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Title: The American City : What Works, What Doesn't by Alexander Garvin ISBN: 0-07-137367-5 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional Pub. Date: 19 June, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $59.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.57 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Multidiscipinary approach to Creating Change
Comment: Mr. Garvin addresses the key factors that actually create effective change for cities today. He places a heavy emphasis on sound real estate financing, but he also demonstrates the need for effective government action and political leadership to spur private develoopments. When combined with good design and a proper reading of market forces, American Cities can and will be changed for the benefit of all its citizens.
Readers must understand, however, that Mr. Garvin does not ascribe what is "Best for the City." Each city represents a unique example and requires specific consideration when planning its future. Instead, Mr. Garvin brilliantly provides an accurate set of tools to direct a city's future, thus allowing the reader to determine what the future of his or her city should be.
Whether you're intersted in planning the future of your city or simply learning what influences the development of your city, I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 3
Summary: High on concrete details, low on theoritical underpinnings
Comment: Garvin's text is of course a classic for students of American cities. As a sourcebook on successes and failures in cities all over the country it is unsurpassed. Garvin shows a depth of knowledge in planning issues that is deeply rooted in expertise in real estate development, economics, and politics. His insights into "what works" shows a lifetime of knowing the ins and outs of how urban developments get done in the real world.
The one shortcoming of "The American City" is Garvin's lack of attention to such planning concepts as participatory planning and community building. His "six ingredients of success" make a convenient tool for teaching basic planning concepts, but the text falls short in explaining the theortical underpinnings of planning today. Students walk away from Garvin's book convinced that good planning is esentially good real estate development. Little thought is given to concepts of fairness or social justice. Garvin never asks the student, for instance, "who are we planning for?" These theortical questions are essential to give students a deeper and more nuanced view of urban planning.
Rating: 5
Summary: How cities work--an interdisciplinary approach
Comment: When Alexander Garvin's "The American City" was first published in 1996, it fast became a classic text in universities all over the country in the study of the city. Because it is an incredibly rich and profoundly insightful interdisciplinary exploration of all aspects of the planning of cities, it has been eagerly embraced by students of architecture, planning, urban studies, government, finance, and even sociology. Because it is so compelling written and marvelously accessible, however, it has also become a beloved book by lay people interested in any and every aspect of what determines the life and success of the created environment in which they live.
Since most of the original edition was actually completed by 1990, it did not include the last decade of development in the fast-changing world of urban thinking. In this second edition, Mr. Garvin brings his study of the city into the twenty-first century, including examples, issues, and trends that did not exist at the time the first edition was written. More strikingly, however, he has also succeeded in reorganizing and restating his original material-sometimes subtly, and sometimes more extensively-in even more powerful and effective ways. But whether it is the almost completely new chapter on Retail Shopping, or the only mostly preserved gem from the first edition on Parks and Playgrounds, all of the clarity and vitality so characteristic of Mr. Garvin's writing are enhanced in this new edition. The new edition also features numerous new photographs-a particular treat to the many readers who especially appreciate the masterful way he has illustrated his points with visual images, virtually all taken by Mr. Garvin himself. (Since he is firmly committed to the principle that one actually has to experience and explore in person the environments one is studying, the author makes sure to use images that reflect his own personal vision, which fortunately for us is as artistically pleasing as it is intellectually informative.)
Whether one wishes to understand the history of American cities, learn the principles of real estate development, research the trends in government involvement in housing and urban renewal, get insight into why particular undertakings in particular cities worked or failed, or, most excitingly, sense the incredible complexity and interaction of all those forces (historical, political, architectural, legislative, sociological, economic, etc.) that determine and describe the life of the city, this book is a must-read-and one that is as enjoyable as it is informative and enlightening.
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Title: Community Planning: An Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan by Barbara Becker, Eric Damian Kelly, Frank So ISBN: 1559635401 Publisher: Milldale Pr Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $37.50 |
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Title: The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs ISBN: 067974195X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Suburban Nation : The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck ISBN: 0865476063 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 16 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Planning in the USA: Policies, Issues, and Processes by Barry Cullingworth, J. Barry Cullingworth ISBN: 0415150124 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $36.95 |
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Title: Analysis with Local Census Data : Portraits of Change by Dowell Myers ISBN: 0125123086 Publisher: Academic Press Pub. Date: 09 March, 1992 List Price(USD): $81.95 |
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