Create Walkable and Diverse Places with High-Performance Infrastructure and Buildings: Download Sustainable Urbanism by Douglas Farr PDF
- Thesis statement: Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature is a must-read for anyone interested in creating and enhancing walkable and diverse places with high-performance infrastructure and buildings. H2: The Case for Sustainable Urbanism - The current state of the built environment and its impacts on health, environment, and social equity. - The vision and principles of sustainable urbanism as a grand unification of urban design, green building, smart growth, and new urbanism. - The three steps of sustainable urbanism: leadership and communication, process and tools, and emerging thresholds. H2: Implementing Sustainable Urbanism - How to select and hire sustainable urbanist professionals. - How to benchmark municipal sustainability and document community preferences. - How to conduct a charrette and create a regulating plan and a form-based code. - How to incorporate sustainability through codes, covenants, and restrictions. - How to write an RFP for a sustainable urbanist developer. H2: Emerging Thresholds of Sustainable Urbanism - How to increase sustainability through density and transit-supportive development. - How to create sustainable corridors that integrate transportation, land use, and biodiversity. - How to design sustainable neighborhoods that are complete, diverse, healthy, walkable, and accessible. - How to incorporate biophilia into open space, stormwater systems, food production, and wastewater treatment. - How to achieve high performance buildings and district energy systems. H2: Case Studies in Sustainable Urbanism - BedZED in London, England: A zero-carbon community that combines high-density housing, renewable energy, water conservation, and local food production. - Newington in Sydney, Australia: A former industrial site that was transformed into a mixed-use neighborhood with solar-powered homes, recycled water, and natural ventilation. - New Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, California: A transit-oriented development that features affordable housing, green roofs, rain gardens, and public art. - Dongtan in Shanghai, China: A planned eco-city that aims to be carbon-neutral, waste-free, and self-sufficient in energy and food. H2: Conclusion - A summary of the main points and benefits of sustainable urbanism. - A call to action for readers to download Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature and apply its lessons to their own projects and communities. H3: FAQs - What is the difference between sustainable urbanism and green urbanism? - What are some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US? - What are some of the challenges and barriers to implementing sustainable urbanism? - How can I get involved in sustainable urbanism initiatives in my area? - Where can I find more resources and information on sustainable urbanism? ## Article with HTML formatting Douglas Farr Sustainable Urbanism Pdf Download: A Comprehensive Guide to Urban Design with Nature
If you are interested in creating and enhancing walkable and diverse places with high-performance infrastructure and buildings, you need to read Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature. This book is both an urgent call to action and a comprehensive introduction to sustainable urbanismthe emerging and growing design reform movement that combines the best practices of urban design, green building, smart growth, and new urbanism.
Douglas Farr Sustainable Urbanism Pdf Download
In this article, we will give you an overview of the main concepts and themes of the book, as well as some examples of case studies in sustainable urbanism from around the world. We will also show you how you can download the book as a PDF file for free.
By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of what sustainable urbanism is and why it is important for the future of our cities and communities. You will also learn how you can apply the lessons and principles of sustainable urbanism to your own projects and initiatives.
The Case for Sustainable Urbanism
The first part of the book provides a historical perspective on the standards and regulations that shaped the built environment in the US and other countries, and how they resulted in unsustainable patterns of development that have negative impacts on health, environment, and social equity.
For example, the book explains how the dominance of the automobile, the separation of land uses, the sprawl of low-density suburbs, and the neglect of urban centers have contributed to problems such as air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water scarcity, habitat loss, obesity, social isolation, and economic decline.
The book then presents a vision and principles of sustainable urbanism as a grand unification of urban design, green building, smart growth, and new urbanism. Sustainable urbanism aims to create and enhance places that are walkable, diverse, connected, compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented, resilient, and biophilic. These places not only reduce environmental impacts, but also improve human well-being, social cohesion, and economic vitality.
The book also outlines the three steps of sustainable urbanism: leadership and communication, process and tools, and emerging thresholds. These steps provide a framework for implementing sustainable urbanism in cities, communities, and neighborhoods.
Implementing Sustainable Urbanism
The second part of the book provides practical guidance and examples on how to implement sustainable urbanism through leadership and communication in cities, communities, and neighborhoods. The book features essays written by Farr and other experts in the field that delve into various aspects of the process and tools for implementing sustainable urbanism.
Some of the topics covered in this part include:
How to select and hire sustainable urbanist professionals who have the skills and experience to design and deliver sustainable urbanism projects.
How to benchmark municipal sustainability using indicators and metrics that measure environmental, social, and economic performance.
How to document community preferences using image preference surveys that elicit feedback on different types of urban forms and features.
