One Line:
An inspiring recount of a self-driven non-profit that coalesced to promote entrepreneurship, urban planning and street activation from the ground up.
Review:
In August of 2017 I was farther away from home than I had ever been–nearly as far as one can be with a starting point of the American Northeast. As part of the Vanguard Program run by Next City, I had touched down on the other side of the world in Sydney, Australia. After a […]
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One Line:
A collection of essays that frames relative youth of sustainability's efforts surrounding the growing and distribution of food that reflects itself in the amount of progress still needing to be made in affording those goals to a broader cultural and socio-economic audience.
Review:
The voice of sustainability and environmentalism has repeatedly struggled with the retention of its message by those outside its group of core proponents. As environmental threats increase in their intensity, so too does the urgency of the pro-environmental message–an urgency that can often be misconstrued as aggression that only emboldens its opponents. Though every cultural […]
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One Line:
Pacific-based architecture firm WOHA offers a sustainable, urban alternative to the environmentally and socially destructive nature of modern mega cities.
Review:
Four years after the release of Breathing Architecture, Garden City Mega City continues to chronicle the pursuit of sustainable architecture and planning by Pacific-based architecture firm WOHA. Folding in subsequent years of creative proposals–both built and unbuilt–this new publication focuses on the environmental and social challenges of hyper-density in tall buildings. Author and photographer Patrick Bingham-Hall helps […]
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One Line:
A well-written introduction to the notion of permaculture as a mantra for a lifestyle in the pursuit of balance and likely best suited for those new to the ideas and goals of sustainable living.
Review:
The roots of “permaculture” lie in sustainable farming practices. Centered around the use of natural, complementary relationships between crops in close proximity the resulting synergy produces higher yields per acre without the chemical backbone of single-crop farming. The idea is that any given plot can have a network of overlapping crops to form an agricultural ecosystem. The […]
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One Line:
A bold vision of evolution looking both backwards and forwards to build an ecological map for how our country grows and prepares its food.
Review:
Some could look at the 20th century as an era of achievement for American agriculture. Advancements in the crops we grow and how we grow them has bred an industry that can harvest more yield per acre than ever before. Companies have streamlined the processes of maintaining and harvesting produce to be ready for an […]
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One Line:
A fresh utilization of data from many sources helps to underscore the gravity of a global dilemma of food waste while falling short of the path and implementation of solutions.
Review:
Authors John Mandyck and Eric Schultz peel back the rind on the issue of food waste to showcase the gravity of its effects on not only the environment, but economic and cultural realities across the world. Together, the authors frame our propensity of wasting food as a truly global dilemma, leaving virtually all cultures around […]
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One Line:
A valuable overview of the challenges facing the outmoded nature of the American suburban landscape and analysis of the crucial first steps to be taken towards the next stage in the evolution of our development patterns.
Review:
The American development pattern of suburban planning has reached a level of maturity that allowed for a more thorough critique by the design community. Beyond its original goals of increasing home ownership and fostering living potential outside of city centers, the full effects of suburban planning are clearer now than ever before. It would be […]
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One Line:
The experience of three planning veterans boiled into a valid list of smart growth concepts that can serve as a primer for new development efforts.
Review:
While there has been notable traction in the design community for efforts to retool the assumptions for sub-urban planning in America, in some ways the movement of “Smart Growth” suffers from the same haunting characteristics of “sustainability.” The very broadness of both terms, necessary to encapsulate the scale of all they contain and can possible […]
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One Line:
Well known for her voice of calm critique, Jacobs examines the necessity several pillars of cultural vibrancy as well as why our failing to maintain them could levy an age of cultural deficiency for modern day North America that compromises defining aspects of who we are.
Review:
For those that have read the works of Jane Jacobs, she is not prone to writing about all of the things we are doing extremely well. Her final literary installment is no different. Jacobs references historic Dark Ages–eras of where large amounts of resilience and cultural capital are lost–and relates them to the present course […]
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One Line:
From broad strokes to streetscape specifics, the author covers the deficiencies of modern street planning that hinder the pedestrian experience as well a coordinated attack to solve them.
Review:
In the age of millennials, walkability is all the rage. If you’re talking to people born after 1975 then chances are giving planning preference to bikers and walkers will get you some head-bobs or thumbs up. The data continually points to younger populations being less interested in automotive access and more keen on what can […]
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