Cities and Nature (Routledge Critical Introductions to Urbanism and the City)

Cities and Nature illustrates how the city is part of the environment, and how it is subject to environmental constraints and opportunities. The city has been treated in geographical writings as only a social phenomena, and at the same time, environmental scientists have tended to ignore the urban. This book reconnects the science and social science through the examination of the urban. It critiques the dominant academic discourse which ignores the environmental base of urban life and living, and discusses the urban natural environment and how this is subjected to social influences.

The book is organized around three central themes:

• urban environment in historical context
• issues in urban-nature relations 
• realigning urban-nature relations.

Ideas such as pollution as a physical environmental fact, often created or impacted by economic, cultural and political changes are discussed, as well as viewing pollution as a social act: consuming patterns of everyday activities - driving, showering, shopping, eating - and how this has an environmental impact. The authors reintroduce a social science perspective in examining urban nature, the city and its physical environment.

Cities and Nature clearly illustrates the physical and social elements of the urban environment and shows how these are important to examining the city. It includes further reading and boxed case studies on Bangladesh, Paris, Delhi, Rome, Cubatao, Thailand, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans and Toronto. This book would be an asset to students and researchers in environmental studies, urban studies and planning.

Lisa Benton-Short is an Associate Professor of Geography at George Washington University in Washington, DC. An urban geographer, she has research interests in environmental issues in cities, parks and public spaces, and monuments and memorials. She is also interested in globalization, urbanization and migration.

John Rennie Short is Professor of Geography and Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has published twenty-eight books and numerous articles and is recognized as an international authority on the study of cities.