How to conduct a charrettea collaborative design workshop that involves stakeholders, experts, and citizens in creating a shared vision and plan for a project or area.
How to create a regulating plan and a form-based codea type of zoning that regulates the physical form and character of buildings and spaces rather than their use or density.
How to incorporate sustainability through codes, covenants, and restrictionsa set of rules and standards that govern the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure.
How to write an RFP for a sustainable urbanist developera document that solicits proposals from developers who can deliver sustainable urbanism projects that meet certain criteria and expectations.
Emerging Thresholds of Sustainable Urbanism
The third part of the book explores the emerging thresholds of sustainable urbanismthe minimum levels of performance or quality that are required or desired for achieving sustainability goals. The book discusses five key thresholds: density, corridors, neighborhoods, biophilia, and buildings.
Some of the topics covered in this part include:
How to increase sustainability through densitythe number of people or units per areaand how to illustrate and explain density using different methods and metrics.
How to create sustainable corridorslinear areas that integrate transportation, land use, and biodiversityand how to design them using the transecta tool that classifies different types of urban environments based on their intensity and character.
How to design sustainable neighborhoodssmall-scale areas that are complete, diverse, healthy, walkable, and accessibleand how to measure their performance using indicators such as neighborhood definition, neighborhood completeness, neighborhood housing, neighborhood retail, third places (social gathering spots), walkable streets and networks, complete streets (streets that accommodate all modes of travel), universal basic home access (homes that are accessible to people with disabilities), travel demand management (strategies that reduce car use), car sharing (services that provide access to shared vehicles), etc.
How to incorporate biophiliathe innate human affinity for natureinto open space (public or private land that is undeveloped or minimally developed), stormwater systems (infrastructure that manages rainwater runoff), food production (activities that grow or raise food), outdoor wastewater treatment (systems that use natural processes to treat wastewater), indoor wastewater treatment (systems that use plants or microorganisms to treat wastewater inside buildings), public darkness (the absence or reduction of artificial light at night), etc.
How to achieve high performance buildings (buildings that use less energy, water, materials, and resources than conventional buildings) and district energy systems ( systems that provide heating and cooling to multiple buildings from a central plant).
Case Studies in Sustainable Urbanism
The fourth part of the book showcases four case studies in sustainable urbanism from different parts of the world. These case studies illustrate how sustainable urbanism principles and practices have been applied to real-world projects and contexts, and what outcomes and impacts they have achieved.
Some of the case studies featured in this part include:
BedZED in London, England: A zero-carbon community that combines high-density housing, renewable energy, water conservation, and local food production. The project has achieved a 90 percent reduction in carbon emissions, a 50 percent reduction in water consumption, and a 65 percent reduction in car mileage compared to the UK average.
Newington in Sydney, Australia: A former industrial site that was transformed into a mixed-use neighborhood with solar-powered homes, recycled water, and natural ventilation. The project has achieved a 60 percent reduction in energy use, a 40 percent reduction in water use, and a 70 percent diversion of waste from landfill compared to conventional developments.
New Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, California: A transit-oriented development that features affordable housing, green roofs, rain gardens, and public art. The project has achieved a 50 percent reduction in energy use, a 30 percent reduction in water use, and a 75 percent reduction in stormwater runoff compared to conventional developments.
Dongtan in Shanghai, China: A planned eco-city that aims to be carbon-neutral, waste-free, and self-sufficient in energy and food. The project plans to accommodate 500,000 residents by 2050, while preserving 60 percent of the land as wetlands and agricultural fields.
Conclusion
Sustainable urbanism is an emerging and growing design reform movement that combines the creation and enhancement of walkable and diverse places with the need to build high-performance infrastructure and buildings. Sustainable urbanism not only reduces environmental impacts, but also improves human well-being, social cohesion, and economic vitality.
Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature is a must-read for anyone interested in learning more about sustainable urbanism and how to implement it in cities, communities, and neighborhoods. The book provides a historical perspective, a vision and principles, a framework and guidance, and examples and case studies of sustainable urbanism.
If you want to download the book as a PDF file for free, you can do so by clicking on this link. You will need to create an account on the Internet Archive website and borrow the book for up to 14 days. Alternatively, you can buy the ebook from Google Books or Wiley.
We hope you enjoyed this article and found it useful. If you have any questions or comments about sustainable urbanism or Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature, please feel free to share them below.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about sustainable urbanism and Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature.
What is the difference between sustainable urbanism and green urbanism?
Sustainable urbanism and green urbanism are both design movements that aim to create environmentally friendly places. However, sustainable urbanism goes beyond green urbanism by also addressing social and economic aspects of sustainability. Sustainable urbanism focuses on creating walkable and diverse places that are connected to transit and nature, while green urbanism focuses on creating low-impact places that use renewable energy and resources.
