During his three terms as mayor of Curitiba, Brazil in the 1970s and ‘80s, architect and urbanist Jaime Lerner transformed his city into a global model of the sustainable and livable community. From the pioneering Bus Rapid Transit system to parks designed to catch runoff and reduce flooding and the creation of pedestrian-only zones, Lerner has been the driving force behind a host of innovative urban projects. In more than forty years of work in cities around the globe, Lerner has found that changes to a community don’t need to be large-scale and expensive to have a transformative impact—in fact, one block, park, or a single person can have an outsized effect on life in the surrounding city.
In Urban Acupuncture, Lerner celebrates these “pinpricks” of urbanism—projects, people, and initiatives from around the world that ripple through their communities to uplift city life. With meditative and descriptive prose, Lerner brings readers around the world to streets and neighborhoods where urban acupuncture has been practiced best, from the bustling La Boqueria market in Barcelona to the revitalization of the Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul, South Korea. Through this journey, Lerner invites us to re-examine the true building blocks of vibrant communities—the tree-lined avenues, night vendors, and songs and traditions that connect us to our cities and to one another.
Urban Acupuncture is the first of Jaime Lerner’s visionary work to be published in English. It is a love letter to the elements that make a street hum with life or a neighborhood feel like home, penned by one of the world’s most successful advocates for sustainable and livable urbanism.
Review Quotes
"Pragmatic, idealistic, poetic, and humane, Lerner's book is both a primer and a manifesto on the necessity and indispensability of the metropolis. The author poignantly encourages the reader to save, heal, and love cities." Architectural Record
"This set of musings, a translation of the original Brazilian Portuguese book, pulls you in with its natural, intimate tone; it’s like you are sitting and having a conversation with Lerner over a glass of wine in a cafe."
The Dirt
"Urban Acupuncture captures Lerner’s philosophy, expansive mind, and his dynamic personality through a series of anecdotes, musings, even a poem. Most are short — think of them as haikus for the urban planner — and thought-provoking. An unusual book from an unusual thinker, but with lessons that have broad application." The Nature Conservancy's Science Chronicles
"Urban Acupuncture is a book that enlightens and inspires through eloquent prose explaining common sense solutions. To this end, Lerner concludes the book with a guide to how each of us express our love for the city and some small steps or ‘pinpricks’ we can take to apply urban acupuncture ourselves." Spacing
"Joyful, uplifting book… As the author proves through his wonderful anecdotes, the heart of a city is made of individuals who know and love it, who care for it and work and live in it. With obvious fondness and even delight for the topic, this lovely little guide expresses the joy felt in cities, great and small, that stay human because of these small points of care." San Francisco Book Review
"...a smart, quick read that urges urban residents to take a closer look at their everyday surroundings and find small but significant ways to improve the urban landscape..." Oculus
"[Readers] will come away from this read with their heads overflowing with ideas, inspired to do something themselves in the belief that a better world really is possible." New York Journal of Books
"Jaime Lerner’s Urban Acupuncture delves deeply into urban life and what makes cities tick. Drawing on his success as both a designer and politician, Lerner sets out a series of insightful concepts and practical recommendations for enriching urban life....Do not open this book expecting maps, formulas, and detailed instructions. Instead, look at it as a conversation with a wise, influential, award-winning thinker who reveals his hard-won secrets for improving city life...At its heart, this slim book is a love letter to the colors, sounds, sights, places, and memories of the quintessential city." Urban Land
"This is the best of Jaime Lerner, a lover of cities and as true an expert as there is in understanding what makes them tick and how to make them better. To read him is to hear him speak, with gusto, love, humor, deep caring, and inspiring ideas. Urban Acupuncture should be required reading for all students of city planning and for anyone who wants to make a difference in their city." Allan B. Jacobs, author of "Great Streets" and other books
"...treasure of a book... Informative and fun, it sparks the imagination for small ideas — "pinpricks" — that can spread and have large impacts on a city." PublicCEO
"An architect, planner, and politician of great skill, Jaime Lerner has another talent, on clear display in this lively book: a deep and hard-won understanding that architecture, planning, and politics do not alone make our cities great." Jeff Speck, author of "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time"
