepping stone from the design stance of city planning to the ecological, emergent stance we need to embrace for urbanism to succeed as a science and practice.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Niki Frantzeskaki, Rotterdam<\/h3>\n

Greening the Red Zone<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Keith Tidball and Marianne Krasny
\n2013, Springer<\/p>\n

I love this book. It shows how communities can take up greening actions as a means to regenerate their areas and reconnect communities with the past and the future. With case studies around the globe in cities that experience devastation because of natural disasters or wars and conflict, the book shows how nature in cities can restore identity and reignite hope for the future.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Jala Makhzoumi, Beirut<\/h3>\n

Damascus City: A Study in Urban Geography<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Safouh Khair
\n1982, Ministry of Culture Publications, Damascus<\/p>\n

In Arabic, a holistic narrative of natural and cultural processes that shaped urban morphology. The book is a must to understand evolution of the three components that shaped the morphology, architecture, and cultural landscape of this ancient oasis city.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Kathleen Wolf, Seattle<\/h3>\n

With People in Mind: Design and Management of Everyday Nature<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Rachel Kaplan, Stephen Kaplan and Robert L. Ryan
\n1998, Island Press<\/p>\n

The book explores how to design and manage areas of “everyday nature” in ways that are beneficial to and appreciated by humans. The book translates many years of empirical studies into practical design and management approaches, and it is a readable and flexible guide for practitioners and managers in many fields. It takes theory and research evidence to small-scale changes that improve quality of life.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Yvonne Lynch, Melbourne<\/h3>\n

The City and the Coming Climate<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Brian Stone Jr.
\n2012, Cambridge University Press<\/p>\n

Climate change will fundamentally challenge the way we design, build, and manage our cities. In this book, Stone explains the pertinent climate science and articulates the profound impact of climate change and urban heating, which are currently affecting our cities. He puts forth a range of interventions that can be considered for adapting our cities and building resilience in a positive manner.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Bharat Dahiya, Bangkok<\/h3>\n

Banaras: Making of India\u2019s Heritage City<\/em><\/strong><\/em>
\n<\/strong>by Rana P.B. Singh
\n2009, \u2028Cambridge Scholars Publishing<\/p>\n

Based on more than three decades of intensive research and intimate acquaintance with the sacred geography and urban cultural history of India\u2019s ancient living city, Professor Rana P.B. Singh, in this pioneering volume, provides an excellent narrative of the making of Banaras\u2014also known as Kashi or Varanasi. This book is a lead reference for understanding the cultural landscape, sacred geometry and cosmogram, archetypal architecture, vivid ritualscapes, and magnificent riverfront heritagescapes of Banaras that portray and maintain the dignity of India\u2019s rich history and culture. This splendid volume also serves as a role model for the multidisciplinary studies of urban cultural landscapes in South Asia and beyond.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Marcelo de Souza, Rio de Janeiro<\/h3>\n

From Urbanization to Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Murray Bookchin
\nRevised ed. 1996, Cassel & Co.<\/p>\n

I think his reflections on cities and urbanization deserve much more attention that has been devoted to them so far. A few reasons:<\/p>\n

1) Bookchin pioneered the analysis of urban ecology and political ecology from a critical viewpoint. His book Our Synthetic Environment<\/em> (published under the penname “Lewis Herber”) was published a couple of months before Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring<\/em>; probably due to the fact that his analysis is much more radical, Rachel’s book turned into a bestseller, while Bookchin’s book not…<\/p>\n

2) Bookchin’s books The Limits of the City<\/em> (1974), Post-Scarcity Anarchism<\/em> (essays written between the mid-1960s and early 1970s) and, above all, Urbanization without Cities<\/em> (1992) are as important or even more important than Lefebvre’s The Right to the City<\/em> and The Urban Revolution<\/em>\u2014but everyone talks only about Lefebvre, who was in some regards not as profound or original as Bookchin.<\/p>\n

3) Bookchin’s “social ecology” is a very important framework for the type of analysis we need in the 21st century.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Gloria Aponte, Medell\u00edn<\/h3>\n

Cities and Natural Process<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Michael Hough
\n1995, Routledge<\/p>\n

Nobody concerned with urban habitat should miss this book, available in English and in Spanish, that reaffirms the role of nature in the city. In six easy to read chapters, landscape as a process is highlighted and understood as the link between nature, humans, and built environment. The author demonstrates that total control (of nature) is impossible and that in attempts to do it, the result is least<\/em> diversity for the most<\/em> effort.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Chantal van Ham, Brussels<\/h3>\n

Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Timothy Beatley
\n2010, Island Press<\/p>\n

