Sustainable Cities Summer Course Book Reviews
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s PLAN 101 Sustainable Cities course asks students to question how humans plan and design cities to meet their long-term economic and environmental needs. As part of this course, students explored how sustainability applies to key urban issues like energy, transportation, land, and food. Students investigated the relationship between sustainability and those key urban issues through a global and pacific-island perspective, allowing exploration of sustainable urban practices for our state. The summer course instructor, Aida Arik, tasked students with reading a planning-related book and assessing how the book relates to learned planning and sustainability themes. The first component of this assignment involved students preparing a short summary of the book they read. This article highlights the book summaries prepared by the PLAN 101 students. Continued education is critical for planning practitioners and academics, with books being a great way to remain current on new ideas in our field. We encourage you all to check out these books!
“How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood” by P.E. Moskowitz
Peter Moskowitz (they/them/their) is a New York City writer focusing on issues such as LGBTQ rights, race, and the environment. They have also published books with respect to Americans’ rights and housing disparities. “How to Kill a City” is a dive into four cities facing issues of inequity, race, and gentrification. Moskowitz shares a glimpse of what it’s like to be displaced or left out of your own city by hipster coffee shops and luxury apartments. Moskowitz uncovers the shady agendas pushing gentrification and how your local government and policies may be leaving people homeless. Moskowitz reminds us of the long history of racially charged zoning and how there is still a ripple effect of discrimination happening in affordable housing development today. This book relates to common and overlooked issues in city planning, what to do with poor or disadvantaged communities, as well as housing availability. Urban growth is irreversible – planning and supporting all economic classes is key. We can see that without proper planning, there is inequality and division. I highly recommend this book; it is real and it feels like they are talking to you from the experience of others. It is informative and outlines the backbone of today’s housing issues and gentrification.
Review by Saige Akana, majoring in Tropical Agriculture & the Environment
“Civilizing American Cities: Frederick Law Olmsted’s Writings on City Landscapes” by S.B. Sutton (Editor)
“Civilizing American Cities” is a collection of writing, letters, and correspondence from Frederick Law Olmsted to his various clients and associates. For the most part, the book is written by Frederick Law Olmsted, an important American landscape architect from the late 19th century. The writings have been edited and given commentary by S.B. Sutton. Olmsted was born in Hartford, Connecticut and participated in a variety of formal educations, trainings, and jobs, eventually teaming up with another influential architect of the time Calvert Vaux, leading up to his most notable debut work on Central Park in New York. Civilizing American Cities helps us experience a new perspective and shows the precedent for how modern urban parks and suburban residential developments have come to take shape throughout history. From the perspective of urban planning, we can see the importance of the promotion of public spaces over the priorities of private enterprises, finding the best solutions to city problems despite slowdowns in bureaucracy and funding, and perhaps most importantly, the importance of collaboration with nature and its inclusion in developments and design.
Review by Nicholas Capria, majoring in Environmental Design
“Cities for People” by Jan Gehl
Jan Gehl has been working as an architect and urban design consultant since he graduated in 1960, following urban development for over 50 years. In his book, "Cities for People", he establishes that until 1960, cities have been developed from centuries of history and have been built for people. However, as urban growth increased, city development was entrusted to professional planners. These city and traffic planners neglect city space and city life in their planning. They did not account for the effect that physical structures have on human behavior. Limited space, obstacles, noise, pollution, and risk of accidents are only scraping the surface of the problems modern city planning has created for people. Modern city planning has also resulted in a reduction of pedestrianism or forms of transportation that rely on the body, such as walking or biking. It has discouraged people from being outside and has prevented social sustainability. Throughout the book, and to the very last chapter, Jan Gehl advocates to not only focus our policies and planning on supporting walking and biking but to encourage social gatherings and to transform the city into a place to party. Gehl states that a city is not a city if it is not a lively city.
Review by Jay Pang, majoring in Economics
“Cities: The First 6,000 Years” by Monica L. Smith
"Cities: The First 6,000 Years" by Monica L. Smith is an impassioned journey into the themes of infrastructure, consumption, religion, and class. An anthropology professor at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA, Smith wrote the book for the general public rather than academics. The account illustrates the fascinating details of daily life in ancient cities as she weaves together archeology, history, and contemporary observations. The journey will take readers through Tell Brak in modern-day Syria, Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan in Mexico, India, and the well-known Pompeii and Rome. Leaning heavily into the analogy that “cities were the first internet,” the book seeks to outline how the aspects of modern cities that are loved and hated have been present since the very beginnings of urbanism itself. Smith’s extensive personal experience from conducting archeological fieldwork across the globe is combined with important research undergone by many scholars throughout recent years to provide a comprehensive and wide-ranging view. "Cities: The First 6,000 Years" is an excellent read for anyone interested in urban history and can be understood by individuals at any level of study or expertise. It is an inspirational text for everyone, from tenured academics to first-year undergraduates.
Review by Luke Shideler, majoring in Geography