"This book is like having a dinner with a good friend where the conversation just flows, one story after the other, good examples that will stick with you when you go home. One of these evenings where you go home inspired to do something yourself, believing that change can happen." From the foreword by Jan Gehl, author of "Cities for People" and Founding Partner, Gehl Architects
"Jaime follows in the tradition of Jane Jacobs, William Whyte, and many other visionaries who have illuminated the world’s thinking on cities. Urban Acupuncture is a work of fierce love for real, living, people-filled cities and cities for people." From the preface by Carol Coletta, VP/Community and National Initiatives, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
"In his first book in English, Lerner’s brief essays consider successful or innovative urban interventions around the world." Landscape Architecture Magazine
Contents
Preface \ Carol Coletta, Knight Foundation Foreword \ Jan Gehl Introduction Chapter 1. 24-Hour Shopkeepers in New York City Chapter 2. The Old Cinema Novo Chapter 3. Rescuing a River Chapter 4. The Forbidden City Chapter 5. Cali Chapter 6. Do Nothing! Urgently Chapter 7. Around the Clock, or The 24-Hour City Chapter 8. Urban Kindness Chapter 9. Musical Acupuncture Chapter 10. Continuity is Life Chapter 11. Street Sounds, Colors, and Scents Chapter 12. Good Recycling Chapter 13. People in the Streets Chapter 14. Smart Car, Smart Bus Chapter 15. Commitment to Solidarity Chapter 16. Draw Your City Chapter 17. Instructions for Performing Urban Acupuncture Chapter 18. Creative Leisure vs. Industrious Mediocrity Chapter 19. Self-Esteem Is Good Acupuncture Chapter 20. Light Is Good Acupuncture Chapter 21. Aqua-puncture Chapter 22. The Mobility Card Chapter 23. Eco-clock Chapter 24. Arborescence Chapter 25. Produced Memory Chapter 26. Of Parks, Squares, and Monuments Chapter 27. The One-Page Guide Chapter 28. Urban Cholesterol Chapter 29. Buildings with Dignity Chapter 30. Acupuncture of Silence Chapter 31. Ramblas and Galleries Chapter 32. A Pinprick Doesn't Hurt Chapter 33. Trompe L'oeil Chapter 34. A Letter to Fellini Chapter 35. How to Find Someone in a City Chapter 36. The Presence of Genius Chapter 37. Markets and Street Fairs Chapter 38. The Bar Counter Chapter 39. Love for the City
Events
Webinar: Urban Acupuncture: Celebrating the Work and Vision of Jaime Lerner
Wednesday, 29 June 2016 - 3:30pm
In more than forty years of work in cities around the globe, Jaime Lerner has been the driving force behind a host of innovative large-scale urban projects, from the pioneering Bus Rapid Transit system to parks designed to catch runoff and reduce flooding. However, many of Lerner’s contributions show us that changes to a community don’t need to be large-scale and expensive to have a transformative impact—in fact, one block, park, or a single person can have an outsized effect on life in the surrounding city. In his celebrated book, Urban Acupuncture, Lerner celebrates these “pinpricks” of urbanism—projects, people, and initiatives from around the world that ripple through their communities to uplift city life.
On Wednesday, June 29, join a diverse panel of urbanists and community change-makers to see how Lerner’s work and vision continue to affect positive change in cities. Panelists include Mike Lydon, Principle at The Street Plans Collaborative and co-author of Tactical Urbanism; Erin Barnes, co-founder and executive director of ioby; and Stephen Goldsmith, director of The Center for the Living City. The webinar will be moderated by The Overhead Wire’s Jeffrey Wood.
Today is the first day of our summer e-book sale! All Island Press e-books are $4.99 on our site and at major electronic retailers until May 29th. With more than 600 e-books included, you can find classics and new releases on topics as diverse as architecture and urban planning, conservation biology, climate change, and energy production. If you enjoy the selection below from Jaime Lerner's Urban Acupuncture, start your browsing with other highlights about city planning and transportation.
In Urban Acupuncture, architect and urbanist Jaime Lerner celebrates “pinpricks” of urbanism—projects, people, and initiatives from around the world that ripple through their communities to uplift city life. With meditative and descriptive prose, Lerner brings readers around the world to streets and neighborhoods where urban acupuncture has been practiced best, from the bustling La Boqueria market in Barcelona to the revitalization of the Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul, South Korea. Through this journey, Lerner invites us to re-examine the true building blocks of vibrant communities—the tree-lined avenues, night vendors, and songs and traditions that connect us to our cities and to one another.
Newly available in paperback, Urban Acupuncture is the first of Jaime Lerner’s visionary work to be published in English. It is a love letter to the elements that make a street hum with life or a neighborhood feel like home, penned by one of the world’s most successful advocates for sustainable and livable urbanism. Check out an excerpt of the book below and order your copy now.
