| Description |
1 online resource : illustrations |
|
text file |
|
General |
| Note |
Electronic book. |
| Contents |
Front Cover -- About Island Press -- Subscribe -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1: Cities are Back -- 2: Sometimes the Small Stuff Sticks: Learning to Improvise -- 3: Do It Yourself: An Enduring Idea -- 4: Doubling Up: Lessons for Cities from Life during Wartime -- 5: Slack Is a Good Thing -- 6: When Meanwhile Becomes Permanent: Eric Reynolds and London's Revival -- 7: Making Spaces for the Arts -- 8: Filling in the Missing Pieces: Lean Urbanism -- 9: Too Small to Matter? The Persistence of the Informal -- Notes -- About the Author -- Insert |
| Note |
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 18, 2020). |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references. |
| Summary |
"Some utopian plans have shaped our cities, from England's New Towns and Garden Cities to the Haussmann plan for Paris and the L'Enfant plan for Washington, DC. But these grand plans are the exception, and seldom turn out as envisioned by the utopian planner. Inviting city neighbourhoods are more often works of improvisation on a small scale. This type of bottom-up development gives cities both their character and the ability to respond to sudden change. Hank Dittmar, urban planner, friend of artists and creatives, sometime rancher, believed in letting small things happen. Dittmar concluded that big plans were often the problem. Looking at the global cities of the world, he saw a crisis of success, with gentrification and global capital driving up home prices in some cities, while others decayed for lack of investment. In DIY City, Dittmar explains why individual initiative, small-scale business, and small development matter, using lively stories from his own experience and examples from recent history, such as the revival of Camden Lock in London and the nascent rebirth of Detroit. DIY City, Dittmar's last original work, captures the lessons he learned throughout the course of his varied career, from transit-oriented development to Lean Urbanism, that can be replicated to create cities where people can flourish. DIY City is a timely response to the challenges many cities face today, with a short supply of affordable housing, continued gentrification, and offshore investment. Dittmar's answer to this crisis is to make Do-It-Yourself the norm rather than the exception by removing the barriers to small-scale building and local business. The message of DIY City can offer hope to anyone who cares about cities."--Amazon.com |
| Subject |
City planning.
|
|
City planning. (OCoLC)fst00862177
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
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Case studies. (OCoLC)fst01423765
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Case studies.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: 1642830526 9781642830521 (OCoLC)1126219053 |
| ISBN |
1642830534 (electronic book) |
|
9781642830538 (electronic book) |
|
