The Working Landscape: Founding, Preservation, and the Politics of Place (Urban and Industrial Environments) - Softcover

Book 20 of 70: Urban and Industrial Environments

Peter F. Cannavo

  • 2.86 out of 5 stars
    7 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780262532921: The Working Landscape: Founding, Preservation, and the Politics of Place (Urban and Industrial Environments)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0262532921 ISBN 13: 9780262532921
Publisher: Mit Pr, 2007

Synopsis

In America today we see rampant development, unsustainable resource exploitation, and commodification ruin both natural and built landscapes, disconnecting us from our surroundings and threatening our fundamental sense of place. Meanwhile, preservationists often respond with a counterproductive stance that rejects virtually any change in the landscape. In The Working Landscape, Peter Cannavò identifies this zero-sum conflict between development and preservation as a major factor behind our contemporary crisis of place. Cannavò offers practical and theoretical alternatives to this deadlocked, polarized politics of place by proposing an approach that embraces both change and stability and unifies democratic and ecological values, creating a "working landscape."

Place, Cannavò argues, is not just an object but an essential human practice that involves the physical and conceptual organization of our surroundings into a coherent, enduring landscape. This practice must balance development (which he calls "founding") and preservation. Three case studies illustrate the polarizing development-preservation conflict: the debate over the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest; the problem of urban sprawl; and the redevelopment of the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City. Cannavò suggests that regional, democratic governance is the best framework for integrating development and preservation, and he presents specific policy recommendations that aim to create a "working landscape" in rural, suburban, and urban areas. A postscript on the mass exile, displacement, and homelessness caused by Hurricane Katrina considers the implications of future climate change for the practice of place.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Peter F. Cannavò is Visiting Assistant Professor of Government at Hamilton College.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Mit Pr
Publication date
2007
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0262532921
ISBN 13 
9780262532921
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
425
Rating
  • 2.86 out of 5 stars
    7 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780262033640: The Working Landscape: Founding, Preservation, and the Politics of Place (Urban and Industrial Environments)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  026203364X ISBN 13:  9780262033640
Publisher: Mit Pr, 2007
Hardcover