Free Downloads America's Most Sustainable Cities And Regions: Surviving The 21st Century Megatrends
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.
Paperback: 348 pages
Publisher: Copernicus; 1st ed. 2016 edition (January 24, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 149393242X
ISBN-13: 978-1493932429
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #34,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #9 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > City Planning & Urban Development #9 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Urban Planning & Development #11 in Books > Business & Money > Industries > Energy & Mining > Oil & Energy
This is a very important book, which deserves attention and careful study by everybody who cares about the futures of cities in the 21st century. The key problem addressed in the book is the dependence of mega-cities in North America on fossil fuels, and the unsustainability of these cities without or beyond fossil fuels. (Oil and gas from 'fracking' shale can provide only temporary postponements of what is coming). It seems that no combination of renewables, energy efficiency, and energy conservation can support the continuation of the lifestyles and economies in these cities post-fossil-fuels, as the authors make clear using and citing much published research and analysis. Impacts of climate change on some of these cities and regions are also included in the discussion. Some smaller cities are much more sustainable over the longer term, for reasons which are well-described in the book. Jared Diamond has observed that civilizations sometimes collapse because of slow changes which do not alarm anybody at the time, and the long-term implications of which are not well-understood. With books like this, and all of the research which is noted and reviewed in the book, we do not have that excuse. Many writers, scholars, and activists are trying to mainstream this kind of knowledge, and working on developing new paradigms for local economic and social life in their regions. This book should be a big resource in these efforts.
The title of this well organized work is somewhat modest as it is an excellent primer on energy literacy and serves as a valuable guide on distinguishing green babble from reality. Spoiler alert: when systems of human organization (such as neoclassical economics, for example) confront the laws of physics, the latter wins.
Read it! then start changing the world.
America's Most Sustainable Cities and Regions: Surviving the 21st Century Megatrends Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America's Metropolitan Regions (Regions and Cities) Belwin's 21st Century Guitar Method, Bk 1: The Most Complete Guitar Course Available, Book, DVD & Online Audio, Video & Software (Belwin's 21st Century Guitar Course) Belwin's 21st Century Guitar Ensemble 1: The Most Complete Guitar Course Available (Student Book) (Belwin's 21st Century Guitar Course) The Confessions: (Vol. I/1) Revised, (The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century) (The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, Vol. 1) Belwin's 21st Century Guitar Staff Manuscript Book (Belwin's 21st Century Guitar Library) The Environmental Planning Handbook for Sustainable Communities and Regions Re-engineering for Sustainable Industrial Production: Proceedings of the OE/IFIP/IEEE International Conference on Integrated and Sustainable ... in Information and Communication Technology) Amazing Cities: A coloring Book of Fantastic Places in the World (Adult Coloring Books Of Amazing Cities) (Volume 2) Amazing Cities: A Coloring Book of Fantastic Places in the World! (Adult Coloring books, Adult coloring) (Adult Coloring Books of Amazing Cities) (Volume 1) City Coloring Book for Adults Fantastic Cities, Splendid Creative Designs (Cities Coloring Book) (Volume 1) Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus: Updated and Expanded 3rd Edition, in Dictionary Form (Roget's Twentieth-First Century Thesaurus in Dictionary Form) In the Company of Rilke: Why a 20th-Century Visionary Poet Speaks So Eloquently to 21st-Century Readers Book of Extremes: Why the 21st Century Isn't Like the 20th Century The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America's Prosperity, Security, and Sustainability in the 21st Century Chosen Faith, Chosen Land: The Untold Story of America's 21st Century Shakers Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats: Reproducible Mini-Books and 3-D Manipulatives That Teach About Oceans, Rain Forests, Polar Regions, and 12 Other Important Habitats Global Supply Chains: Evaluating Regions on an EPIC Framework - Economy, Politics, Infrastructure, and Competence: "EPIC" Structure - Economy, Politics, Infrastructure, and Competence The World Atlas Of Musical Instruments: From All Eras and Regions of the World World Regional Maps Coloring Book: Maps of World Regions, Continents, World Projections, USA and Canada