I would recommend urban planners to read Timothy Beatley\u2019s Biophilic Cities<\/a><\/em>; it is such a great way to think about what nature means for all of us and especially those who live in cities, and how it can benefit urban citizens in every part of the world.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Katrine Claassens,\u00a0Cape Town<\/h3>\n

Preludes<\/strong><\/em>
\nby T.S. Eliot
\n1911<\/p>\n

Now more than 100 years old, this poem is a haunting look at a turn-of-the-century city, which\u2014despite its description of a London where cab horses “steam and stamp” and lamps must still be manually lit\u2014is shockingly modern. In a smoky, densely populated city, nature lingers, clinging\u00a0uneasily, with “sparrows in the gutters” and vacant lots offering fuel for fires.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

David Goode, Bath<\/h3>\n

Swifts in a Tower<\/strong><\/em>
\nby David Lack
\n1956, Methuen<\/p>\n

Everyone dealing with the ecology of cities should read this, wherever you are in the world. David Lack was a great ecologist and a great writer who produced a wonderful story about the swift, explaining the intricacies of its life in amazing detail and especially its adaptation to city life. His book is a classic in the literature of urban ecology. We all need to understand the detailed workings of urban ecology; there are so many mysteries. This book provides a way into that world that you won\u2019t forget, and you will certainly look at swifts with new eyes.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Steve Brown, Sydney<\/h3>\n

Stories from the Sandstone: Quarantine Inscriptions from Australia’s Immigrant Past<\/strong><\/em>
\nPeter Hobbins, Ursula K Frederick and Anne Clarke
\n2016, Arbon Publishing<\/p>\n

This newly published book is an archaeological-historical investigation of rock inscriptions at Sydney’s former Quarantine Station (1835 \u2013 1979). It charts stories of new arrivals to Australia and the diseases that saw them held at this place for days, weeks, and months. I recommend it for its multiple narratives of the growth of Sydney as an urban, ethnically diverse, and spectacular city from immigration and medical perspectives.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

P.K. Das, Mumbai<\/h3>\n

Ecology and Equity:\u00a0The Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha
\n1995, Routledge<\/p>\n

It is a must read, published by Penguin Books India, but before that by Routledge in 1995. Over the years, I have read parts of this book several times and have extensively quoted\u00a0it\u00a0in my talks and writings.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Shawn Van Sluys, Guelph<\/h3>\n

The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Sarah Schulman
\n2013, University of California Press<\/p>\n

In\u00a0The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination<\/em><\/a>, which Mike Young reviewed for ArtsEverywhere.ca<\/a>, Sarah\u00a0Schulman shows how the gentrification of many neighbourhoods in New York during and after the AIDS crisis correlates to the forgotten politics and socialities of queerness as it intersects with racial and economic struggles. The gentrification of space is the gentrification of the mind through the erasure of histories, relationships, rights, and differences.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Martha Fajardo, Bogota<\/h3>\n

Design With Nature<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Ian McHarg
\n1969, Natural History Press<\/p>\n

Written in the 60s, it could be seen as very outdated\u2014most of the ideologies are largely realized and the methods are practiced. However, it is still relevant for anyone who is interested in humans’ relationship with nature and how can we improve it.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Huda Shaka, Dubai<\/h3>\n

Dubai Amplified: The Engineering of a Port Geography<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Stephen Ramos
\n2010, Routledge<\/p>\n

While Dubai has received some attention from architects and planners recently, the literature on it has been somewhat superficial. This book considers the evolution of the city over the past 50 years and links it to major infrastructure development, an often over-looked aspect. The city of “glam” is actually a city of “ports”. The book provides insights into the politics and economics of development in the Arabian Gulf.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Stephanie Pincetl, Los Angeles<\/h3>\n

Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Bernard Rudofsky
\n1965, The Museum of Modern Art<\/p>\n

It shows the wisdom and creativity of builders who did not have a formal education, but were observant and inventive. The traditional forms and materials both came from local places and were built to shelter from heat and cold and to take advantage of natural phenomena such as wind and sun to create livable cities and communities. The end results were cities and villages that addressed local conditions for thermal and human well-being.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Mary Miss, New York<\/h3>\n

The Great Derangement<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Amitav Ghosh
\n2016, University of Chicago Press<\/p>\n

I really enjoyed this book because of the way Ghosh makes clear the important role of “culture” in thinking about the climate crisis, whether it’s the role the writer \/ artist has in making such a topic central to our thinking about the world or the way our “political culture” has brought us to this point. Ghosh writes with great insight and allows us to track these links in a very compelling way.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Franco Montalto, Philadelphia<\/h3>\n

