Book Review Envisioning Better Cities

Recent Book Read : Envisioning Better Cities 

Written by Patricia Chase , Nancy Rivenburgh 

This is a beautifully written, highly engaging book that above all inspires us to think anew about the cities that shape our lives. From a fresh and novel perspective, it doesn’t stop at inviting us to make a difference, but rather shows us the way in terms we may never have arrived at on our own. Striking color images throughout the book illustrate points made and add to the pleasure of reading it.

What seems like just a few years ago, planning and design critics were bemoaning the death of public space, a victim of municipal neglect, overt commercialism, and media disinterest. Apparently we had surrendered our urban fabric to an unholy alliance of myopic traffic engineers, duplicitous developers, disingenuous elected officials, and undiscerning pedants. Pedestrians were suspect, sidewalks shunned and parks avoided. Pervading all was a fog of civic unease. 
Today, urbanists are celebrating the crafting and care of public spaces as harbingers of more open and inviting cities. They envision places where people can come out from behind their computer screens to experience a rare sense of community, however fleeting, and share a cup of coffee, however pricey. Tourists join this chorus, their ardor for community feeding local coffers and conceits. 
As for urban designers and planners, there is an encouraging new awareness and appreciation for context and community, the purpose and potential of public space, and the need to hone the cryptic craft of placemaking. 
Cryptic indeed, for the diversity of cities, the fracturing of communities, and shifting demographics are very much a challenge to those in search of a “genius loci” and to those who would design inviting places to live, work, or visit. 
Patricia is an urban architect based in Seattle and Nancy is professor at University of Washington.