Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Planning    3. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    4. Real Estate - General    5. Reference    6. Regional & Area Planning   

Reviews (2)

Extremely valuable tool
"Land Development Calculations" provides an excellent and innovative strategy for working towards sustainable land use and development.The models for varying land development strategies can assist local government land use decision makers and planners as well as developers determine the carrying capacity of land within realistic thresholds.The accompanying spreadsheets for the development scenarios on the CD-ROM are extremely user friendly and do not place an undue burden on the user by requiring what may be hard to find or to collect data.All of the data required just is typical of what is necessary to make appropriate land development decisions.As a local government planner, I am working towards incorporating the information received from the models in to the zoning and development code as part of the approval process by using it to further assess suitability of the property for the purposes proposed (a zoning consideration required in accordance with the State of Georgia Zoning Procedures Act).I strongly encourage other land planners and developers to read "Land Development Calculations," because of its highly practical and very timely material.

Author Delivers Valuable Techniques and Tools
This is a terrificaly valuable technical reference for practitioners who need an efficient method of performing land development calulations. The book and its companion set of spreadsheets enable users to answer two key questions: 1) how much can be built on a given piece of land; or 2) how much land is needed to accommodate a given use? The material is clearly written and well illustrated, especially a series of worksheets leading through the method. Another strength is its comprehensiveness and detail, including all major land-use and micro site conditions. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Land use    3. Mathematical models    4. Natural Resources    5. Planning    6. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    7. Real estate development    8. Reference    9. Architectural structure & design    10. Architecture / Methods & Materials    11. Structural engineering   

Reviews (4)

Academic. A text book that needs a refresher for today's issues.
Rick is first and foremost a professor, so the book follows an academic format best suited for the young student of development seeking a broad introduction to the process.Of course, the real world is more complex than any textbook could ever capture.That said, the book has become a bitdated for the contemporary developer, whose world is increasingly governed by investors, special interest groups and oft ill-informed government officials!The book delivers fundamental building blocks in a logical, sequential process.The examples cited are, as another reviewer pointed out, on average probably 14 year old analogies.Perhaps the largest ommission is an accurate portrayal of what a developer really does - assembles a diverse team of people together to share in a singular vision, then rule over this creative, temperamental team with an iron fist in velvet gloves.A chapter called 'Cat Herding' would best summarize that world.
Excellent starter book
Excellent starter book. Should be required reading for every real estate professional. Wished I'd had about 5 years ago.

ULI Guide
For its high price, you may want to seriously think about your needs.If your intention is to buy a book for a broad overview of the development process with a somewhat academic approach, then this may be right for you. If you are builder or someone with prior real estate brokerage/service experience, you may find this too ivory tower and not practical.This book was a bit theoretical for my taste.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    5. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    6. Real Estate - General   

Reviews (1)

Get a Broad spectrum of Urban Planning for the Beginner
This book gives a broad spectrum of what to expect in the planning field,but there are a few flaws.One is that the book is not written for thetechnocratic planner, it is written for the beginner or someone who is notgoing to make planning their career.But this book will give the beginnera broad basis to start from and for this I do suggest the beginner to readthis before they choose planning as a career. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. City planning    2. Political Science    3. Politics / Current Events    4. Politics/International Relations    5. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    6. Public Policy - Regional Planning    7. Sociology - Urban    8. United States    9. Urban Planning    10. Urban Policy    11. Urbanization    12. Political Science / General    13. Political science & theory    14. Urban communities   

Reviews (1)

Power and ample information and graphics
I found this book to be one of the best out on the topic, of which there are too few at present for such an important topic. The depth and breadth of place-making topics and their coverage makes this a very excellent easy-to-read-and-understand as well as a long-term reference tool. The graphics are very well done. Having recently attended a Harvard program on retail for cities and new towns and urban center given by Bob Gibbs and Terry Shook, I especially found the book right on target. I want to see more of these types of books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Case studies    3. Central business districts    4. City planning    5. Community development, Urban    6. Planning    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    10. Real Estate - Investments    11. United States    12. Urban & Regional   

