This book is about the growth and future development of cities. Its collection of nine essays brings together a variegation of views and visions of how we might build sustaining cities into the 21st century, with one staying concern: a better tomorrow. The essays do not profess to provide answers but rather, alternative starting points for further explorations and reflections on the meaning of sustainable development for our cities.

This book takes you on a unique journey through American history, taking time to consider the forces that shaped the development of various cities and regions, and arrives at an unexpected conclusion regarding sustainability. From the American Dream to globalization to the digital and information revolutions, we assume that humans have taken control of our collective destinies in spite of potholes in the road such as the Great Recession of 2007-2009. However, these attitudes were formed during a unique 100-year period of human history in which a large but finite supply of fossil fuels was tapped to feed our economic and innovation engine. Today, at the peak of the Oil Age, the horizon looks different. Cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas are situated where water and other vital ecological services are scarce, and the enormous flows of resources and energy that were needed to create the megalopolises of the 20th century will prove unsustainable. Climate change is a reality, and regional impacts will become increasingly severe. Economies such as Las Vegas, which are dependent on discretionary income and buffeted by climate change, are already suffering the fate of the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Finite resources will mean profound changes for society in general and the energy-intensive lifestyles of the US and Canada in particular. But not all regions are equally vulnerable to these 21st-century megatrends. Are you ready to look beyond “America’s Most Livable Cities” to the critical factors that will determine the sustainability of your municipality and region? Find out where your city or region ranks according to the forces that will impact our lives in the next years and decades. Find out how: ·resource availability and ecological services shaped the modern landscape ·emerging megatrends will make cities and regions more or less livable in the new century ·your city or region ranks on a “sustainability” map of the United States ·urban metabolism puts large cities at particular risk ·sustainability factors will favor economic solutions at a local, rather than global, level ·these principles apply to industrial economies and countries globally. This book should be cited as follows: J. Day, C. Hall, E. Roy, M. Moersbaecher, C. D'Elia, D. Pimentel, and A. Yanez. 2016. America's most sustainable cities and regions: Surviving the 21st century megatrends. Springer, New York. 348 p.

Published in 1999. Analyzing and chronicling the continued development of key information, communication and fast transport networks at a global and regional level, this book looks at the transition to an information-based economy, and its urban impacts, at a global, regional and city level. The book outlines the change by defining it as the third great societal transition in the history of human settlement, and points to key factors that have fuelled progress. These include the growth of global telecommunications and fast transport networks; the coming together of information and communication technologies and their links to transport and land use; the shift to information and knowledge as a resource base for new industries; the increasing movement of people and information; the emergence of cities as economic entities, network nodes, and centres for generating, exchanging and processing information, and, most significantly, the competition among cities for these new key elements of of the urban economy.

With Asia’s cities undergoing unprecedented growth in the 21st century, lauded the ‘urban century’ by many, Sustainable Cities in Asia provides a timely examination of the challenges facing cities across the continent including some of the projects, approaches and solutions that are currently being tested. This book uses numerous case studies, analysing topical issues ranging from city cycling in India, to green spaces in China, to the use of community-led energy generation projects in post-Fukushima Japan. Containing contributions from an international team of scholars, it also takes a multi-disciplinary approach and draws on examples from a wide range of countries, including China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, by providing a comprehensive discussion of the broader debates around the shape of sustainable urbanism, it demonstrates that Asia is one of the most active regions in terms of the development of sustainable city strategies. Tackling the contemporary issues of key importance for sustainability, such as property markets, migration and transport, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Urban Geography, Sustainability, Environmental Studies and Asian studies.

Cities in the 21st Century provides an overview of contemporary urban development. Written by more than thirty major academic specialists from different countries, it provides information on and analysis of the global network of cities, changes in urban form, environmental problems, the role of technologies and knowledge, socioeconomic developments, and finally, the challenge of urban governance. In the mid-20th century, architect and planner Josep Lluís Sert wondered if cities could survive; in the early 21st century, we see that cities have not only survived but have grown as never before. Cities today are engines of production and trade, forges of scientific and technological innovation, and crucibles of social change. Urbanization is a major driver of change in contemporary societies; it is a process that involves acute social inequalities and serious environmental problems, but also offers opportunities to move towards a future of greater prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social justice. With case studies on thirty cities in five continents and a selection of infographics illustrating these dynamic cities, this edited volume is an essential resource for planners and students of urbanization and urban change.

Among the issues explored in this volume are: the technological, economic, social, political, regulatory and environmental forces operating to change our cities and the relationships between them; the impact of technology change, including information and communication technologies, fast transport networks, the emergence of global networks, office automation, and flexible specialisation and re-engineering of production processes; the globalisation of markets increasing competition among cities to supply markets with goods, services, skills and space; the formation of multinational trading blocs and regional alliances diminishing the significance of national barriers and increasing the importance of cities; environmental sustainability as an emerging constraint on urban activities and their locations; and the emergence at global level of the largest and most productive cities as world centres and global network nodes.

Against a backdrop of unprecedented levels of urbanization, 21st century cities across the globe share concerns for the challenges they face. This Companion provides a framework for understanding the city as a critical building block for a more sustain

The term smart city has become a buzzword. City planners develop ubiquitous connectivity through Wi-Fi hotspots, establish science parks, introduce bike and car sharing, and push entrepreneurship. All this is happening under the flagship of becoming a knowledge city. This book investigates the digital and cognitive infrastructure of 31 cities and how they meet the demands of the knowledge society in an increasingly digitized environment.