Cities are growing at unprecedented rates. Most continue to sprawl into the countryside. Some are only now adopting policies that attempt to control air pollution from vehicles, reduce water pollution from urban runoff, and repair fragmented urban ecosystems. Can good urban design and sound environmental design coincide at a neighborhood level to create healthy communities?
Absolutely, and the strategies presented by Cynthia Girling and Ronald Kellett in Skinny Streets and Green Neighborhoods illustrate how to weave together contemporary thinking in urban planning with open space planning and urban ecology. Drawing from eighteen case studies, these green neighborhoods are the best examples of how the natural environment can play integral roles in neighborhoods.
Green neighborhoods offer a mix of housing types in order to serve a broad cross-section of people with a finely-grained variety of land uses and services, all close to home. In ecologically sound communities, the urban landscape is a functioning part of the whole ecosystem. Wooded areas, meandering streams, wetlands, and open spaces are planned and engineered to clean the air and the water. Skinnier streets and practical pathways weave into a functional, economical network to provide a range of equally good transportation choices, from walking to mass transit, that move people efficiently and economically.
This book moves beyond identifying problems to demonstrate proven methods and models that solve multiple, complex problems in concert. With innovative ideas and practical advice, Skinny Streets and Green Neighborhoods is a guide for today's planners, architects, engineers, and developers to design better neighborhoods and a more natural metropolis.
Review Quotes
"Skinny Streets and Green Neighborhoods, a synthesis of the best ideas about urban planning and greenspace, could not come at a better time. Girling and Kellert provide a blueprint for creatively interweaving gray and green infrastructure, urban design, and the environment. The results are sustainable neighborhoods and green metropolitan regions that artfully preserve nature and create better cities." Mike Houck, Executive Director, Urban Greenspaces Institute
"A great treat. This well-researched, clearly presented book is a crisp validation of what my eyes, ears, feet, and heart have been saying to me on my ten year trek working in 2,000 different communities. This book is a great companion for my own journey, as I know it will be for environmentalists and urbanists who need to come together on a common language and knowledge. This book shows the path to a sustainable future." Daniel Burden, Senior Urban Designer and Director of Walkable Communities, Inc.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Growing Compact
Growing Green
Growing Compact and Green
Chapter 1. Green Neighborhoods
-Defining Green Neighborhoods
-An Example:The Royal Avenue Plan
-Network and Fabric?Green and Gray
Chapter 2. Case Studies
-Overview
-Radburn
-Stapleton
-Playa Vista
-The Beach
-Coffee Creek Center
-Orenco Station
-Heritage Park
-Villebois
Chapter 3. Green Networks
-Fragmented Systems
-Engaging Landscape Ecology
-Green Networks and Form
-Connecting Region to Neighborhood
-Green Networks Strategies
Chapter 6. Green Fabric
-Urban Forest as Green Infrastructure
-Planting Green Streets
-Defining Neighborhood Space
-Green Fabric Strategies
Chapter 7. Urban Water
-Sustaining Urban Water
-Stormwater as Civic Amenity
-Linking across Scales
-Whole Water Systems
-Urban Water Strategies
Chapter 8. Getting to Green Neighborhoods
-Thinking, Seeing, and Knowing "Green"
-Nested Parcels, Districts, Neighborhoods, and Regions
-Integrating Compact Green and Gray: Vancouver, British Columbia
-Reflections on Green Neighborhoods