Subjects:  1. Apartment houses    2. Domestic    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Housing development    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    7. Real Estate - General    8. Real estate development    9. Reference    10. United States   

Subjects:  1. Architectural design    2. Architecture    3. City planning    4. Planning    5. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    6. Architecture / Planning    7. City & town planning - architectural aspects    8. Urban & municipal planning   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Building    3. Design & Drafting    4. Details    5. Drawings    6. Planning    7. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    8. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    9. Standards    10. Architecture / Planning   

Editorial Review

Kate Ascher could not have chosen a much drier topic for a book than water mains, parking meters, railroad classification yards, and the other doodads of city infrastructure. But in Ascher's captivating book, Read more

Reviews (12)

Spectacular!
As a designer in the New York metropolitan area, I thoroughly appreciate the effort that must have gone into making this book, and in particular its illustrations. They are detailed, accurate (as far as I can tell), and above all informative in a way that infrastructure diagrams from other books are not. It is noted that TW:AOAC's lead designer found inspiration in a chance encounter with famed statistician/graphic artist Edward Tufte - a credible claim, if this book is any indicator. Conveying so much about the city yet basking in white space, these spreads are consistently excellent. Ascher's writing, too, is impeccable, and while a free-market standpoint is appropriately engaged in her commentary, the invaluabity of New York's public bureaus is not given short shrift.Indeed, where politics have clouded issues of development for the city, Ms. Ascher has deftly surmised the issue and given it full and fair treatment. As a major in economics and a professional graphic designer, I am happily forced to recommend this book.

Must read, esp. for New Yorkers
This is one of the most fascinating and enlightening books I've read in a while.It explains everything that goes on behind the scenes of modern life that allow us to live the way we do.As expected, we find that there is a complex network of infrastructure and laborers that keep cities running.This book shows how each of these moving parts works and ties them all together with brilliant illustrations.

Everything you've always wanted to know
I've just started reading this fascinating book about the infrastructure of New York City. I have always had an interest in civil engineering -- and so far have been impressed by the discussions about water delivery and waste removal.
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Subjects:  1. City planning    2. Civil Engineering (Specific Aspects)    3. Engineering - Civil    4. History: World    5. Infrastructure (Economics)    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - Urban    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Urban Planning    11. Technology / Engineering / General   

Reviews (1)

A Great Idea Book for New Projects
In a time when it seems like there is less and less human interaction because of the spreading out to the burbs, TV and the Internet, it seems that there is more and more demand for social interaction in public places.
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Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. General    3. Planning    4. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    5. Urban Architecture    6. City & town planning - architectural aspects   

Editorial Review

Lewis Mumford's massive historical study brings together a wide array of evidence--from the earliest group habitats to medieval towns to the modern centers of commerce (as well as dozens of black-and-white illustrations)--to show how the urban form has changed throughout human civilization. His tone is ultimately somewhat pessimistic: Mumford was deeply concerned with what he viewed as the dehumanizing aspects of the metropolitan trend, which he deemed "a world of professional illusionists and their credulous victims." (In another typically unrestrained criticism, he dubbed the Pentagon a Bronze Age monument to humanity's basest impulses, as well as an "effete and worthless baroque conceit.") Mumford hoped for a rediscovery of urban principles that emphasized humanity's organic relationship to its environment. Read more

Reviews (12)

