Ecocities [Paperback]

Richard Register (Author)

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Product Details

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: New Society Publishers; 2 edition (July 10 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0865715521
ISBN-13: 978-0865715523
Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 19.2 x 2.6 cm
Shipping Weight: 748 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #272,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Books > Arts & Photography > Architecture > Building Types & Styles > Environmental
- #10 in Books > Outdoors & Nature > Ecology > Living on the Land > Architecture
- #31 in Books > Professional & Technical > Architecture > Building Types & Styles > Environmental

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Product Description

Most of the world's population now lives in cities. So if we are to address the problems of environmental deterioration and peak oil adequately, the city has to be a major focus of attention.

EcoCities is about re-building cities and towns based on ecological principles for the long term sustainability, cultural vitality and health of the Earth's biosphere. Unique in the literature is the book's insight that the form of the city really matters - and that it is within our ability to change it, and crucial that we do. Further, that the ecocity within its bioregion is comprehensible and do-able, and can produce a healthy and potentially happy future.

EcoCities describes the place of the city in evolution, nature and history. It pays special attention to the key question of accessibility and transportation, and outlines design principles for the ecocity. The reader is encouraged to plunge in to its economics and politics: the kinds of businesses, planning and leadership required. The book then outlines the tools by which a gradual transition to the ecocity could be accomplished. Throughout, this new edition is generously illustrated with the author's own inspired visions of what such rebuilt cities might actually look like.

(20060501)

About the Author

Richard Register is one of the world's great theorists and authors in ecological city design and planning. The founder of Urban Ecology and Ecocity Builders, he convened the first International Ecocity Conference in 1990, lectures around the world, and has authored two previous books, as well as an earlier edition of EcoCities.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 3.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A pattern of urban design we will rediscover, April 8 2007

By Carl Chatfield - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Ecocities (Paperback)

EcoCities is a book I have returned to repeatedly and discovered new insights every time. Register is no utopian dreamer; he's addressing real problems in contemporary urban design and land use patterns that cannot be sustained in a lower-energy future. Register's personality comes through loud and clear in his writing--this is no dry treatment of the subject.

Through this book, Register helps us to envision with some specificity what urban landscapes light on automobiles but rich in biodiversity could look like. It's as if he's illustrating a series of before and after treatments of various spaces, but the before picture is now and the after is a future yet to be realized. Highly recommended reading for anyone who wants to help actively design their built environment towards sustainability.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the keys to Sustainability, Jan 11 2007

By Karsten Mueller "KM" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Ecocities (Paperback)

Along with books like Natural Capitalism and Cradle to Cradle, Ecocities takes its place among the most important environmental tomes of our day. In a nutshell, Richard Register's vision (replete with a plan to get us there) could transform our world. In fact a structural response like ecocities (and smart growth) may be the best tools available to bring us to our only destination, sustainability. In his thoughtful book, Register waxes poetic on the environmental crisis we face, shares a grand vision for addressing the crisis -- while simultaneously improving our everyday lives -- and wraps it up with a road map for getting there. His many illustrations spark the imagination and are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. If you haven't read it, just do. Buy this important book now.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring? Yes. Realistic? No., Nov 20 2009

By Amanda from MA CT NJ - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Ecocities (Paperback)

Richard Register is a dreamer, but his book will make you look at your city from a different perspective. The text makes extremely good points about clustering development into mixed use centers to preserve open space and reduce transportation costs. His comment that "proximity is the most efficient means of access" was profound- ie, the cheapest way to get someone to an amenity or job is to have the amenity and job nearby already. After reading the book, I started to see the possibilities of remaking my own town for reduced traffic and better pike and ped access, and intensification in the right places.
What was frustrating and distracting is Register's obsession with vertical structures. Throughout the book, we are treated to sketches of remade cities with additions gradually piled on top of existing buildings, festooned with pedestrian walkways and keyhole view sheds, leaving the city looking like a giant lopsided wedding cake. I buy his argument that we shouldn't limit ourselves to 4 story buildings, but it is silly to think people could just keep adding on levels to buildings regardless of structural capacity.
Also, he barely mentions how people would make a living in these new, mostly car-less ecocities. The assumption is that people work near home. Are we all tele-commuting? Producing local goods? Assigned to a local industry? This seemed to be a major fault.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews 3.8 out of 5 stars