Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Morningside Heights in Manhattan looked surprisingly suburban at the turn of the century. One of the most striking comparisons in this book shows a photo of Morningside Heights in the late 1800s beside a photo of a modern, suburban apartment complex outside Dallas. The two photos look remarkably similar, even to the point of having cattle in the background. Manhattan's transition from rural to suburban to urban happened surprisingly quickly, and throughout this book it becomes evident that no matter the physical infrastructure of a place, transition is possible.
While having background in urban planning certainly helps understand the context of this book, and there is some planning jargon, any reader interested in the future of suburbs will find this book interesting and approachable. To a large degree this book consists of a series of case studies of various suburban retrofits--how to make such places more walkable, transit friendly and less generic. Effectively, the author is arguing to make these places more unique and relevant to human needs rather than accepting the current status quo of auto-centric design. The photos and diagrams from all over the country are superb and really convey the impact retrofitting can have on communities. The transformations include malls being changed into community town centers (complete with housing and other mixed uses), suburban office buildings being changed into condos, and even strip malls transformed into schools.
To the urban planners who may use these case studies professionally, there is not much discussion or advice on how to handle political or economic battles. While suburban retrofitting may not face opposition from communities, this type of development has not been proven to be economically viable in all cases and zoning laws may quash these design ideas when push comes to shove.
Still, anyone who is interested in architecture, transit, design, and of course, urban studies, will enjoy this book and find the case studies compelling--especially those who think about urban development holistically like the late Jane Jacobs.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Retrofitting Suburbia, Updated Edition: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs
Updated with a new Introduction by the authors and a foreword by Richard Florida, this book is a comprehensive guide book for urban designers, planners, architects, developers, environmentalists, and community leaders that illustrates how existing suburban developments can be redesigned into more urban and more sustainable places. While there has been considerable attention by practitioners and academics to development in urban cores and new neighborhoods on the periphery of cities, there has been little attention to the redesign and redevelopment of existing suburbs. The authors, both architects and noted experts on the subject, show how development in existing suburbs can absorb new growth and evolve in relation to changed demographic, technological, and economic conditions.
Retrofitting Suburbia was named winner in the Architecture & Urban Planning category of the 2009 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (The PROSE Awards) awarded by The Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division of the Association of American Publishers
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