AUSTRALIAN URBAN PLANNING: New Challenges, New Agendas
by Brendan Gleeson and Nicholas Low
Designed for use by academics, students, planning professionals and anyone who takes an interest in the development of cities, this timely book explains the changes that have transformed planning in Australia and reinstates the need for planning based on principles that foreground social inclusion and ecological sustainability.
Description
Australian Urban Planning addresses these questions by describing and analysing the various theoretical, political and institutional forces that have shaped and continue to reshape public urban planning in Australia since the Second World War.
Australian Urban Planning explains the historical origins of planning and the nature of the diverse recent changes that have both reshaped and threatened its original purposes. It presents planning as a form of urban governance in which spatial regulation reflects such competing claims as economic growth, social justice, global economic transformation and ecological sustainability.
Australian Urban Planning consists of three parts. The first part presents a rich account of what has happened to Australian cities and their management over the last two decades. The second surveys the most significant ideas that have informed planning theory over that period and demonstrated the many impacts those ideas have had. The final part sets an agenda for the future of urban governance.
$45.00 through Sustainable Insights
Hijacking Sustainability by Adrian Parr. Published by MIT Press
“In this intelligent but unnecessarily obtuse exploration of ecological and cultural crisis, Parr (Deleuze and Memorial Culture) examines the “new culture of sustainability” and how it challenges “our current historic condition… of global climate change, multinational and financialized capitalism, increased religious fundamentalism, and rising militarism.” She looks at the positives and negatives of ecobranding and the power of celebrities to bring change……” – Publishers Weekly
“A provocative and thoroughly researched book that shows the notion of sustainability is in danger of being appropriated by its opponents in the way that ‘environmentalism’ has been incorporated by its adversaries. Indispensable reading for anyone reflecting on the politics of environmental protection.” —Kenneth Surin, Professor of Literature, Professor of Religion, and Critical Theory Chair, Program in Literature, Duke University
Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (New Catalyst Bioregional Series) By Williams E. Rees, Mathis Wackernagel and Phil Testemale.
Sustainability by Design: A Subversive Strategy for Transforming Our Consumer Culture by John R. Ehrenfeld
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben; Oneworld Publications
“Challenging the prevailing wisdom that the goal of economies should be unlimited growth, McKibben argues that the world doesn’t have enough natural resources to sustain endless economic expansion. For example, if the Chinese owned cars in the same numbers as Americans, there would be 1.1 billion more vehicles on the road—untenable in a world that is rapidly running out of oil and clean air. Drawing the phrase “deep economy” from the expression “deep ecology,” a term environmentalists use to signify new ways of thinking about the environment, he suggests we need to explore new economic ideas.
Rather then promoting accelerated cycles of economic expansion—a mindset that has brought the world to the brink of environmental disaster—we should concentrate on creating localized economies: community-scale power systems instead of huge centralized power plants; cohousing communities instead of sprawling suburbs. He gives examples of promising ventures of this type, such as a community-supported farm in Vermont and a community biosphere reserve, or large national park–like area, in Himalayan India, but some of the ideas—local currencies as supplements to national money, for example—seem overly optimistic. Nevertheless, McKibben’s proposals for new, less growth-centered ways of thinking about economics are intriguing, and offer hope that change is possible.” – Publishers Weekly
Design for Sustainability: A Sourcebook of Integrated, Eco-logical Solutions (Paperback) by Janis Birkeland; Earthscan Publications Ltd
Ecodesign A manual for ecological design
Publisher – Wiley-Academy; by Dr Ken Yeang (author).
Break Through, From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility
Publisher – The Breakthrough Institute; by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Norhaus (authors).
Authors Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus argue that the new ecological crises of the 21st century demand not that we constrain human power but unleash it. Overcoming global warming demands not pollution control but rather a new kind of economic development. We cannot tear down the old energy economy before building the new one. The invention of the internet and microchips, the creation of the space program, the birth of the European Union – those breakthroughs were only made possible by big and bold investments in the future.
The era of small thinking is over, the authors claim. We must go beyond small-bore environmentalism and interest-group liberalism to create a politics focused as much on uncommon greatness as the common good.
Descriptions of Break Through:
“Prescient” -Time
“Could be the most important thing to happen to environmentalism since Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring.’” –Wired
“Nordhaus and Shellenberger have thrown down the gauntlet. Only new thinking and perhaps even a wholesale paradigm shift in conservation can meet their challenge.”
— Peter Kareiva, Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy, Science Chronicles
If heeded, Nordhaus and Shellenberger’s call for an optimistic outlook — embracing economic dynamism and creative potential — will surely do more for the environment than any U.N. report or Nobel Prize.”
– Jonathan Adler, Wall Street Journal
Design Like You Give a Damn Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises
Publisher – Metropolis Books; Architecture for Humanity (editor) Kate Stohr (editor), Cameron Sinclair (editor)
The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture
Publisher – Princeton Architectural Press; by Alanna Stang (author), Christopher Hawthorne (author)
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
Publisher – North Point Press; by William McDonough (author), Michael Braungart (author)
Green Roofs: Ecological Design And Construction
Publisher – Schiffer Publishing; by Earth Pledge Foundation (author), Leslie Hoffman (foreword), William McDonough (foreword).
ecoDesign: The Sourcebook
Publisher – Chronicle Books; by Alastair Fuad-Luke (author)
Planet Earth: As You’ve Never Seen It Before
Publisher – University of California Press; by Alastair Fothergill (author), David Attenborough (foreword)
ECOTOURISM – A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES
by Sue BeetonTourism, with its niche element of ecotourism, is one of Australia’s fastest growing industries, overtaking the traditional export items of coal, wheat and wool in export earnings.
This book covers everything a person needs to think about before venturing into the ecotourism market. It explains what ecotourism is and who the ecotourists are. It describes how to work with the local community and the local environment, highlighting some of the constraints and pitfalls. It explains what is needed to make a successful venture work – and how to make it pay.
$34.95 through Sustainable Insights