Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes and Eco-Warriors


Book Description

Following on from the success of the first edition, Smartcities + Eco-Warriors (2010), this book is the latest innovative response on urban resilience from one of the world’s leading urban design and architectural thinkers. An ecological symbiosis between nature, society and the built form, the Smartcity cultivates new spatial practices and creates diverse forms of resilient landscapes including and beyond urban agriculture. The notion of the Smartcity is developed through a series of international case studies, some commissioned by government organisations, others speculative and polemic. This second edition has nine new case studies, and additional ecological sustainability studies covering sensitivity, design criteria, and assessments for ecological construction plans. The book concludes with two new essays on the romance of trees and the empowering nature of resilient landscapes. Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes + Eco-warriors represents a crucial voice in the discourse of climate change and the potential opportunities to improve the ecological function of existing habitats or create new landscapes which are considered beneficial to local ecology and resilience. It is indispensable reading for practitioners and students in the fields of landscape, urban design, architecture and environmental engineering. An inspiration to government agencies and NGOs dealing with sustainability, this work also resonates with anyone concerned about cities, landscapes, food and water security, and energy conservation.




Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes and Eco-Warriors


Book Description

Following on from the success of the first edition, Smartcities + Eco-Warriors (2010), this book is the latest innovative response on urban resilience from one of the world’s leading urban design and architectural thinkers. An ecological symbiosis between nature, society and the built form, the Smartcity cultivates new spatial practices and creates diverse forms of resilient landscapes including and beyond urban agriculture. The notion of the Smartcity is developed through a series of international case studies, some commissioned by government organisations, others speculative and polemic. This second edition has nine new case studies, and additional ecological sustainability studies covering sensitivity, design criteria, and assessments for ecological construction plans. The book concludes with two new essays on the romance of trees and the empowering nature of resilient landscapes. Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes + Eco-warriors represents a crucial voice in the discourse of climate change and the potential opportunities to improve the ecological function of existing habitats or create new landscapes which are considered beneficial to local ecology and resilience. It is indispensable reading for practitioners and students in the fields of landscape, urban design, architecture and environmental engineering. An inspiration to government agencies and NGOs dealing with sustainability, this work also resonates with anyone concerned about cities, landscapes, food and water security, and energy conservation.




Smartcities Resilient Landscapes + Eco-warriors


Book Description

This second edition, Smartcities and Eco-warriors: The Ecological Landscapes for Urban Resilience, reflects CJ Lim's latest research since the original publication, and has six additional case studies, together with a new extensive catalogue of floral and fauna for each landscape and environmental condition.




Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes and Eco-Warriors


Book Description

Following on from the success of the first edition, Smartcities + Eco-Warriors (2010), this book is the latest innovative response on urban resilience from one of the world’s leading urban design and architectural thinkers. An ecological symbiosis between nature, society and the built form, the Smartcity cultivates new spatial practices and creates diverse forms of resilient landscapes including and beyond urban agriculture. The notion of the Smartcity is developed through a series of international case studies, some commissioned by government organisations, others speculative and polemic. This second edition has nine new case studies, and additional ecological sustainability studies covering sensitivity, design criteria, and assessments for ecological construction plans. The book concludes with two new essays on the romance of trees and the empowering nature of resilient landscapes. Smartcities, Resilient Landscapes + Eco-warriors represents a crucial voice in the discourse of climate change and the potential opportunities to improve the ecological function of existing habitats or create new landscapes which are considered beneficial to local ecology and resilience. It is indispensable reading for practitioners and students in the fields of landscape, urban design, architecture and environmental engineering. An inspiration to government agencies and NGOs dealing with sustainability, this work also resonates with anyone concerned about cities, landscapes, food and water security, and energy conservation.




Place-Based Sustainability


Book Description

Global challenges instigated by climate change and urbanisation are driving research seeking appropriate and effective strategies for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. While technical advancements are a major focus for sustainable development, there are important research avenues that explore the relationship of place and sustainability from a number of perspectives. Place-based sustainability research identifies activities and initiatives that need to be layered and integrated with technological advances, but also help drive them. This research can facilitate the well-considered steering of sustainable development and practices, the essence of stewardship of place. This volume of a wide range of research and design approaches by a diverse group of authors of various disciplines reveals new perspectives on the relationship of the culture of place and sustainability. The central narrative that emerges from the chapters of this book is the critical cultural relationship of people to their environment, both built and natural. The authors delve into this relationship and see new approaches to support our awareness and appreciation of the nature of our cities and countryside as an integral ecosystem, thereby having the potential to nurture social values and political will for increasing our sustainable practices and resilience. The authors extend to us pathways for stewardship of our cities and countryside that are essential if we are to contend with the serious challenges provoked by our changing climate and the continuing urbanisation of the world’s population.




