The New Civic Art: Elements of Town PlanningCofounders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Duany and coauthor Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are among the leading figures in the movement to end suburban sprawl and revitalize decaying inner cities by adapting and applying traditional, premodernist city planning techniques. In 2000, they wrote Suburban Nation to promote their brand of "new urbanism" to the general public. With their new book, they and town planner Robert Alminana address a professional audience of planners, architects, and policymakers, who they believe need to look beyond current zoning codes and automobile-centered design and find inspirational guidance from past centuries and diverse cultures. The book is a voluminous, richly illustrated catalog of what the authors consider to be examples of sound planning. More than 1000 briefly annotated drawings, photos, plans, and models of everything from the Acropolis to Chinese villages to Los Angeles courtyard houses provide object lessons in mixed-use design, pedestrian-friendly environments, welcoming public spaces, and other tenets of new urbanism. With more than 500 new urbanist developments completed or underway in the United States, this book is recommended for special collections serving those directly involved in city and suburban planning.-David Soltesz, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH |
