Planning Small and Mid-Sized Towns: Designing and Retrofitting for Sustainability - Hardcover

Friedman, Avi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415539285 ISBN 13: 9780415539289

Publisher: Routledge, 2014

Synopsis

Small and mid-sized suburban towns house two-thirds of the world’s population and current modes of planning for these municipalities are facing challenges of both philosophy and form. Common approaches that have prevailed in past decades no longer sustain new demands and require innovative thinking. Rather than dismissing small and mid-sized towns as unattractive suburban sprawl, Planning Small and Mid-Sized Towns offers ideas and methods on how small isolated and edge towns can be designed and retooled into sustainable, affordable and adaptable communities.

Coverage includes:

• the evolution of small towns
• mobility and connectivity
• neighborhood and sustainable dwelling design
• town centers and urban renewal
• economic sustainability and wealth generation, and more.

With numerous case studies from North America and Europe and over 150 color photographs, maps, and illustrations, Planning Small and Mid-Sized Towns is a valuable, practical resource for professional planners and urban designers, as well as students in these disciplines.

About this title

About the Author

Avi Friedman received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, his master of Architecture degree from McGill University, and his Ph.D. from the Universite de Montreal. He cofounded the Affordable Homes Program at the McGill School of Architecture, where he is an Associate Professor.

Avi Friedman is the author of the books "The Grow Home" and "Planning the New Suburbia: Flexibility by Design." He has written extensively on subjects ranging from prefabrication and construction technology to suburban planning and space management.

Dr. Friedman has worked as the head of design for a homebuilding firm in Montreal. He has designed housing prototypes that were constructed by homebuilders in the private sector. The "Grow Home, " a narrow-front rowhouse, received immense media attention and has since been built in communities across North America. The "Next Home, " also the subject of much media scrutiny, is a flexible and affordable housing type. Dr. Friedman's design work and projects have been covered extensively on TV shows such as ABC's "Good Morning America, Dream Builders, " and Stewart Brand's "How Buildings Learn" (British Broadcasting Corporation), in magazines such as "Popular Science, Architecture, " and "Home, " and in newspapers including "The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, " and "San Francisco Examiner." Avi Friedman has been a speaker at meetings of government officials, development authorities, university faculties and students, homebuilders, architects, and planners. He has received numerous awards for his research, design, and teaching, including the American Institute of Architects Education Honors, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Creative Achievement Award, the Progressive Architecture Research Award, the Manning Award for Technological Innovation, and the United Nations World Habitat Award. He is also "Wallpaper's" designation as one of the 10 people who will change the way we live--an award shared by noted architect Rem Koolhaas, Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, and Sven Mattisson, co-developer of the Bluetooth microchip.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0415539285
• ISBN 13: 9780415539289
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 238