Observations on the Castrati in Britain


Book Description

This book highlights the experiences of castrato singers in Britain during the long eighteenth-century. These singers stood apart from traditional cultural and sexual norms of the period by nature of their altered bodies. The work investigates the fears surrounding the possibility of Catholic influence in the nation, and the ability of sensual Italian operatic music to feminize the male population and weaken the country’s leaders. The castrato as a possible romantic rival to “normal” men is also discussed, while the contributions of the castrati to cultural leadership in the areas of teaching, concert direction and social influence are examined. This book will appeal to music historians and those interested in cultural and gender studies.




The Agri-Food System in Question


Book Description

To mitigate climate, biodiversity, and public health crises, the global agrifood system needs radical change. The Global North remains central to agrifood innovation but new players in the South, especially Brazil and China, will increasingly determine its pace and direction. Investigating climate-controlled agriculture and alternatives to animal proteins, John Wilkinson shows that trade, investment, and innovation in agrifood is reorienting to the South. As the global population becomes increasingly urban, he skilfully illustrates the connections between social movements and technological innovation – and the need for consumer acceptance of new food habits.




Once Upon a China


Book Description

Once Upon a China is an unconventional architectural story of great beauty, empathy, honour and sadness. The chapters are ingenious reimaginations of ‘Dream of the Red Mansion’, ‘Journey to the West ’, ‘The Water Margin’, and ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, and are conceived as specific themes of Chinese identity: domesticity, consumerism, democracy and adaptability. These four seminal pre-modern fictions contain diverse voices and philosophical perspectives on history as well as satires that have defined past developments of Chinese societies, politics and the built environment. Comics is an unorthodox but extraordinary medium for architectural speculations. The eccentric characteristics of comic-inspired drawings in this book enrich the processes of conception and conceptualisation of design – their fragmented yet sequential nature proves versatile in the imagination of spatial experiences, enabling the complex stories of place, brief and building to materialise. At the same time, the politicisation of architecture through comics engenders a sense of optimism to reappraise Chinese design futures and critical thinking beyond the exuberance of non-contextual Western capitalist models.




Smartcities and Eco-Warriors


Book Description

Modern methods of agriculture have led to cities growing out of control and reducing the available agricultural land, threatening the sustainability of our food system. The previous mutually sustaining relationships of animals, humans and the land have been lost with the progress of industry. The Smartcity – an ecological symbiosis between nature, society and the built form – is the innovative response to contemporary problems from one of the world’s leading urban design and architectural thinkers. Addressing the problems of unchecked city growth, the idea of the Smartcity questions whether we could begin to live once again from first principles, focusing in on the inhabitants of the city. The holistic construct of the Smartcity is developed through a series of international case studies, some commissioned by government organisations, others speculative and polemic. Reframing the way people think about urban green space and the evolution of cities, CJ Lim and Ed Liu explore how the reintegration of agriculture in urban environments can cultivate new spatial practices and social cohesion in addition to food for our tables. Representing an emerging architectural voice in matters of environmental and social sustainability, Smartcities and Eco-warriors is a long overdue treatment of the subject from a designer’s perspective, and is essential reading for practitioners and students in the fields of architecture, urban planning, environmental engineering, landscape design, agriculture and sociology. An inspiration to government agencies and NGOs dealing with climate change, it also resonates with anyone concerned about cities, energy conservation and the future of food




The Community Resilience Reader


Book Description

National and global efforts have failed to stop climate change, transition from fossil fuels, and reduce inequality. We must now confront these and other increasingly complex problems by building resilience at the community level. The Community Resilience Reader combines a fresh look at the challenges humanity faces in the 21st century, the essential tools of resilience science, and the wisdom of activists, scholars, and analysts working on the ground to present a new vision for creating resilience. It shows that resilience is a process, not a goal; how it requires learning to adapt but also preparing to transform; and that it starts and ends with the people living in a community. From Post Carbon Institute, the producers of the award-winning The Post Carbon Reader, The Community Resilience Reader is a valuable resource for community leaders, college students, and concerned citizens.