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things<\/strong><\/em>
\nby William McDonough and Michael Braggart
\n2002, North Point Press<\/p>\n

I have found Cradle to Cradle<\/em> seminal in my development. It makes the critically important distinction between eco-effective and eco-efficient design. The former is a radical departure from how we’ve made things for most of the industrial history of the world. The latter is simply a slower way of destroying the world. I believe this book is of interest to all involved in the design process, regardless of scale.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Diana Wiesner, Bogot\u00e1<\/h3>\n

Naturaleza Urbana. plataforma de experiencias<\/em><\/strong>
\nedited by Mar\u00eda Ang\u00e9lica Mej\u00eda
\n2016, Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n de Recursos Biol\u00f3gicos Alexander von Humboldt
\nThe Spanish version of the book can be downloaded here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Es necesario contemplar las acciones concretas de la Ciudadan\u00eda respecto al cuestionamiento del papel de la naturaleza en la ciudad. Los gobiernos locales subestiman el poder de la acci\u00f3n ciudadana. Uno de los potenciales m\u00e1s poderosos es la capacidad que puede tener una complicidad p\u00fablico privada para una gesti\u00f3n efectiva de la biodiversidad en la transformaci\u00f3n positiva de las ciudades. Este libro se logr\u00f3 gracias a la participaci\u00f3n de m\u00e1s de 80 casos en diversos lugares de Colombia.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Paula Segal, New York<\/h3>\n

Invisible Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Italo Calvino
\n1972,\u00a0Harcourt Brace & Company<\/p>\n

Invisible Cities,<\/em> for understanding that cities themselves are organisms that run on empathy.<\/p>\n

Always good to re-read to remember that everything we build or reconstruct will be seen with many, many different eyes and be part of many, many different stories.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Stephan Barthel, Stockholm<\/h3>\n

The Death and Life of Great American Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Jane Jacobs
\n1961, Random House<\/p>\n

It opens up a view of the city as an ecosystem. It is a must read for anyone combating the “hot planning topic of densification”. Such an agenda builds, to some degree, on Jacobs’\u00a0thinking\u2014but with a selective interpretation of it. She was one of the first describing how social capital is built in neighborhoods in large cities, and one of the first describing how the gentrification process works (but long before any of those terms were theorized). She lacked an understanding about the benefits humans obtain by interacting with natural environments, which is\u00a0her drawback. But hey, no one is perfect. Great book, great humanist, and great systems thinker!
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Richard Scott, Liverpool<\/h3>\n

Cities for People<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Jan Gehl
\n2010, Island Press<\/p>\n

Considering cities through five human senses is a good place to describe how we react to the spaces around us, and how best to respond to them. It’s a great starting point for planning better cities.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Eric Sanderson, New York<\/h3>\n

Carfree Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby J.H. Crawford
\n2002, International Books<\/p>\n

Little known but much loved by those who have had the pleasure of reading it, J.H. Crawford’s book, Carfree Cities<\/em>, walks through every aspect of what it would be like to live in a town or city without cars. Thoughtful and surprising, this short book will remind you of Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language<\/em>, Jan Gehl’s devotion to livable cities, and Richard Perl’s systemic understanding of how transportation shapes urban form, all before Google’s Self-Driving Car or Uber were on the horizon. Illustrated by Arin Verner.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

David Tittle, Chatham<\/h3>\n

Cities in Civilisation<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Peter Hall
\n1998, Pantheon<\/p>\n

Professor Hall brings together a lifetime of scholarship on the nature and functioning of cities to weave an extraordinary story of economics, politics, anthropology, and culture across millennia and continents. It is a huge tome, but at the same time is enjoyably readable and a great resource for understanding the city\u2019s role in the history of our species, and the complex combination of factors that make for great cities.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Timon McPhearson, New York<\/h3>\n

Concrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Matthew Gandy
\n2002, MIT Press<\/p>\n

Concrete and Clay<\/em> wonderfully traces the development of New York City and the shifting and contrasting views within key development projects integrate a \u201cmetropolitan nature\u201d in the city and the region. The focus on capital and political power in decision-making and the impact this has on urban environments is a useful history that remains important as a story about the impacts of urban development on all nature in the context of an urbanizing planet.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Philip Silva, New York<\/h3>\n

Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature<\/em><\/strong>
\nEdited by William Cronon
\n1996, W. W. Norton & Company<\/p>\n

Nature\u2019s Metropolis<\/em> (1992), Cronon\u2019s history of Chicago and its Western hinterland, would probably be a more obvious fit for this list. Yet Uncommon Ground<\/em> is a primer for deconstructing many widely held misconceptions about the relationship between humans and nature, including the place of cities in an environmentally enlightened society. The introduction alone should be required reading for any student of cities and the environment.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Divya Gopal, Berlin<\/h3>\n

Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Harini Nagendra
\n2016, Oxford University Press<\/p>\n

The book is a good mix of research findings and narratives from locals about urban nature in an Indian city. It helps the reader to understand the various factors (colonial past, economics, poverty, development, etc.) that play a role in \u201cwhat\u201d and \u201chow\u201d urban nature is in the Indian sub-continent, and perhaps is applicable to many other cities in developing countries.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Shuaib Lwasa, Kampala<\/h3>\n

Urban Environments in Africa: A Critical Analysis of Environmental Politics<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Garth Myers
\n2016, University of Chicago Press<\/p>\n

This book analyses power and resultant cityscapes through the Situated Urban Political Ecology lenses. Drawing on various examples from Africa, it reflects on how power shapes urban environments, leading to different configurations. Myers argues that urban African environments go beyond just power versus counter power to a structure of feeling\u2014that assessing urban physical environments merely as sites of risks misses seeing these cities as wellsprings of environmental opportunities.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Susan Parnell, Cape Town<\/h3>\n

New Babylon New Nineveh: Everyday Life on the Witwatersrand, 1886-1914<\/strong><\/em>
\nBy Charles Van Onselen
\n2011, Jonathan Ball Publishers<\/p>\n

I love Gwendoline Wright\u2019s volume on the Politics of Urban Design in French Colonial Urbanism<\/em> because it’s the South speaking back to the North\u2014but the “urban” book that really got me hooked on doing city research and convinced me, as a geographer, that there was a real value in a historical perspective, is Olsen\u2019s two-volume set of essays about Johannesburg. Beautifully written, place and people sensitive\u2014but with a much bigger understanding of political economy.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Hitesh Mehta, Miami<\/h3>\n

Life between Buildings: Using Pubic Space<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Jan Gehl
\n1980, John Wiley & Sons<\/p>\n

A must-have for any library shelf on city planning. First published in 1980, it was both enlightening and thoughtful, and even then asked the fundamental question “What has happened to life in cities?”. The book has had a lasting influence on the quality of public open spaces and has especially helped architects and urban planners better understand the larger public life of cities. Focused on how humans use public spaces, Gehl places substance and quantitative research behind urban planning.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Claire Weisz<\/h3>\n

The Fall of Public Man<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Richard Sennett
\n1977, W. W. Norton & Company<\/p>\n

The book that made the first cultural argument about the loss of the civic commons that was the genesis of urbanity.<\/p>\n

Also a great piece of writing.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Patrick Lydon, Seoul<\/h3>\n

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered<\/strong><\/em>
\nby E.F. Schumacher
\n1973, Harper & Row<\/p>\n

An economic text for those in search of an economy that works for people and the environment, Schumacher’s treatise has been called one of the most influential books published in the past century. Based in the kind of socially and ecologically connected thinking where the well-being of people and cities sprouts from something more basic than sheer economic and industrial growth, the writing offers invaluable philosophical and practical wisdom for those looking to achieve the trifecta of social, economic, and ecological sustainability. Regardless of the discipline, every successful sustainability plan is bound to find its roots tucked somewhere in the theories of Small is Beautiful<\/em>.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Kate Orff, New York<\/h3>\n

Great Expectations<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Charles Dickens
\n1860<\/p>\n

A novel that traces how cities began forming the modern backdrop for humanity and a portrait of the multiple human stories and twists of fate (luck, cruelty, love) that cities foster.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Genie Birch, Philadelphia & New York<\/h3>\n

The Works: Anatomy of a City<\/strong><\/em>
\nKate Ascher
\n2007, Penguin Press<\/p>\n

Kate Ascher introduces this portrait of urban infrastructure based on New York City with a wise observation: \u201cRarely does a resident of any of the world\u2019s great metropolitan areas pause to consider the complexity of urban life or the myriad systems that operate around the clock to support it.\u201d She then offers a richly illustrated compendium that explains five systems: transport of people and freight, power, communications, water, and sanitation. While slightly outdated due to the absence of a current description of today\u2019s technology, it is an accessible and informative primer. The final chapter, \u201cThe Future,\u201d lays out key concerns.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Lena Chan, Singapore<\/h3>\n

Design With Nature<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Ian McHarg
\n1969, Natural History Press<\/p>\n

A must-read book. Inspirational. I first read it in 1981, still find it relevant, and always discover something new each time I re-visit it.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Eduardo Brondizio, Bloomington<\/h3>\n