In more than forty years of work in cities around the globe, Jaime Lerner has been the driving force behind a host of innovative large-scale urban projects, from the pioneering Bus Rapid Transit system to parks designed to catch runoff and reduce flooding. However, many of Lerner’s contributions show us that changes to a community don’t need to be large-scale and expensive to have a transformative impact—in fact, one block, park, or a single person can have an outsized effect on life in the surrounding city. In his celebrated book, Urban Acupuncture, Lerner celebrates these “pinpricks” of urbanism—projects, people, and initiatives from around the world that ripple through their communities to uplift city life.
On Wednesday, June 29, join a diverse panel of urbanists and community change-makers to see how Lerner’s work and vision continue to affect positive change in cities. Panelists include Mike Lydon, Principal at The Street Plans Collaborative and co-author of Tactical Urbanism; Erin Barnes, co-founder and executive director of ioby; and Stephen Goldsmith, director of The Center for the Living City. The webinar will be moderated by The Overhead Wire’s Jeffrey Wood.
Have you heard? This year's Free Summer Read is Urban Acupuncture by Jaimer Lerner. Get excited about the book by reading what people had to say about it below and sign up here to get this "joyful, uplifting book" delivered to the e-reader of your choice. Hurry, offer ends Tuesday, July 5! Can't get enough Jaime Lerner? Get inspired by the work and vision of Jaime Lerner in our free webinar happening tomorrow, June 29 at 3:30 pm ET. Register here.
As Island Press kicks off its Free Summer Read promotion with Jaime Lerner’s Urban Acupuncture, I’m reminded of how many IP partners and authors are either utilizing, or advocating for, an initiative that Lerner helped to introduce. To name them all would require a much longer blurb; however, a couple of notable examples come to mind.
In April, Island Press released Transit Street Design Guide, a blueprint for better transit streets, by The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). In addition to its innovative look at designing roadways to support reliable transit systems, TSDG highlights a series of bus rapid transit strategies (BRT), a model pioneered by Lerner in Curitiba, Brazil, home to the first BRT system “Speedy Bus”. Not only did Speedy Bus introduce a more efficient and sustainable way for Curitiba’s citizens to move about the city, it inspired other cities to develop public-private funding models for getting both large- and small-scale urban projects off the ground.
Like NACTO, Gabe Klein’s Start-Up City reflects Lerner’s spirit of collaboration and people-oriented urbanism. By working with public and private stakeholders during his time as DOT head in Chicago and DC, Klein was able to fund and implement projects at a much faster pace, introducing active transportation services like Capital Bikeshare and Divvy, and urban amenities like the Chicago Riverwalk, the Bloomingdale Trail, and 100 miles of advanced bike lanes in Chicago. -Matt Solomon, Partnership Manager, Island Press
Summer reading should transport you to new places and possibilities; it should be a call to step outside the hectic pace of everyday life, to take a breath, consider, and dream. Urban Acupuncture invites readers to take a trip around the world in one slim volume, to experience the best of city life through the eyes of visionary architect and urbanist Jaime Lerner. Wander the ramblas of Barcelona, lean against a bustling bar counter in Rio, or relish a moment of quiet in Istanbul to discover how a single person, street, park, or shop can enrich an entire community. These are the small but vibrant elements that make each city feel like home.
The best summer reading lingers in your mind after you’ve turned the last page, changing the way you see your surroundings. After traveling with Jaime Lerner, you won’t look at your own streets and parks the same way again; as he writes, “You’re able to capture the special moments in the life of a city and realize that each city can be better than it is.” -Rebecca Bright, Associate Editor & Rights Manager, Island Press
Jaime Lerner.
We have opportunities to make our own positive impact on the health and vitality of our urban environment through small, yet meaningful, interventions. At the Center for the Living City, we work to provide access to tools for observation and active engagement in our cities, from publishing books such as What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs and Urban Acupuncture, to engaging with our communities through Jane Jacobs Walks and other events. This year marks Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday, where we are celebrating the power of observation and action in our cities throughout the world. During this centennial year, we invite you to join the celebration at janes100th.org. We will also lead a series of online book readings in the coming months at the City Builder Book Club, beginning with Urban Acupuncture and Genius of Common Sense.
