America's Urban Future: Lessons from North of the Border

Thông tin sách: America's Urban Future: Lessons from North of the Border (Paperback, 312 trang) – Island Press, 2016. Ngôn ngữ: Tiếng Anh.

The headlines about cities celebrating their resurgence—with empty nesters and Millennials alike investing in our urban areas, moving away from car dependence, and demanding walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods. But, in reality, these changes are taking place in a scattered and piecemeal fashion. While areas of a handful of cities are booming, most US metros continue to follow old patterns of central city decline and suburban sprawl. As demographic shifts change housing markets and climate change ushers in new ways of looking at settlement patterns, pressure for change in urban policy is growing. More and more policy makers are raising questions about the soundness of policies that squander our investment in urban housing, built environment, and infrastructure while continuing to support expansion of sprawling, auto-dependent development. Changing these policies is the central challenge facing US cities and metro regions, and those who manage them or plan their future.

In America’s Urban Future, urban experts Tomalty and Mallach examine US policy in the light of the Canadian experience, and use that experience as a starting point to generate specific policy recommendations. Their recommendations are designed to help the US further its urban revival, build more walkable, energy-efficient communities, and in particular, help land use adapt better to the needs of the aging population. Tomalty and Mallach show how Canada, a country similar to the US in many respects, has fostered healthier urban centers and more energy- and resource-efficient suburban growth. They call for a rethinking of US public policies across those areas and look closely at what may be achievable at federal, state, and local levels in light of both the constraints and opportunities inherent in today’s political systems and economic realities.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. America's Urban FutureLessons from North of the BorderBy Ray Tomalty, Alan MallachISLAND PRESSCopyright © 2015 Ray Tomalty and Alan Mallach
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61091-596-0
ContentsAcknowledgments,
Introduction,
1 Changing World, Changing Cities,
2 Canada and the United States: Similar yet Different,
3 Differences in Livability and Sustainability,
4 Differences in Urban Form and Transportation Systems,
5 Organizing Government: Powers, Boundaries, and Governance Systems,
6 Urban Connectivity: Integrated Transportation Planning,
7 Social Policy and a More Inclusive Society,
8 Vibrant, Diverse Central Cities,
9 Growing Sustainable Suburbs,
10 Learning from Canada: Conclusion and Recommendations,
Notes,
Bibliography,


CHAPTER 1

Changing World, Changing Cities

Cities in the United States are in a time of transition. Post–World War II patterns of growth have begun to play themselves out, and new patterns are emerging. Although low-density, car-dependent development on the urban fringe continues, more emphasis is being placed on higher-density, mixed-use development around transit stations, in city centers, and in suburban subcenters. In a reversal of historical trends that saw middle-class people flee distressed urban cores, many central cities are attracting new residents (especially younger people). In both central cities and suburbs, Americans are increasingly demanding more walkable and transit-friendly neighborhoods and in general are looking for higher quality urban places in which to live, work, and play. Concerns over the environmental and public health effects associated with urban sprawl, tighter government infrastructure budgets, the emergence of the creative economy, and a growing awareness of the destructive implications of social inequality are causing community leaders to question conventional models of urban growth and development. All these issues will almost certainly continue to gain in importance in the coming years and contribute to this new phase in the evolution of US cities.

During this time of change, urban leaders in the United States are looking for direction. Across the nation, city officials, planners, developers, architects, and others involved in shaping our cities are experimenting with new approaches to city design. Plans and projects going under a variety of rubrics — from pedestrian pockets, transit-oriented development, and complete communities to life-cycle neighborhoods and new urbanist developments — are springing up across the country. The truth is, however, that even though a number of organizations are working to spread these emerging practices by disseminating knowledge and experience to city builders around the country, these promising trends remain sporadic and scattered. Pockets of change are visible here and there, but the larger governance and policy arrangements that favor sprawl continue to churn out low-density, car-dependent development in urban regions across the country.

Within this context of change and brakes on change, our purpose is to bring a fresh perspective on US planning and development trends by leavening the discussion with experiences and practices from the country's neighbor to the north, Canada. Anyone who has visited Canada after living in the United States has experienced the uncanny "same but different" feeling. Canadian cities look more or less like US cities, with similar downtown skylines, road patterns, and architectural forms, but some differences are immediately apparent: city centers