From cathedrals to cubicles, people go to great lengths and expense to design their living and working environments. They want their spaces to be places where they enjoy being, reflecting who they are and what they care about. The resultant environments in turn become loud, albeit unvocal, leaders for people occupying those corresponding spaces. The design and use of work and living spaces typifies and thematizes expectations for the group. Essentially, the architecture of rooms, buildings and cities creates cultures by conveying explicit and implicit messages. This is evident when people approach and walk into St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, or the Rothko Chapel in Houston, to name some examples. While leaders oftentimes lack the resources to have their spaces mirror the greatest architectural achievements of the world, they are in a position to use the art and science of architecture, at whatever scale is available, to their advantage. The creative and intentional use of space and place advances and promotes cherished values and enhances organizational effectiveness. This book explores the essence of good architecture and establishes relevant connections for leaders and managers to strategically design and use the organizational workplace and space to support their mission and purpose, and create aesthetically meaningful work environments. It equips leaders to be culturally astute on what defines good architecture and to incorporate principles of beauty in their leadership practices accordingly and will be of interest to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of leadership, organizational studies, and architecture theory and practice.

Amidst city concrete and suburban sprawl, Americans are discovering new ways to reconnect with the natural world. From community gardens in New York's Lower East Side to homeless shelters in California, the search for a more sustainable future has led grassroots groups to a profound reconnection to place and to the natural world. Studies of the health consequences of renewing a connection with nature support the urgency of providing green surroundings as cities expand and the majority of the earth's population lives in urban areas. Medical research results, from groups as diverse as healthy volunteers, surgery patients, and heart attack survivors, suggest that contact with nature may improve health and well-being. Engagement with nearby natural places also provides restoration from mental fatigue and support for more resilient and cooperative behavior. Aspects of stronger community life are fostered by access to nature, suggesting that there are significant social as well as physical and psychological benefits from connection with the natural world. This volume brings together research from anthropology, sociology, public health, psychology, and landscape architecture to highlight how awareness of locale and a meaningful renewal of attachment with the earth are connected to delight in learning about nature as well as to civic action and new forms of community. Community garden coalitions, organic market advocates, and greenspace preservationists resist the power of global forces, enacting visions of a different future. Their creative efforts tell a story of a constructive and dynamic middle ground between private plots and public action, between human health and ecosystem health, between individual attachment and urban sustainability.

Global in its outlook, this Research Agenda systematically reviews and critiques existing research on sustainable cities, calling for greater engagement with a diversity of perspectives. It interrogates foundational assumptions in the field and offers reframed perspectives on sustainability. Chapters also explore diverse approaches, actors and domains, locating emerging dynamics and new directions for practitioners.