Dreaming Equality:
\nColor, Race, and Racism in Urban Brazil<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Robin Sheriff
\n2001, Rutgers University Press<\/p>\n

An ethnographic analysis of race relations from the perspective of residents of a Rio favela.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Jason Schupbach, Washington<\/h3>\n

The Image of the City<\/strong><\/em>
\nBy Kevin Lynch
\n1960, MIT Press<\/p>\n

An absolute essential, in this short book, Lynch revolutionized the way city planners thought about how people move through and view their cities. The basic lessons of what elements a well-designed city has are all here. It will shift your thinking of how residents of a place conceive of their city, and change the way you look at a city yourself.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Zo\u00e9 Hamstead, Buffalo<\/h3>\n

The Manhattan Project: Theory of a City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby David Kishik
\n2015, Stanford University Press<\/p>\n

This book is the elaboration of a “hypothesis” that Walter Benjamin did not commit suicide at Portbou, but in fact faked his own suicide and successfully fled Nazi Germany. In the book, The Manhattan Project<\/em> is his manuscript, discovered in the NY Public Library (after his actual death), which articulates a theory of a place and the ways in which the form of the city shapes us in situated ways. New York is seen as an urban implosion, deriving its power from increased density and diversity\u2014the economic, artistic, environmental, and equity dimensions of this urbanist movement are explored in relation to works and worldviews of Mumford, Jacobs, Arendt, and a slew of other important thinkers. It is a playful and thought-provoking work that experiments with place-based, fictional philosophy in the urban context.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Thomas Elmqvist, Stockholm<\/h3>\n

Global Cities: A Short History<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Greg Clark
\n2016, Brookings Institution Press<\/p>\n

The book gives a very interesting overview of past waves of globalisation events and the formation of city networks going back 4,000 years, up to the patterns and processes underlying today\u2019s globalisation and formation of large city networks.
\nThe book ends with an analysis and discussion of the globalisation and cities of the future. Although there are vast differences between the networks of cities along the ancient Silk Roads and the 21st-century system of global value chains and competitive advantage, there are also striking parallels. The author argues that the leaders of today\u2019s cities can learn much from how those in previous waves built and sustained their competitive attributes, and how to avoid becoming locked into unsustainable or unproductive cycles of development.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Brian McGrath, Newark<\/h3>\n

Nature’s Metropolis:
\n<\/strong><\/em>Chicago and the Great West<\/strong><\/em>
\nby William Cronon
\n1992, W. W. Norton & Company<\/p>\n

For me, an architect, Nature’s Metropolis<\/em> helped me see cities in a much more complex way.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Jon Halfon, New York<\/h3>\n

\"this-changes-everything\"This Changes Everything<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Naomi Klein
\n2014, Simon & Schuster<\/p>\n

It might be a little too politically orientated for the list (although it shouldn\u2019t be), but it does a fantastic job looking at the political and economic structures that are impeding large scale actions to address climate change. A little light on concrete solutions, but some worthwhile examinations on the roles of community organizing, protection of indigenous rights, and natural disaster recovery as the catalysts for system wide change.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Anne Trumble, Los Angeles<\/h3>\n

Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em>by Ursula K. Heise
\n2016,\u00a0University of Chicago Press<\/p>\n

Heise effectively argues why any advocacy on behalf of endangered species must understand the cultural frameworks that shape what we think is and isn’t valuable in nature. As Heise illustrates in her twisting and turning narrative through the diverse ways humans make cultural assumptions about nature, conflicts and convergences of these things in the Anthropocene open up a new vision of multi-species justice. Imagining Extinction<\/em> makes it clear that cities are ground zero for this vision.
\nBuy the book<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Katerina Elias, S\u00e3o Paulo<\/h3>\n

Cities for a Small Planet <\/em><\/strong>
\nby Richard Rogers
\n1998, Basic Books<\/p>\n

In this book, Richard Rogers speaks to everyone: no matter the reader\u2019s level of experience in urbanism and architecture, Roger reels in his readers, who in exchange are taken on a journey through the history of urbanism, urban decay, ecological design, and ultimately, humanity. This book is a potential classic in urban literature, and a fantastic entry point for beginners, or a recap for specialists, to contemplate the role of our cities and their potential for being a driving force for greater sustainability.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Xuemei Bai, Canberra<\/h3>\n

\u738b\u5982\u677e:\u300a\u9ad8\u6548\u3001\u548c\u8c10–\u57ce\u5e02\u8c03\u63a7\u539f\u7406\u4e0e\u65b9\u6cd5\u300b, \u6e56\u5357\u6559\u80b2\u51fa\u7248\u793e, 1988, 278\u9875.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Efficiency and Harmony: Principles and methods of urban system regulation and control<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Rusong Wang
\n1988, Hunan Education Publisher<\/p>\n

Rusong Wang is an internationally renowned urban system ecologist, whose work laid the foundation of urban ecology research in China, and influenced and contributed greatly to the theory and practice of eco-city development in China. Although not always highly cited in the English literature, some of the concepts and thoughts presented in this book\u2014e.g., cities as complex social-economic-ecological systems\u2014were inspirational in the 1980s and are cutting edge even today. Nominating this book is also a way to pay tribute to a fine urban scholar and his achievement\u2014he passed away in 2014 at the age of 67.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Fran\u00e7ois Mancebo, Paris<\/h3>\n

The Right to the City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Henri Lefebvre
\n(in French, Le droit \u00e0 la Ville<\/strong><\/em>)
\n1968, Peninsula<\/p>\n

Let’s turn to the great classics. The Right to the City<\/em> is a touchstone for people working on social production of space and justice in the city. Some, like Susan Feinstein, consider that The Right to the City<\/em> is more a rhetorical device than a policy-making tool. Still, this book, published in 1968, has inspired countless academic authors and practitioners in urban planning and urban design up through today.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Andrew Grant, Bath<\/h3>\n

The Night Life of Trees<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Durga Bai, Bhajju Shyam, and Ram Singh Urveti
\n2006, Tara Books<\/p>\n

This is a hand printed, illustrated book that I turn to when thinking about trees in cities. It captures the luminous spirits of trees at night, as portrayed by the Gond tribe in central India, and communicates the intimate relationship between the people and the forest that goes well beyond simple functional dependency into a way of life and thought. It is a visual reference for how we can relink our imagination and culture with urban nature.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Andrew Revkin, New York<\/h3>\n

The Well-Tempered City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Jonathan F.P. Rose
\n2016, Harper Collins<\/p>\n

It’s a welcome summary of studies and cases showing that the social and cultural infrastructure of cities can be\u00a0as important as the physical infrastructure.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Raquel Pe\u00f1alosa, Montreal<\/h3>\n

The Death and Life of Great American Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Jane Jacobs
\n1961, Random House<\/p>\n

Because of its intemporality, it is always inspiring to new generations\u2014to transform the City, and mostly its people. It remains fresh and pertinent in its transversality, dealing with social, urban, human, gender, and generational issues in a simple and engaged manner.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

\"henfrey\"Tom Henfrey, Bristol<\/h3>\n

The Oregon Experiment<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Christopher Alexander
\n1975, Oxford University Press<\/p>\n

Christoper Alexander\u2019s \u201cPattern Language\u201d trilogy sets out a compelling vision and agenda for a new participatory approach to architecture and urban design, where planning and settlement act as ongoing generative processes that reflect the deepest creative impulses of the universe itself. Of the three books, The Oregon Experiment<\/em> is the most compact, and situates the philosophy set out in The Timeless Way of Building<\/em> and methodology of A Pattern Language<\/em> within the context of implementation of a real-world case study. Buy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Mike Houck, Portland<\/h3>\n

The Last Landscape<\/strong><\/em>
\nby William H. Whyte
\n1970, Doubleday Anchor<\/p>\n

Everyone, but particularly those working on park open space (I hate that term), and planning issues (regional especially) should read this old, but never more relevant, book. A comprehensive, holistic rationale for integrating nature into the city and natural resource planning across the urban and rural (regional) landscape. Inspires me today as much as on my first reading 35\u00a0years ago.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Ian MacGregor-Fors, Xalapa<\/h3>\n

Concrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Niles Eldredge & Sidney Horenstein
\n2014, University of California Press<\/p>\n

This book is a walk-through of New York City, from the geological origin of the land on which it sprawls to the current social-environmental actions that are being considered to tackle the city’s issues. Although the book focuses on NYC, much of its content applies to large cities around the globe. It is very well written, mostly for a general audience, and provides fantastic details.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Ana Luisa Artesi, Buenos Aires<\/h3>\n

Horizon 101 \u2013 Reflections and Paintings<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Jala Makhzoumi
\n2010,\u00a0Dar Onboz<\/p>\n

I strongly recomend Jala Makhzoumi’s\u00a0“101 horizons”<\/b>, for students and people involved in Landscape in cities as a fundamental reading to see a different point of view.<\/div>\n
From a room with a view of the Mediterranean, in an artistic and emotional story, with poetry and illustrations, and also … blank spaces, Jala describes a Landscape where all Theories and Methodologies are surpassed by the day to day of a terrible and seemingly endless war.\u00a0Despite all the fears, Jala paints, draws, dreams, wishes … expressing from her soul, so that we can understand the depth of this moment.<\/div>\n
The text in both languages, Arabic and English.<\/div>\n<\/div>
\n

