Bird on Fire:Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City

Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Regional Planning, Science & Nature, Nature, Environment, Ecology
Cover of the book Bird on Fire:Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City by Andrew Ross, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andrew Ross ISBN: 9780199912292
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: October 6, 2011
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Andrew Ross
ISBN: 9780199912292
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: October 6, 2011
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Phoenix, Arizona is one of America's fastest growing metropolitan regions. It is also its least sustainable one, sprawling over a thousand square miles, with a population of four and a half million, minimal rainfall, scorching heat, and an insatiable appetite for unrestrained growth and unrestricted property rights. In Bird on Fire, eminent social and cultural analyst Andrew Ross focuses on the prospects for sustainability in Phoenix--a city in the bull's eye of global warming--and also the obstacles that stand in the way. Most authors writing on sustainable cities look at places like Portland, Seattle, and New York that have excellent public transit systems and relatively high density. But Ross contends that if we can't change the game in fast-growing, low-density cities like Phoenix, the whole movement has a major problem. Drawing on interviews with 200 influential residents--from state legislators, urban planners, developers, and green business advocates to civil rights champions, energy lobbyists, solar entrepreneurs, and community activists--Ross argues that if Phoenix is ever to become sustainable, it will occur more through political and social change than through technological fixes. Ross explains how Arizona's increasingly xenophobic immigration laws, science-denying legislature, and growth-at-all-costs business ethic have perpetuated social injustice and environmental degradation. But he also highlights the positive changes happening in Phoenix, in particular the Gila River Indian Community's successful struggle to win back its water rights, potentially shifting resources away from new housing developments to producing healthy local food for the people of the Phoenix Basin. Ross argues that this victory may serve as a new model for how green democracy can work, redressing the claims of those who have been aggrieved in a way that creates long-term benefits for all. Bird on Fire offers a compelling take on one of the pressing issues of our time--finding pathways to sustainability at a time when governments are dismally failing their responsibility to address climate change.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Phoenix, Arizona is one of America's fastest growing metropolitan regions. It is also its least sustainable one, sprawling over a thousand square miles, with a population of four and a half million, minimal rainfall, scorching heat, and an insatiable appetite for unrestrained growth and unrestricted property rights. In Bird on Fire, eminent social and cultural analyst Andrew Ross focuses on the prospects for sustainability in Phoenix--a city in the bull's eye of global warming--and also the obstacles that stand in the way. Most authors writing on sustainable cities look at places like Portland, Seattle, and New York that have excellent public transit systems and relatively high density. But Ross contends that if we can't change the game in fast-growing, low-density cities like Phoenix, the whole movement has a major problem. Drawing on interviews with 200 influential residents--from state legislators, urban planners, developers, and green business advocates to civil rights champions, energy lobbyists, solar entrepreneurs, and community activists--Ross argues that if Phoenix is ever to become sustainable, it will occur more through political and social change than through technological fixes. Ross explains how Arizona's increasingly xenophobic immigration laws, science-denying legislature, and growth-at-all-costs business ethic have perpetuated social injustice and environmental degradation. But he also highlights the positive changes happening in Phoenix, in particular the Gila River Indian Community's successful struggle to win back its water rights, potentially shifting resources away from new housing developments to producing healthy local food for the people of the Phoenix Basin. Ross argues that this victory may serve as a new model for how green democracy can work, redressing the claims of those who have been aggrieved in a way that creates long-term benefits for all. Bird on Fire offers a compelling take on one of the pressing issues of our time--finding pathways to sustainability at a time when governments are dismally failing their responsibility to address climate change.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book The Great Wave : Price Revolutions And The Rhythm Of History by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book The Oxford Companion To The History Of Modern Science by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Lend Me Your Ears : All You Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book The Founding Fathers Reconsidered by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Rule and Ruin:The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Losing The News : The Future Of The News That Feeds Democracy by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book The Lees Of Virginia : Seven Generations Of An American Family by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book The Learning Brain:Memory and Brain Development in Children by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Of Arms and Men : A History of War Weapons and Aggression by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Spain: What Everyone Needs to Know by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Rome:An Empire's Story by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Bismarck:A Life by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book The Enigma of Capital:And the Crises of Capitalism by Andrew Ross
Cover of the book Consciousness and the Social Brain by Andrew Ross
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy