San Antonio College Library

What makes a great city? Not a good city or a functional city but a great city. A city that people admire, learn from, and replicate. City planner and architect Alexander Garvin set out to answer this question by observing cities, largely in North America and Europe, with special attention to Paris, London, New York, and Vienna. For Garvin, greatness is not just about the most beautiful, convenient, or well-managed city; it isn?t even about any?city.?...

"Envisioning what we need, when it doesn't yet exist: this, Thomas Fisher tells us, is what design does. And if what we need now is a better world--functioning schools, working infrastructure, thriving cities--why not design one? Fisher shows how the principles of design apply to services and systems that seem to evolve naturally, systems whose failures sometimes seem as arbitrary and inevitable as the weather. But the "invisible" systems we depend...

Draws on experiences and data from a range of cities and countries around the globe in making the case for city planning that moves beyond mobility. Cervero, Guerra, and Al contend that prioritizing the needs and aspirations of people and the creation of great places is as important, if not more important, than expediting movement. The authors provide an optimistic outlook about the potential to transform places for the better and they celebrate the...

In 'Saving Our Cities', William W. Goldsmith shows how cities can be places of opportunity rather then places with problems. With strongly revived cities and suburbs, working as places that serve all their residents, metropolitan areas will thrive, thus making the national economy more productive, the environment better protected, the citizenry better educated, and the society more reflective, sensitive, and humane. 00Goldsmith argues that America...

Cities are the world's future. Today, more than half of the global population lives in urban areas, and that number is expected to double by 2050. There is no question that cities are growing; the only debate is over how they will grow. Will we invest in the physical and social infrastructure necessary for livable, equitable, and sustainable cities? In the latest edition of State of the World, the flagship publication of the Worldwatch Institute,...

"As global demand for energy grows and prices rise, a city's energy consumption becomes increasingly tied to its economic viability, warns the author of The Very Hungry City. Austin Troy, a seasoned expert in urban environmental management, explains for general readers how a city with a high "urban energy metabolism"--That is, a city that needs large amounts of energy in order to function--will be at a competitive disadvantage in the future. He explores...

"In this interdisciplinary narrative, the never-ending "completion" of China's most important street offers a broad view of the relationship between art and ideology in modern China. Chang'an Avenue, named after China's ancient capital (whose name means "Eternal Peace"), is supremely symbolic. Running east-west through the centuries-old heart of Beijing, it intersects the powerful north-south axis that links the traditional centers of political and...