Everything that landscape architects, architects, planners, civic officials, and citizen activists need to know about the critical urban role of public parks. Everything that anybody (whether they are citizen activists, or public officials, or professional landscape architects, architects, and planners) needs to know about the critical role public parks play in creating livable communities. Millions of dollars are being spent on restoring parks and creating new ones. Planner Alexander Garvin explains the rationales for their existence, the forms they take, their value, ways to pay for and govern them, and the ingredients that make successful parks, providing the first single definitive source of wisdom about them.

The Clinton-Gore Admin. launched the Livable Communities (LC) Initiative to provide communities with tools, info., and resources they can use to enhance their residents' quality of life, ensure their community's economic competitiveness, and build a stronger sense of community. This report describes the challenges of dealing with sprawl and celebrates a "wave of local innovation". Identifies steps the Admin. is taking to help communities grow in ways that ensure a high quality of life and strong, sustainable economic prosperity. Includes a description of challenges faced by urban, suburban and rural communities, the innovative ways in which some are meeting them, and the LC initiative. Illustrated.

"Whatever our age, we all want the same things: safe, affordable housing and transportation options; good health for ourselves, our loved ones and our environment; opportunities to learn, support our families and enjoy our lives; a connection with our neighbors and a government that is responsive to our needs." -author Nancy LeaMond, from the Introduction to Where We Live: Communities for All Ages: 100+ Inspiring Ideas from America's Community Leaders. The AARP bookazine series Where We Live: Communities for All Ages highlights inspiring ideas and solutions from America's local leaders to improve their communities, respond to pressing issues, and build partnerships. The series' first installment, published in 2016, featured 100+ Inspiring Ideas from America's Mayors. The second title in the series "takes a broader look at what's happening on the ground, recognizing that good ideas and the energy to push them forward can come from any number of sources," writes LeaMond. "By shining a spotlight on a range of solutions-and digging deeper into how ideas are being turned into action-our aim is to make it a little easier to trigger change at the local level." The publication, which is aligned with an AARP initiative to help communities become more livable for people of all ages, shares examples from all 50 states within seven subject-based chapters: Housing Transit, Streets and Sidewalks Public Places and Outdoor Spaces Health and Wellness Community Engagement Work, Volunteerism and Opportunity Arts, Entertainment and Fun

Museum planners Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg demonstrate how museums and cities are using their soft power to address some of the most important issues of our time.Soft power is the exercise of influence through attraction, persuasion, and agenda-setting rather than military or economic coercion.Thirteen of the world's leading museum and cultural experts from six continents explore the many facets of soft power in cities and museums to include: how it amplifies civic discourse, accelerates cultural change, and contributes to contextual intelligence among the great diversity of city dwellers, visitors, and policy makers. The authors urge city governments to embrace museums which so often are the signifiers of their cities, increasing real estate values while attracting investment, tourists, and creative workers. Lord and Blankenberg propose 32 practical strategies for museums and cities to activate their soft power and create thriving and sustainable communities. Follow the link below to watch co-author Gail Lord speaking about soft power on The Agenda, a popular public affairs program on TVO, a leading educational television broadcaster http://tvo.org/video/programs/the-agenda-with-steve-paikin/a-cultural-sleeping-giant. To Read More: http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/shared-values/how-museums-help-cities-realize-their-soft-power

A new model for water management is emerging worldwide in response to water shortages, polluted waterways, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Cities and towns are questioning the ecological and financial sustainability of big-pipe water, stormwater, and sewer systems and are searching for “lighter footprint” more sustainable solutions. Pilot projects are being built that use, treat, store, and reuse water locally and that build distributed designs into restorative hydrology. This book has been developed from the conference on Sustainable Water Infrastructure for Villages and Cities of the Future (SWIF2009) held in November 2009 in Beijing (China) that brought together an international gathering of experts in urban water and drainage infrastructure, landscape architecture, economics, environmental law, citizen participation, utility management, green building, and science and technology development. Water Infrastructure for Sustainable Communities China and the World reveals how imaginative concepts are being developed and implemented to ensure that cities, towns, and villages and their water resources can become ecologically sustainable and provide clean water. With both urban and rural waters as a focal point, the links between water quality and hydrology, landscape, and the broader concepts of green cities/villages and smart development are explored. The book focuses on decentralized concepts of potable water, stormwater, and wastewater management that would provide clean water. It results in water management systems that would be resilient to extreme events such as excessive flows due to extreme meteorological events, severe droughts, and deteriorated water and urban ecosystem quality. A particular emphasis is placed on learning lessons from the many innovative projects being designed in China and other initiatives around the world. The principal audience for the book is university faculty and students, scientists in research institutes, water professionals, governmental organizations, NGOs, urban landscape architects and planners. Visit the IWA WaterWiki to read and share material related to this title: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/WaterInfrastructureforSustainableCommunities Edited by Professor Xiaodi Hao, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, P. R. of China, Professor Vladimir Novotny, Northeastern University, Boston, USA and Dr Valerie Nelson, Coalition for Alternative Wastewater Treatment, MA, USA