The landscapes of North America, including eastern forests, have been shaped by humans for millennia, through fire, agriculture, hunting, and other means.
Around the world, countries marvel at the Netherland’s impressive cycling culture and infrastructure while an insidious “that would never work here” attitude prevents real change from happening. But the Dutch overcame many of the same challenges as other car-clogged countries, and their story is an important model for moving the rest of the world toward a more human-scale, bike-friendly future.
Since the publication of the first edition in 2000, Sustainable Landscape Construction has helped to spur a movement towards resilient outdoor environments, in the U.S. and throughout the world. The third edition has been updated to include important recent developments in this landscape revolution. It remains essential reading for everyone with an interest in "green" design of outdoor spaces and infrastructures.
By 2050 we will have ten billion mouths to feed in a world profoundly altered by environmental change. How we meet this challenge will be the difference between food abundance and shortage, environmental preservation or destruction, and even life and death. We have the tools and ingenuity needed to achieve global food security—but the pursuit of a secure future begins with a clear understanding of the challenges facing our food system today.
For decades, collaborative design has helped enliven neighborhoods and promote racial, economic, and social justice. But in an era marked by climate change, growing income inequality, and major advances in technology, designers are acknowledging the limitations of public forums and other conventional methods of community engagement.
Cities across the globe have been designed with a primary goal of moving people around quickly—and the costs are becoming ever more apparent. The consequences are measured in smoggy air basins, sprawling suburbs, a failure to stem traffic congestion, and 1.25 million traffic fatalities each year. It is clear that change is needed. Instead of planning primarily for mobility, our cities should recalibrate planning and design to focus on the safety, health, and access of people in them.
Resilience is often conflated with climate change adaptation and infrastructure, but this oversimplification may be limiting our ability to overcome the complex challenges facing our global community. The failure of international efforts to surmount problems of environmental degradation, fossil fuel dependence, economic inequality, and persistent social injustice mean that resilience-building efforts at the community level are needed more than ever. But what does resilience actually mean, and how can it be done in a way that’s effective and equitable?
Excess asphalt contributes to stormwater runoff, which can carry pollutants into water bodies and overwhelm sewer systems. As more and more cities reclaim street space for human life and habitat and enact far-reaching plans to address climate change, there is need for guidance on how to integrate valuable ecological processes into urban streets.