Green Urbanism

Learning From European Cities

As the need to confront unplanned growth increases, planners and policymakers scramble for practical tools and examples of successful and workable approaches. Growth manageminitiatives are underway in the US, but many American "success stories" provide only one piece of the puzzle. To find examples of a holistic approach to dealing with sprawl, one must turn to models outside of the United States.

In Green Urbanism, Timothy Beatley explains what planners and local officials in the United States can learn from the sustainable city movemin Europe. The book explores the progress and policies of twenty-five of the minnovative cities in eleven European countries. Chapters examine:
•the sustainable cities movemin Europe
•examples of differhousing and living options
•policies for promoting transit and bicycle use and minimizing the role of the automobile
•creative ways of incorporating greenness into cities
•ways of readjusting "urban metabolism" so that waste flows become circular
•programs to promote more sustainable forms of economic development
•sustainable design measures and features
•renewable energy initiatives and local efforts to promote solar energy
•ways of greening local governmdecisions including ecological budgeting, green accounting, and other city managemtools.

Throughout, Beatley focuses on the key lessons from these cities -- including Vienna, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Zurich, Amsterdam, London, and Berlin -- and what their experience can teach us about effectively promoting sustainable developmin the United States. Green Urbanism is the first full-length book to describe urban sustainability in European cities, and provides concrete examples and detailed discussions of innovative and practical sustainable planning ideas.