With origins in the late 1960s, a 'quiet revolution' in land use planning and control has taken hold across North America. First seen as a manifestation of the environmental movement, the revolution prompted governments at several levels to attempt to protect critical areas and vulnerable natural resources. Many of the most dramatic and far-reaching shifts in planning regimes have occurred in large-scale, environmentally unique or sensitive regions. It is these big places, looming large in the American and Canadian psyches, that are the focus of this edited volume. Each of the chapters reflects on the contemporary challenge of environmental and land use planning. Ten leading distinguished scholars here provide thoughtful analyses and critical insights into the processes and contexts shaping the innovative planning and policy schemes in seven regional landscapes.

This work springs from the idea that human aspirations for the city tend to overstate the role of rationality in public life. The author explores the part serendipity plays in urban experience.

Environmental protection is a global issue. But most of the action is happening at the local level. How can communities keep their air clean, their water pure, and their people and property safe from climate and environmental hazards? Newly updated, The Environmental Planning Handbook gives local governments, nonprofits, and citizens the guidance they need to create an action plan they can implement now. It’s essential reading for a post-Katrina, post-Sandy world.

Bringing together a team of national experts, this volume offers a detailed look at the links between public land acquisition programs and efforts to yield smart growth outcomes in the USA. Both public land acquisition programs and state and local growth management efforts have been examined in detail, but while there is growing recognition that land acquisition can play an important role in smart growth outcomes, there has so far been little research into the nexus of these areas of public policy. This book investigates various aspects of the land acquisition-smart growth linkage and describes model programs and makes recommendations for the adoption of land acquisition efforts nationally and internationally. It will appeal to practising planners, policy makers, public officials, and citizen groups, as well as academics of urban planning, environmental studies, geography and other disciplines which examine issues of urban sprawl.

Housing is increasingly unattainable in successful global cities, and Toronto is no exception -- in part because of zoning that protects “stable” residential neighborhoods with high property values. House Divided is a citizen’s guide for changing the way housing can work in big cities. Using Toronto as a case study, this anthology unpacks the affordability crisis and offers innovative ideas for creating housing for all ages and demographic groups. With charts, maps, data, and policy prescriptions, House Divided poses tough questions about the issue that will make or break the global city of the future.

Looking at major British cities, using Birmingham as a case study, this title explores Britain's intensely urban and increasingly global communities as interlocking pieces of a complex jigsaw, which are hard to see apart yet they are deeply unequal.

The causes, consequences and control of land use change have become topics of enormous importance in contemporary society. Not only is urban land use and sprawl a hot-button issue, but issues of rural land use have also been in the headlines. Policy makers and citizens are starting to realize that many environmental and economic issues have the question of land use at their very core. Comprising papers from a conference sponsored by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, Land Use Problems and Conflicts draws together some of the most up-to-date research in this area. Sections are devoted to problems in the United States and Europe, the consequences of such problems, land use-related data and alternative solutions to conflict. With a lineup including some of the best scholarship on this subject to date, this volume will be of use to those studying environmental and land use issues in addition to policy makers and economists.

How to create the world's new urban future With the majority of the world's population shifting to urban centres, urban planning—the practice of land-use and transportation planning to help shape cities structurally, economically, and socially—has become an increasingly vital profession. In Urban Planning For Dummies, readers will get a practical overview of this fascinating field, including studying community demographics, determining the best uses for land, planning economic and transportation development, and implementing plans. Following an introductory course on urban planning, this book is key reading for any urban planning student or anyone involved in urban development. With new studies conclusively demonstrating the dramatic impact of urban design on public psychological and physical health, the impact of the urban planner on a community is immense. And with a wide range of positions for urban planners in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors—including law firms, utility companies, and real estate development firms—having a fundamental understanding of urban planning is key to anyone even considering entry into this field. This book provides a useful introduction and lays the groundwork for serious study. Helps readers understand the essentials of this complex profession Written by a certified practicing urban planner, with extensive practical and community-outreach experience For anyone interested in being in the vanguard of building, designing, and shaping tomorrow's sustainable city, Urban Planning For Dummies offers an informative, entirely accessible introduction on learning how.

Collaborative Land-Use Management: The Quieter Revolution in Place-Based Planning discusses the less-regulatory approaches to land-use management that have emerged over the past 35 years, analyzing the collective value of such place-based planning approaches as land trusts, open-space ballot measures, watershed conservancies, ecoregional plans, and smart-growth initiatives. Collaborative Land-Use Management appraises these trends from physical, social, economic, civic, and environmental justice perspectives.