Mumford had a gift for writing, but this tome gets lofty
I'd agree with some of the other reviewers who found the first 3/4 of this book interesting and insightful and who were put off by the last portion. Mumford has a dexterous command of language and weaves prosaic citations and factual listings with poetic and metamorphic digestions. Though this book is an extremely long and at times a very dry 570 pages, I was rarely bored enough to put it down for too long. Mumford has a keen intellect and his pen touches on nearly every aspect of human development and interaction, even in contexts that one would think are not directly related to city life or urban growth.Here we see that city-man has cast an inescapable cultural legacy: religion, economics, epistemology/philosophy, politics & government and even biology are and have been in constant dialog with urban forces, dramatized by symbolic manifestations of rural and urban, man and woman, individual and communal, organic and mechanical.As a repository for cultural and historical development in the west, this book should have much more attention that it does nowadays.
Good Until the Last Hundred or So Pages
After two hundred pages I wanted to give this book five stars, but after finishing it, I was almost ready to give it three stars. tricks
this book is fine. go get it from the library and learn the origins of the city. critique civilization and its facets with other books and never mind intellectual/acedemia. educate yourself. civilizations origins are the origins of humanity's current polarized state. Read more

Subjects:  1. Cities and towns    2. Civilization    3. History    4. History - General History    5. Sociology    6. Sociology - General    7. World - General    8. City & town planning - architectural aspects    9. History / World    10. Urban & municipal planning    11. Urban communities   

Reviews (52)

How to teach engineering to a pie-in-the-sky type
The great joy in Jacobs's book is that it's rabidly empirical, which makes it empowering. Naïve change-the-world types like me tend to get stuck on the size of the world they want to change. For instance: thinking about the problems Jacobs is addressing, I'm likely to go like so: "We need to reduce the number of cars in cities. So let's tax people who drive into cities, like London does, and boost mass-transit spending. But that would cost a lot, and we don't have the political strength for that. Man, city problems are hard."
Timeless and Brilliant
I first heard of this book referenced in Steven Johnson's "Emergence".I asked a friend if he'd heard of it, and the next thing I knew, I was being sent home with his copy with an assignment !
Classic
No book in the 20th Century has done more to shape how we think about cities. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. City planning    3. Planning    4. Sociology    5. Sociology - Urban    6. United States    7. Urban History    8. Urban Planning    9. Urban policy    10. Urban renewal    11. City & town planning - architectural aspects    12. Social Science / Sociology / Urban    13. USA    14. Urban communities   

Reviews (76)

A must Read
Once in a while a book comes along that helps put a framework around thought and ideas already in ones mind. Suburban nation truly deserves all the praise it has received from the academic as well as the non-academic community. It helped me understand why I feel more comfortable, secure and happy in urban centers and lost, confused and unsafe in suburban sprawl. Even though there are some definitely biased and skewed examples and anecdotes used to support the authors claims. Overall I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in getting a better understanding of urban design or in just realizing how our living environment affects our social and cultural well being.
One of the greatest books I've ever read.
This single book has done more to change my perspective on how I look at American culture than any other.
It's not meant to be in-depth!
To the reviewers who criticized this book as lacking depth of arguement:to describe the process by which we discard modern suburban land development patterns and adopt neotraditional patterns would fill volumes upon volumes.This book is meant to be an introduction to concepts, not an exhaustive study.It is written for the layperson, not the academic.This is its greatest strength; you do not have to be a city planner to understand and appreciate it.
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Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Planning    3. Politics / Current Events    4. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    5. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    6. Sociology - Urban   

Reviews (8)

Or Does it Explode?
Everyone should have the privilege of reading a Mike Davis book. His wide-ranging interests and his aggressive writing style more than make up for his tiresome Marxist politics. In fact, Planet of Slums retains less class-struggle than his usual work, in favor of basic humane appeal and outrage.
Troubling!
"Slum:"over-crowding, poor housing, inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, air pollution, inadequate trash collection (and thereby high rat populations), insecurity of tenure.Davis begins by informing readers that within a year or two the earth's urban population will outnumber the rural.In 1950 there were 86 cities with a population greater than a million; now there are 400, and by 2015 there will be at least 550.
A Vision of Malthusian Dystopias
Sometime during the writing of this book - 2005 - the global urban population surpassed the global rural population.It has been estimated that both populations stand at about 3.2 billion.What is startling is that Mike Davis has calculated that the rural population has reached its peak and will begin to decline by 2020, and that all future world population growth will be in cities, primarily megacities (8 million or more) and hypercities (20 million or more).The total world population is expected to peak at 10 billion in the year 2050.If I'm still alive, I will be 95.I hope to experience peak global population, even though my actuarial tables would indicate otherwise.
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Subjects:  1. City and town life    2. Essays    3. General    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    8. Slums    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - Social Theory    11. Urban poor    12. Urbanization    13. Current Events / General    14. Globalization    15. Urban communities   

Reviews (2)

The dis ease of living in the US
The costs of sprawl are enormous.This book describes the costs in terms of many different types of public health measurements.If you haven 't thought about sprawl, this is a good place to start.It is chilling to think about how many physical, emotional, psychological and medical ramifications there are to the US automobile lifestyle.The price to degradation of the planet was not discussed in depth but that too would make you think about our legacy of our lifestyle to the quality of our planet for future generations. I am encouraged that the topic is being developed.The automobile lifestyle is addictive and to change it will require a paradigm shift.The shift starts with organized discussions and lucidly presented data.This book is excellent on both accounts.

reasonably well done
A broad (though not particularly deep) guide to the public health problems associated with sprawl, including: (1) the air pollution caused by sprawl-induced auto traffic, (2) the health consequences of the reduction in walking caused by automobile dependency, (3) injuries and deaths from auto traffic, (4) water quality problems associated with suburban development, (5) the alleged intangible costs of automobile dependency (e.g. driving-induced stress, the isolation of nondrivers).None of these issues are addressed in enormous detail; for example, the book occasionally mentions pro-sprawl counterarguments, but does not fully address them.But then again, each of these topics could probably justify a separate book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cities and towns    2. City planning    3. Do-It-Yourself    4. Environmental Health    5. Environmental aspects    6. Growth    7. Health Policy    8. House & Home    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Public Health    11. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    12. Reference    13. Urban Planning    14. Health systems & services    15. Political Science / City Planning & Urban Development    16. Urban & municipal planning   

Reviews (7)

not as good as i expected
this highly recommended book started out as a compelling read, but became something i had to force myself to finish. it seems to be a series of lectures strung together, which may have been interesting as lectures, but is not cohesive enough to be a book. the good information is lost amidst the rambling style.

A must read for Landscape Architects
Anyone studying environmental planning or LA should read this book.

Significant Book for Architects - Though a Little Slow
While it's not the kind of book you want to lounge around the fireplace reading, it is a book that is frequently referred to by architects.It is significant in designing and ecologially friendly building in today's built-up environment.Summary:Not a great book, but a useful resource for architects. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Effect of human beings on    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Environmental policy    5. Human ecology    6. Landscape    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Planning    10. United States    11. Applied ecology    12. Architecture / Landscape    13. City & town planning - architectural aspects   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Automobile parking    3. General    4. Land use, Urban    5. Parking garages    6. Planning    7. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    8. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    9. Transportation    10. Business    11. Real Estate   

Reviews (5)

A fantastic book for a very much loved park
Did you know that the elm lined mall leading to the Bethesda fountain and the view of the ramble are actually based on the layout of a church? Or that all of the lakes in Central Park are manmade. This and many other very interesting facts are interspersed with lovingly taken photographs of the park which were taken by the author of the book as well. Miller starts decribing how the park came to be and the leading ideas and ideals that lead to its creation by Olmsted and Vaux. She proceeds to describe systematically the various sections of the park providing historical information as well. She delves into the some of the controversies and compromises that Olmsted and Vaux encountered in the creation of one of the finest examples of 19th Century art but it is not a comprehensive history of the park. There is a 2 page map of the park at the of the book with a legend identifying each of the features discussed in the book. If you are first time visitor to the city wishing to explore the park in detail or a life long New Yorker this book will delight and surprise you.

