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Loading... The Walkable City: From Haussmann's Boulevards to Jane Jacobs' Streets and Beyond (Urban Studies)by Mary Soderstrom
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Through Paris, New York City, Toronto, North Vancouver, and Singapore, this examination depicts how the architectural evolutions of major cities have changed the lives of their ordinary citizens--in both positive and negative ways. According to this account, making a metropolis navigable by foot again is crucial, and it suggests how people can reorganize their personal lives in order to make this possible again. From Baron George Eugene Haussmann and his ruthless transformation of Paris to the redevelopment of North America to adapt to automobiles, this chronicle investigates the dramatic changes that have occurred in the past 200 years, providing a valuable critique of the ideas regarding how cities should be designed. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)711.4The arts Area planning and landscape architecture Area planning (Civic art) Local community planning (City planning)LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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This is a solid 3--for a novel, that would probably mean "you can do better if you want to," but for a book about walkable cities, it means "this one's fine." I found the author's thesis confusing (not sure she had one, per se--there seemed to be a lot of "this thing happened and the city's so walkable" but also "this completely opposite thing happened and this other city's so walkable," so that was a bit muddled.
The choice to zero in on a few neighbourhoods was also a bit puzzling (they certainly weren't the ones I'd have picked--instead of focussing on some outstandingly walkable places, she seemed to choose grudgingly walkable places).
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). ( )