Emilio Fantin, Bologna<\/h3>\n

L\u2019anima dei luoghi: conversazione con Carlo Truppi<\/strong><\/em>
\nby James Hillman
\nRCS, Milano<\/p>\n

L\u2019anima dei luoghi<\/em> (The Soul of the Place) is the transcript of a dialogue between the psychologist James Hilmann and the architect Carlo Truppi; it is aimed at understanding the profound identity between culture and nature. The nature of the place is rediscovered as a new subject of reference that has to establish new relations of meaning and to change human perceptions. To respect a “territory” by protecting it ecologically, instead of destroying it, means allowing its energy to live, to survive over time, and to come down to us. Hilmann’s perspective shows us how geographic coordinates can be seen as an expression of the soul of the place, and it also explains how in the same place, churches of different religions, and villages and cities of different ethnicities and culture, have given rise to a stratification of signs and memories. The book has not been translated to\u00a0English.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Bram Gunther, New York<\/h3>\n

Baltimore School of Urban Ecology: Space, Scale, and Time for the Study of Cities<\/strong><\/em>
\nby J. Morgan Grove, Mary Cadenasso, Steward T. Pickett, Gary E. Machlis, William R. Burch Jr., Laura A. Ogden
\n2015, Yale University Press<\/p>\n

A great story about an early and pioneering long-term ecology study city and how the study team blended social and ecological attributes to more deeply understand urban systems. Well written and speaks to all of us working in this arena.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

E.J. McAdams, New York<\/h3>\n

City Eclogue<\/strong>
\nby Ed Roberson
\n2006, Atelos<\/p>\n

One of the few American poets with field experience in biology, Ed Roberson brings his innovative poetic forms and radical imagination to singing the ecological, political, and racial ecosystems of the city. If The Nature of Cities community is going to read one poetry book in 2017, this is it!
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Samarth Das, Mumbai<\/h3>\n

Housing Without Houses: Participation, Flexibility, Enablement
\n<\/em><\/strong>by Nabeel Hamdi
\n1995, Practical Action<\/p>\n

Hamdi\u00a0focuses on\u00a0participatory planning as an essential component of sustainable development,\u00a0with\u00a0local communities at the forefront leading discussions and contributing to the production of neighborhoods in cities. The failures of the state and market forces to provide housing have been demonstrated in numerous cases, and the book discusses how architects and designers along with citizens are responsible for building just cities. Hyper-local knowledge of local citizens is\u00a0an incredible resource that architects can tap while making their cases for production of neighborhoods. The book also emphasizes how local bodies need to work in unison with state powers to promote equitable development, with a\u00a0balance of new production and preservation of cultural aspects of daily living. The\u00a0traditional roles of architects need to be challenged and evolved in order to develop strategies for development from the ground up in today\u2019s context. This is a must read for all!
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Jane Battersby, Cape Town<\/h3>\n

Hungry City<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Carolyn Steel
\n2008, Random House<\/p>\n

Food fundamentally shapes our cities\u2019 ecologies, economies, and social lives, but most people hardly ever consider how it reaches our plates in cities. Hungry City<\/em> traces food from farm to fork and beyond. It will not only make you look at food in a new way, but will give you a new perspective on cities; as Steel herself says, “In order to understand cities properly, we need to look at them through food\u201d.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Patrice Milillo, Los Angeles<\/h3>\n

The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It\u2019s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life <\/strong><\/em>
\nby Richard Florida
\n2002, Basic Books<\/p>\n

This book explains how important placemaking is and the economic power wielded by creativity.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Rob McDonald, Washington<\/h3>\n

City Trees: A Historical Geography from the Renaissance through the 19th Century<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Henry Lawrence
\n2008, University of Virginia Press<\/p>\n

What is mind-blowing in this book is the painstaking reconstruction of tree cover and parks in major cities from the 16th century on. It really changes your perspective to learn, for instance, that the Dutch practice of having trees along canals spread to trees along streets in Amsterdam, and that the initial response of most observers from other countries was bewilderment (why in the world would you want trees in a city?!). The book provides the detailed historical evidence that how we have tried to use nature in cities has changed and expanded multiple times since the renaissance, and (optimistically) could expand again even in our current urban century.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Fadi Hamdan, Beirut<\/h3>\n