Definitive Review of the Finest Work of Art in NYC
As an avid fan of Central Park who has been exploring it and studying the books on it for decades, I was amazed at what there was still to learn about it from Miller's book. For example,other historians allude to a connection between Central Park's design and the Hudson River School of landscape art: Miller provides actual sources of the designer's inspiration and shows the results explicitly in the photos. And all in a way that is not at all "bookish" but instead makes you want to go right in and see for yourself the scenes she shows so well in the book's illustrations. The beautiful photos and fascinating stories and the well chosen historical prints all work together in such a compelling and entertaining way that one might never realize one is being educated by a superb textbook in the field of art.
New York's Oasis
Central Park is breath taking and this book does a fine job of giving the reader a feel for what makes this 850 acre masterpiece so special.The book is quite thorough and does an commendable job of disecting various sections of the park.The color photos are vivid and well thought out and the text is highly informative.The author has a real love for the park and it comes out in her writing.If you have never visited Central Park or have visited and fell in love with it like so many others, you will love this book.This oasis really is the heart of New York City and to understand New York you have to understand the parks historyand its vast importantance to the city.Central Parks importance to New York and New Yorkers cannot be overstated, I can't imagine the city without it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Central Park (New York, N.Y.)    2. Description and travel    3. Gardening    4. Gardening/Plants    5. History    6. Landscape    7. New York (N.Y.)    8. Parks & Campgrounds    9. Pictorial works    10. Travel - United States    11. United States - Mid Atlantic - New York City    12. Architecture / Landscape    13. City & town planning - architectural aspects    14. Local history    15. New York   

Reviews (4)

A Time Capsule of Useful Urban Design Information
Given that this book was written in the 1950's, it is still relevent to current urban design thinking. It must have been very innovative in the 1950's.
A Great Help in Forming a Design Perspective
The urban setting is a composition of nodes, landmarks, paths, edges and districts, accorsing to Lynch. This physical summary of urban landscape may not be satisfactory for some. However, for others, including me, this book is a great help in forming a design perspective at the city level. It does not matter at all if you have just started forming your perspective or working on the final details. The book should be in your library, and the design guidelines should be in your mind, not only when designing a peace of urban space, but also when you are just wondering around.

The psychology of urban designs
This book describes mental maps obtained from residents in several cities such as Boston, Los Angeles and Jersey City.The mental maps were materialized on paper through an interview process and combined with mapsfrom many individuals.And the results are surprising.Each map is acomposite image of the city (and hence, the book's title) that reveals notonly the character of the place, but gives you a feeling for it. In Bostonfor example, the streets are very disorganized, so people give directionsby using landmarks almost exclusively.On the other hand, in Jersey City,with extremely uniform architecture, directions are given by street numberand points of the compass.An unusual discovery concerns very long streetsin Boston.They appear on the map with missing sections - these sections are totally invisible to the people interviewed.In many cases individualswere unaware that Washington street in one neighborhood is a continuationof Washington Street in another neighborhood.These blind spots affect howpeople move around, it affects the directions they give to others and itcontributes or reinforces fears they may have about certain neighborhoods.The book moves from these maps and observations and tries to develop rulesof thumb for urban design.People feel more comfortable and perhaps moreanchored if they know where they are in space and in relation to visiblelandmarks.Some cities provide this comfort level more effectively thanothers - this book tries to find root causes.It's no wonder this is aclassic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. City planning    3. Planning    4. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    5. United States    6. Architecture / Planning    7. City & town planning - architectural aspects   

Reviews (1)

If you are a not a specialist, this book is great.
I read this book as part of a research project I was doing about the design of college campuses.I found it to be extremely helpful in my project and I plan on refering to it in the future; I am pursuing a Master's of Landscape Architecture.What I liked about this book istwo-fold: Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. City planning    4. General    5. History    6. Open spaces    7. Planning    8. Plazas    9. Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    10. United States    11. Architecture / Public, Commercial, or Industrial Buildings    12. City & town planning - architectural aspects    13. Urban communities