Jigsaw cities: Big places, small spaces
14 March 2007
by Anne Power and John Houghton
This new book explores Britain's intensely urban and increasingly global communities as interlocking pieces of a complex jigsaw; they are hard to see apart yet they are deeply unequal. How did our major cities become so divided? How do they respond to housing and neighbourhood decay?
Jigsaw Cities examines these issues using Birmingham, Britain's second largest city, as a model of pioneering urban order and as a victim of brutal Modernist planning.
Through a close look at major British cities, using Birmingham as a case study, the book explores:
- the origins of Britain's acute urban decline and sprawling exodus;
- the reasons why "one size doesn't fit all" in cities of the future;
- the potential for smart growth, mixed communities and sustainable cities.
Based on live examples and hands-on experience, this extremely accessible book offers a unique 'insider' perspective on policy making and practical impacts. It will attract policymakers in cities and government as well as students, regeneration bodies, community organisations and environmental specialists.
Anne Power is Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Sustainable Development Commissioner responsible for regeneration and sustainable communities; member of the Government's Urban Task Force; author of books on cities, communities and marginal housing areas in the UK and abroad.
John Houghton was head of the Communities Division at the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit; a visiting research associate at CASE; and currently a Harkness scholar at the University of Minnesota. John Houghton worked as Anne Power's assistant during 2002-03 while Anne was Chair of the Independent Commission on the Future of Housing in Birmingham.
Read more at the
Policy Press and download
free sample chapters in Adobe PDF.
News Posted: 14 March 2007 [
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