What are some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US?
Some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US are: - Mueller in Austin, Texas: A former airport site that was redeveloped into a mixed-use community with solar panels, electric vehicles, rainwater harvesting, community gardens, and affordable housing. - Stapleton in Denver, Colorado: A former airport site that was redeveloped into a mixed-use community with parks, trails, bike lanes, transit access, green buildings, and diverse housing types. - South Lake Union in Seattle, Washington: A former industrial area that was redeveloped into a mixed-use innovation district with biotech labs, office buildings, restaurants, and shops. The project has achieved a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 50 percent reduction in water use, and a 100 percent diversion of waste from landfill compared to conventional developments.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about sustainable urbanism and Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature.
What is the difference between sustainable urbanism and green urbanism?
Sustainable urbanism and green urbanism are both design movements that aim to create environmentally friendly places. However, sustainable urbanism goes beyond green urbanism by also addressing social and economic aspects of sustainability. Sustainable urbanism focuses on creating walkable and diverse places that are connected to transit and nature, while green urbanism focuses on creating low-impact places that use renewable energy and resources.
What are some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US?
Some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US are: - Mueller in Austin, Texas: A former airport site that was redeveloped into a mixed-use community with solar panels, electric vehicles, rainwater harvesting, community gardens, and affordable housing. - Stapleton in Denver, Colorado: A former airport site that was redeveloped into a mixed-use community with parks, trails, bike lanes, transit access, green buildings, and diverse housing types. - South Lake Union in Seattle, Washington: A former industrial area that was redeveloped into a mixed-use innovation district with biotech labs, office buildings, restaurants, and shops. The project has achieved a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 50 percent reduction in water use, and a 100 percent diversion of waste from landfill compared to conventional developments.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about sustainable urbanism and Douglas Farr's book Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature.
What is the difference between sustainable urbanism and green urbanism?
Sustainable urbanism and green urbanism are both design movements that aim to create environmentally friendly places. However, sustainable urbanism goes beyond green urbanism by also addressing social and economic aspects of sustainability. Sustainable urbanism focuses on creating walkable and diverse places that are connected to transit and nature, while green urbanism focuses on creating low-impact places that use renewable energy and resources.
What are some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US?
Some examples of sustainable urbanism projects in the US are: - Mueller in Austin, Texas: A former airport site that was redeveloped into a mixed-use community with solar panels, electric vehicles, rainwater harvesting, community gardens, and affordable housing. - Stapleton in Denver, Colorado: A former airport site that was redeveloped into a mixed-use community with parks, trails, bike lanes, transit access, green buildings, and diverse housing types. - South Lake Union in Seattle, Washington: A former industrial area that was redeveloped into a mixed-use innovation district with biotech labs, office buildings, restaurants, and shops. The project has achieved a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 50 percent reduction in water use, and a 100 percent diversion of waste from landfill compared to conventional developments.
What are some of the challenges and barriers to implementing sustainable urbanism?
Some of the challenges and barriers to implementing sustainable urbanism include: - Lack of awareness and education among decision-makers, professionals, and the public about the benefits and opportunities of sustainable urbanism. - Resistance to change and innovation from existing institutions, regulations, and practices that favor conventional development patterns. - Difficulty in financing and delivering sustainable urbanism projects due to higher upfront costs, longer payback periods, and higher perceived risks. - Complexity and uncertainty in planning and designing sustainable urbanism projects due to multiple stakeholders, interdisciplinary collaboration, and dynamic contexts.
How can I get involved in sustainable urbanism initiatives in my area?
Some of the ways you can get involved in sustainable urbanism initiatives in your area are: - Learn more about sustainable urbanism by reading books (such as Douglas Farr's Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature), articles (such as this one), reports (such as A Guide to Energy Master Planning of High-Performance Districts and Communities), websites (such as the Congress for the New Urbanism or the U.S. Green Building Council), podcasts (such as The Urbanist or The Future of Living), or videos (such as TED Talks or Planetizen Courses). - Join or support local organizations or groups that advocate for or implement sustainable urbanism projects in your area. These could include professional associations (such as the American Planning Association or the American Institute of Architects), nonprofit organizations (such as Smart Growth America or Local Initiatives Support Corporation), community groups (such as neighborhood associations or coalitions), or grassroots movements (such as Transition Towns or 350.org). - Participate in public engagement processes or events that involve planning or designing sustainable urbanism projects in your area. These could include surveys, workshops, charrettes, open houses, forums, or hearings. You can also contact your local elected officials or planning staff to express your opinions or suggestions on sustainable urbanism issues or proposals. - Take action in your own life or community to promote or practice sustainable urbanism principles. These could include c