Building upon Lerner’s Urban Acupuncture, the Urban Acupuncture Network (UAN) serves as a Pinterest-like collection of global urban interventions. Jaime Lerner describes urban acupuncture as focal, quick, and precise interventions that help to enhance the health of all urban systems. Urban acupuncture mimics traditional acupuncture theory, pinpointing areas of stress that need to be alleviated or repaired within a community. It begins with fundamental ideas of what makes cities thrive: familiar sounds, smells, gathering places, people, key infrastructure, adequate land use, and mass transportation. What pinpricks of change can you share? The Network will build from the examples of interventions that you share with us. -Chelsea Gauthier, Associate Director, Center for the Living City
Urban Acupuncture is an ideal summer read, as it celebrates the beauty of life in urban public spaces, which are bubbling with activity in the summer months. Lerner has observed urban life around the world, and helped to improve it directly through his actions as three-time mayor of Curitiba, Brazil. In this lively book he tells stories about the most important consideration when trying to activate public space: people. It is the people who create dynamic and inviting urban public space. These spaces serve, or should serve, to bring together people from all walks for life. Lerner says, “the more cities are understood to be the integration of functions — bringing together rich and poor, the elderly and the young — the more meeting places they will create and the livelier they will become.” While there are numerous books that celebrate cities, many of them capture a moment in time. Urban Acupuncture is timeless because Lerner’s story show the endless possibilities of activating public space through the different activities brought to the spaces by an ever-changing cast. -Heather Boyer, Vice President and Executive Editor, Island Press
This year's Free Summer Read is Urban Acupuncture by Jaimer Lerner. Get excited about this "joyful, uplifting book" and learn how “pinpricks” of urbanism can ripple through communities to uplift city life. Sign up here to have it delivered to the e-reader of your choice. Hurry, offer ends Tuesday, July 5! Check out an excerpt of the book below.
In this webinar, panelists Stephen Goldsmith (Center for the Living City), Mike Lydon (Street Plans Collaborative), and Erin Barnes (ioby) discuss Urban Acupunctureauthor Jaime Lerner's influence on community-based urban interventions. Moderated by The Overhead Wire’s Jeff Wood.
Check out the recording on YouTube or watch below.
Rebecca Bright, Associate Editor and Rights Manager at Island Press, shares a look into her work with international publishers.
Island Press works with publishers around the world to help our authors’ ideas reach a larger, global audience. Sales of international rights fulfill a worldwide need for resources about solutions to environmental issues like climate change, wildlife extinction, and pollution. Through this work, our books have been published in at least 25 languages, including Arabic, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.
Just as we do, international publishers consider many factors when deciding whether to translate and publish a book, including the topic’s uniqueness and relevance to their readers, the author’s prominence in the country, the cost of translation and publication, and the potential for sales. Some countries are more likely to publish books about certain topics. For example, many of our urban design titles have made it into Chinese bookshelves given urbanization trends and a growing interest in sustainability.
One unique element of international rights is the opportunity to speak with publishers about the book markets in their countries, what has been working for them, and what hasn’t. Each publisher has a unique perspective on our books and on the issues—and it’s fascinating to see how we all look at things differently, and similarly.
I feel honored to work with many committed international publishers to share these ideas in many languages. Below is a sampling of recent or notable Island Press books in translation.
Island Press grieves the loss of Jaime Lerner, renowned architect and planner who served three terms as mayor of Curitiba, Brazil and two terms as governor of the State of Paraná. Editors Heather Boyer and Rebecca Bright remember Jaime’s legacy to the built environment and how the actions of one determined person can be the catalyst for powerful change.
“The car is like a mother-in-law. You have to tolerate it but cannot let it run your life."
Jaime Lerner (1937-2021), influential urbanist and politician, is best remembered for the innovative Bus Rapid Transit system developed in Curitiba, Brazil during his tenure as Mayor. Curitiba’s BRT system inspired others throughout the world from Bogotá to Los Angeles.
If you ever heard Lerner speak, you know that he is an engaging (and not brief) storyteller. His stories spark action by showing the power of “pinpricks” of urbanism to uplift city life, and that large-scale change is possible.
It can be difficult to capture a warm, booming personality in a slim book, but Lerner (with the help of his Island Press editor Rebecca Bright) succeeded in conveying his deep love for cities and the people in them in Urban Acupuncture.
In the words of another great urbanist, Jan Gehl, reading the book “is like having a dinner with a good friend where the conversation just flows, one story after the other, good examples that will stick with you when you go home. One of these evenings where you go home inspired to do something yourself, believing that change can happen."
Lerner’s work and stories will continue to inspire urbanists around the world. His message will continue to move readers around the world, as it has been translated into multiple languages including Korean, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
Check out the celebration of Jaime's work and vision in this recorded webinar with Mike Lydon, Erin Barnes, and Stephen Goldsmith.