Al Muqaddimah<\/strong><\/em>
\nBy Ibn Khaldoun
\n1377<\/p>\n

In particular, \u00a0Chapter 4. Some modern thinkers view it as the first work dealing with the philosophy of history or the social sciences of sociology, regarding the evolution of cities. It is an attempt at critical thinking in 1377 AD; unfortunately, that AD-thinking is much needed in 2016 in our Middle East region, and perhaps even beyond. Of course, much of what it says is now not applicable, but the critical thinking methodology is remarkable for its time. Buy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Sheila Foster, New York<\/h3>\n

Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Edward Glaeser
\n2011, Penguin Books<\/p>\n

It is a well-written, comprehensive paean to cities of all kinds across the world. It is also full of insights and policy prescriptions which, whether one agrees with them or not (and there is much I disagree with), challenges assumptions about how and why some cities succeed and others falter. A terrific read for our urban era in which cities will play an outsized role in economic life, politics, and culture.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Ben Feldman, Los Angeles<\/h3>\n

Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder<\/em> <\/strong>
\nby Richard Louv
\n2008, Algonquin Books<\/p>\n

As a landscape architect, father of a four-year-old and uncle of two autistic nephews, reading the book further clarified a personal cause of purpose to make a case for creating meaningful places to expose children to nature in its many forms.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n

Mike Wells, Bath<\/h3>\n

Green Design: From Theory to Practice<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Ken Yeang and Arthur Spector, eds.
\n2011, Blackdog Architecture<\/p>\n

Yeang and Spector have been doing the green thing in cities\u2014not just thinking about it\u2014longer than almost anyone. This book is a temperature take on where we are and should be in delivery of green, sustainable, biodiverse cities in practice. It links across all or most design themes\u2014not just addressing low or zero carbon, or water sensitive urban design, and stopping there, but making the point that the sustainable city has to be truly green, vegetated, biodiverse, and biophilic, too. Architects need ecologists to design good cities.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/div>

\n

Laura Spinadel, Vienna<\/h3>\n

Campus WU: A Holistic History<\/em><\/strong>
\nby Ila Berman
\n2013, BOA buero fuer offensive aleatorik<\/p>\n

Unlike the global village, which in its attempt to homogenize is increasingly exclusive, we understand that holistic villages, like the Campus WU, are the places that celebrate diversity and inclusion. Our actions can give form to holistic societies. That is our hope and a dream we want to share with all those who we meet along our way and which on the Campus WU was the common denominator and the holistic fire that united us before the proposed challenge. And so it was that on the back cover of the book Campus WU: A Holistic History<\/em>, I wrote: \u201cIt is about the making of places that seek a dialogue with creation, with the hope of encouraging the people who experience our spaces to unconsciously perceive them. The reality is showing me that something magical happened in Vienna and that thousands of people allow themselves to be seduced by this utopia that became reality.\u201d
\n<\/div>

\n

Adrian Benepe, New York<\/h3>\n

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York<\/strong><\/em>
\nby Robert Caro
\n1975, Knopf Doubleday<\/p>\n

The Power Broker<\/em> by Robert Caro, and not necessarily as a pro Jane-Jacobs morality tale.<\/p>\n

For example, Robert Moses tripled the NYC park system in size\u2014the biggest periods of park creation and expansion in NYC’s history.
\nBuy the book.<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

, Lena Chan, Singapore Design With Nature by Ian McHarg 1969, Natural History Press A must-read book. Inspirational. I first read it in 1981, still find it relevant, and always discover something new each time I re-visit it. Buy the book. Jala Makhzoumi, Beirut Damascus City: A Study in Urban Geography by Safouh Khair 1982, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":24923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"wp-custom-template-roundtable-posts","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[300,938,298,299,280,297],"tags":[81,63,40,44,47,43,401,73,104,49,55,601,28,92,448,166,91,96,242,34,38,392,557,84,23,66,405,88,65,33,27,90,29],"coauthors":[361],"class_list":["post-18516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay-art-and-awareness","category-europe","category-essay-people-and-communitites","category-essay-place-and-design","category-roundtable","category-essay-science-and-tools","tag-africa","tag-agriculture","tag-architecture","tag-art","tag-asia","tag-awareness","tag-biodiversity","tag-biophilia","tag-climate-change","tag-communities","tag-conservation","tag-culture","tag-design","tag-development","tag-disastersred-zone","tag-ecocities","tag-economics","tag-ecosystem-services","tag-education","tag-experiencing-nature","tag-gardens","tag-justice","tag-landscape","tag-livability","tag-north-america","tag-parks","tag-participationdemocracy","tag-planning","tag-policy","tag-resilience","tag-south-america","tag-sustainability","tag-what-is-urban-nature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57927,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18516\/revisions\/57927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18516"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenatureofcities.com\/TNOC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=18516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}