Most people equate Los Angeles with smog, sprawl, forty suburbs in search of a city - the great what not to do of twentieth-century city building. But there's much more to LA's story than this shallow stereotype. History shows that Los Angeles was intensely, ubiquitously planned. The consequences of that planning - the environmental history of urbanism - is one place to turn for the more complex lessons LA has to offer. Working forward from ancient times and ancient ecologies to the very recent past, Land of Sunshine is a fascinating exploration of the environmental history of greater Los...
Most people equate Los Angeles with smog, sprawl, forty suburbs in search of a city - the great what not to do of twentieth-century city building. But...
Immersed in their on-demand, highly consumptive, and disposable lifestyles, most urban Americans take for granted the technologies that provide them with potable water, remove their trash, and process their wastewater. These vital services, however, are the byproduct of many decades of development by engineers, sanitarians, and civic planners.
In The Sanitary City, Martin V. Melosi assembles a comprehensive, thoroughly researched and referenced history of sanitary services in urban America. He examines the evolution of water supply, sewage systems, and solid waste disposal...
Immersed in their on-demand, highly consumptive, and disposable lifestyles, most urban Americans take for granted the technologies that provide the...
Throughout history, rivers have run a wide course through human temporal and spiritual experience. They have demarcated mythological worlds, framed the cradle of Western civilization, and served as physical and psychological boundaries among nations. Rivers have become a crux of transportation, industry, and commerce. They have been loved as nurturing providers, nationalist symbols, and the source of romantic lore but also loathed as sites of conflict and natural disaster. "Rivers in History" presents one of the first comparative histories of rivers on the continents of Europe and North...
Throughout history, rivers have run a wide course through human temporal and spiritual experience. They have demarcated mythological worlds, framed th...
In 1880, coal was the primary energy source for everything from home heating to industry. Regions where coal was readily available, such as the Ruhr Valley in Germany and western Pennsylvania in the United States, witnessed exponential growth-yet also suffered the greatest damage from coal pollution. These conditions prompted civic activism in the form of "anti-smoke" campaigns to attack the unsightly physical manifestations of coal burning. This early period witnessed significant cooperation between industrialists, government, and citizens to combat the smoke problem. It was not until...
In 1880, coal was the primary energy source for everything from home heating to industry. Regions where coal was readily available, such as the Ruhr V...
Phoenix is known as the Valley of the Sun, while Tucson is referred to as The Old Pueblo. These nicknames epitomize the difference in the public s perception of each city. Phoenix continues to sprawl as one of America s largest and fastest-growing cities. Tucson has witnessed a slower rate of growth, and has only one quarter of Phoenix s population. This was not always the case. Prior to 1920, Tucson had a larger population. How did two cities, with such close physical proximity and similar natural environments develop so differently? Desert Cities examines the environmental...
Phoenix is known as the Valley of the Sun, while Tucson is referred to as The Old Pueblo. These nicknames epitomize the difference in the public s ...
One of the oldest metropolitan areas in North America, Montreal has evolved from a remote fur trading post in New France into an international center for services and technology. A city and an island located at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, it is uniquely situated to serve as an international port while also providing rail access to the Canadian interior. The historic capital of the Province of Canada, once Canada s foremost metropolis, Montreal has a multifaceted cultural heritage drawn from European and North American influences. Thanks to its rich past, the city...
One of the oldest metropolitan areas in North America, Montreal has evolved from a remote fur trading post in New France into an international cent...
As an essential resource, water has been the object of warfare, political wrangling, and individual and corporate abuse. It has also become an object of commodification, with multinational corporations vying for water supply contracts in many countries. In "Precious Commodity, " Martin V. Melosi examines water resources in the United States and addresses whether access to water is an inalienable right of citizens, and if government is responsible for its distribution as a public good. Melosi provides historical background on the construction, administration, and adaptability of water...
As an essential resource, water has been the object of warfare, political wrangling, and individual and corporate abuse. It has also become an obje...
Urban Rivers examines urban interventions on rivers through politics, economics, sanitation systems, technology, and societies; how rivers affected urbanization spatially, in infrastructure, territorial disputes, and in floodplains, and via their changing ecologies. Providing case studies from Vienna to Manitoba, the chapters assemble geographers and historians in a comparative survey of how cities and rivers interacted from the seventeenth century to the present.
Rising cities and industries were great agents of social and ecological changes, particularly during the...
Urban Rivers examines urban interventions on rivers through politics, economics, sanitation systems, technology, and societies; how rivers a...
The weekly magazine "Garden and Forest" existed for only nine years (1888 1897). Yet, in that brief span, it brought to light many of the issues that would influence the future of American environmentalism. In "The City Natural," Shen Hou presents the first biography of this important but largely overlooked vehicle for individuals with the common goal of preserving nature in American civilization.
As Hou s study reveals, " Garden and Forest" was instrumental in redefining the fields of botany and horticulture, while also helping to shape the fledgling professions of landscape...
The weekly magazine "Garden and Forest" existed for only nine years (1888 1897). Yet, in that brief span, it brought to light many of the issues th...
