REVIEWS for Envisioning Better Cities: A Global Tour of Good Ideas
“Come out. Participate. Big events and ordinary days. Meet your fellow citizens face to face. Walk more, bike more, use your public spaces more. It is good for your health, good for the climate, good for the city, good for social inclusion, good for democracy and by the way very enjoyable! - and bring the book “Envisioning Better Cities: A Global Tour of Good Ideas” along. This book tells it all.”
Jan Gehl, Architect and Urban Designer
Author, Cities for People, June 2019
*****
“As a journalist my decades have been spent in cities, thinking about cities, seeing what works and what does not, wondering what makes the spirit of some locations seem lifted while the tenor of other places is palpably tense and angered. In the US, few cities are given the benefit of far planning in a way that makes room for people, pets, cars, companies and a work life that can be complemented by a certain sense of peace in the off hours. This book serves as a blueprint for the thinking that should go into the tough decisions smart city planners must make. It is not too late to humanize the urban jungles that have long characterized America's bigger metropolises. Chase and Rivenburgh make their case with intelligence, breadth, perspective and muscle from their years in the trenches discovering what works and what doesn't -- and what to do with that knowledge once you know. Someone had to write this and I am glad they did. As I wander through the sprawl that most US cities have become, I am now allowed to dream."
Lark Gould
Senior Editor, Business Traveler USA
****
Excerpt from book review: “Considering the Revival of Public Space”
“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….To that both personal and professional quest recommended is Envisioning Better Cities, by Seattle urban consultant Patricia Chase and University of Washington professor Nancy K. Rivenburgh. As its subtitle, “A Global Tour of Good Ideas,” implies, it is a bucket list of sorts. It journeys to well-grounded places, projects and programs that make their host cities more “livable and sustainable,” and hopefully inspiring to others.”
See full review at http://www.cp-dr.com/articles/considering-the-revival-public-space
S. Kaplan, Book Review for CP&DR, October 2019
*****
“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.”
DD, Amazon customer, June 2019