Sustaining a City's Culture and Character

<p>Somewhere, between character and caricature, there exists an authentic—a truly unique—urban place, that blends global and local, old and new. Yet, in a dramatically changing world dominated by crises of climate change, maintaining public health, and social justice, finding such places—and explaining their relevance—may be easier said than done. <br><i>Sustaining a City’s Culture and Character</i> accepts that challenge, and provides a comprehensive method for assessing how and why successful places come to be, with an explicit emphasis on context: <i>Authenticity, culture, character, </i>and <i>uniqueness </i>are words with meanings that depend on who is using them and in what contexts. <br>Through text interwoven with 160 full-color photographs by the author, and select illustrations by others, this book addresses how to enact blended and contextualized urban change, using the past and the <i>status quo </i>as catalysts rather than castaways. It provides resources and examples for the context-vetting process and for understanding how one era, object, or generation informs the next. <br>This beautiful full-color book illustrates how we can understand—or unlock— a public place, neighborhood, or city. Based on comparative experiences around the world, the book proposes a new tool—called LEARN (<i>L</i>ook, <i>E</i>ngage, <i>A</i>ssess, <i>R</i>eview, and <i>N</i>egotiate) —as a way of sustaining urban culture and character in transformative times.<br>Inspired by recent efforts and outcomes, the book is full of relevant examples. They include moving a small Swedish city, reviving Irish market towns, and revitalization efforts adjacent to London’s Waterloo Station.<br><i>Sustaining a City’s Culture and Character</i> provides a catalog of techniques that emphasize “bottom up,” resident-based input about local history, building forms, natural and open spaces, cultural assets and tradition, and related policy, planning, and regulatory examples.<br>For those who seek an urbanism of distinctiveness to enhance city livability, rather than a bland, generic uniformity, the book examines on a global basis how the many interrelated facets of an urban area’s unique, yet dynamic context—built, social, cultural and intangible—can be championed and advanced, rather than simply borrowed from another place.</p>