An argument that operational urban planning can be improved by the application of the tools of urban economics to the design of regulations and infrastructure. Urban planning is a craft learned through practice. Planners make rapid decisions that have an immediate impact on the ground—the width of streets, the minimum size of land parcels, the heights of buildings. The language they use to describe their objectives is qualitative—“sustainable,” “livable,” “resilient”—often with no link to measurable outcomes. Urban economics, on the other hand, is a quantitative science, based on theories, models, and empirical evidence largely developed in academic settings. In this book, the eminent urban planner Alain Bertaud argues that applying the theories of urban economics to the practice of urban planning would greatly improve both the productivity of cities and the welfare of urban citizens. Bertaud explains that markets provide the indispensable mechanism for cities’ development. He cites the experience of cities without markets for land or labor in pre-reform China and Russia; this “urban planners’ dream” created inefficiencies and waste. Drawing on five decades of urban planning experience in forty cities around the world, Bertaud links cities’ productivity to the size of their labor markets; argues that the design of infrastructure and markets can complement each other; examines the spatial distribution of land prices and densities; stresses the importance of mobility and affordability; and critiques the land use regulations in a number of cities that aim at redesigning existing cities instead of just trying to alleviate clear negative externalities. Bertaud concludes by describing the new role that joint teams of urban planners and economists could play to improve the way cities are managed.

Taylor describes the development of urban planning ideas since the end of the Second World War, outlining the main theories from the traditional view of planning as an exercise in physical design to recent views of planning as 'communicative action'.

This guide is the result of a UN-Habitat initiative to provide local leaders and decision makers with the tools to support urban planning good practice. It includes several "how to" sections on all aspects of urban planning, including how to build resilience and reduce climate risks, with an example from Sorsogon, Philippines. It outlines practical ways to create and implement a vision for a city that will better prepare it to cope with growth and change. The overall guide offers insights from real experiences on what it takes to have an impact and to transform an urban reality through urban planning. It clearly links planning and financing and presents many successful practices that emphasize strategies to address real issues. It aims to inform leaders about the value that urban planning could bring to their cities and to facili.

Incorporating more than 3,000 illustrations, Kornwolf's work conveys the full range of the colonial encounter with the continent's geography, from the high forms of architecture through formal landscape design and town planning. From these pages emerge the fine arts of environmental design, an understanding of the political and economic events that helped to determine settlement in North America, an appreciation of the various architectural and landscape forms that the settlers created, and an awareness of the diversity of the continent's geography and its peoples. Considering the humblest buildings along with the mansions of the wealthy and powerful, public buildings, forts, and churches, Kornwolf captures the true dynamism and diversity of colonial communities - their rivalries and frictions, their outlooks and attitudes - as they extended their hold on the land.

Argues that much of what surrounds Americans is depressing, ugly, and unhealthy; and traces America's evolution from a land of village commons to a man-made landscape that ignores nature and human needs.

Deals with the interaction of local planning systems and the process of land development. These issues are explored with particular reference to statutory plan-making locally. Adams draws on some broad research into urban planning and development,

Public transit is a powerful tool for addressing a huge range of urban problems, including traffic congestion and economic development as well as climate change. But while many people support transit in the abstract, it's often hard to channel that support into good transit investments. Part of the problem is that transit debates attract many kinds of experts, who often talk past each other. Ordinary people listen to a little of this and decide that transit is impossible to figure out. Jarrett Walker believes that transit can be simple, if we focus first on the underlying geometry that all transit technologies share. In Human Transit, Walker supplies the basic tools, the critical questions, and the means to make smarter decisions about designing and implementing transit services. Human Transit explains the fundamental geometry of transit that shapes successful systems; the process for fitting technology to a particular community; and the local choices that lead to transit-friendly development. Whether you are in the field or simply a concerned citizen, here is an accessible guide to achieving successful public transit that will enrich any community.

Urban planning professionals around the globe are confronted with a multitude of challenges and problems as a result of economic, environmental and social issues impacting growing cities. With the effects of urbanization and the resultant pressure on neighbourhood infrastructure and amenities, urban planners and other public officials are being called to address sustainable community development. Chapter One examines the availability and quality of neighbourhood infrastructure in Jamaica, and discusses the implications for public health and urban planning in a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) at the Low/Middle Income Country (LMIC) stage of development. Chapter Two discusses the role of ESs as factors that improve the effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)-based processes; more precisely, it investigates how the integration of ESs into SEA-based processes can benefit Management Plans (MPs) of sites that belong to the Natura 2000 network and lead to higher levels of environmental quality. Chapter Three will provide an introduction to the history of sustainable urban development in England and the concept of urban extensions. Chapter Four utilizes a conceptual mechanism of place, non-place and placelessness to discuss some of the most recent transformations in three of Phoenix's inner-ring suburbs: Maryvale, East Van Buren, and South Phoenix. Chapter Five illustrates the application of social force theory. Chapter Six advocates a self-organized LR model in which villagers' committees (VCs) are empowered to initiate, plan and execute urban village renewal projects on their own. Some suggestions are given for pursuing a more workable and fairer way to design and implement the self-organized LR model in the future. Chapter Seven evaluates the impact of sense of community on Macau residents' choice of urban renewal mode.