Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Development

The spectacularly successful transformation of Times Square has become a model for other cities. From its beginning as Longacre Square, Times Square's commercialism, signage, cultural diversity, and social tolerance have been deeply embedded in New York City's psyche. Its symbolic role guaranteed that any plan for its renewal would push the hot buttons of public controversy: free speech, property-taking through eminent domain, development density, tax subsidy, and historic preservation.

In Times Square Roulette, Lynne Sagalyn debunks the myth of an overnight urban miracle...

Community visioning and strategic planning programs have become increasingly important in recent years as local governments in rural areas have searched for innovative ways to revitalize their local economies or manage population growth. A panel of experts describes local government programs in ten states. They also evaluate the effectiveness in reaching the vision and objective set forth in these programs. The authors examine the main components of each program and offer insights into factors contributing to its success. Major attention is paid to the need for social capital,...

Illuminating the importance of culture in community planning, this book reveals why previous planning practices have failed and suggests that improvements can be made by taking into consideration the diverse needs of a multicultural society. For community planning to be effective, planners must first recognize and acknowledge that community culture influences how people live in, use, and organize space. They must then base their designs on the respective community culture and avoid the trap of planning based on their own values and cultural background. Thus urban planning must take on a...

Similar to large cities, rural towns have undergone dramatic change since mid-century. The decline in retailing, changes in manufacturing, and jobs moving abroad have had a tremendous impact. Yet while rural and industrial areas have similar concerns about adjusting to a changing economy, successful urban strategies cannot be blindly transferred to rural areas. Nor can rural areas be considered homogeneous. They differ in ethnic makeup, industrial structure, topography, and natural and human resources. Appreciating the diversity of rural areas, this book presents case studies from...

Exceptional communities possessing a definitive sense of place, the cities and towns presented in this book have created or re-created a style, ambience, or character that transcends the ordinary and is used as the basis for community economic development. Adapting the idea of concept marketing, these communities have found a niche or specialty to create community recognition and serve as a basis for garnering external investment, tourism, and other revenue-generating events. This book examines the use of popular and corporate culture, retail establishments, historical tradition, and...

The politics of international intervention into rural areas is the subject of this insightful study. Using concrete cases drawn from fieldwork in rural Burkina Faso, Engberg-Pedersen shows how nongovernmental organizations' activities with women's groups, natural resource management projects, decentralization policies, and rural democratization advocates must enter an arena of local struggle for resources and status. He maintains that activists often seriously contradict rural people's practices and understandings of particular issues and how they should be organized. Thus, while societal...

As cities become places to play, the authors show, tourism recasts their spatial form. In some cities, separate spaces devoted to tourism and...

A collection of essays by the respected social commentator on some problems faced by cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Paris, on the architecture of Saarinen, Le Corbusier, and Wright, and on city and highway planning.

These 20 essays illustrate teaching strategies that can be incorporated into community-based practicums and internships. The book explores the innovative uses of experiential education in community work. Useful techniques for community problem-solving and ways in which groups can learn to work together more effectively are provided. There are new applications of democratic practice. Mutual self-respect and collective self-reliance are encouraged. Practitioners will find they can have power in an increasingly interdependent society and world. "Experiential Education for Community...

Community development depends on effective social action, and effective social action requires the acquisition of related knowledge and skills. While other studies of community development stress the role of economic and political factors, Hamilton develops an educational model for promoting change within the community. The focus of the study is not so much on formal education, but on the role of nonformal education in fostering community development. Hamilton argues that through effective adult education, citizens can be empowered to improve their communities. His argument is grounded on...

This book begins the comparative study of U.S. urban development during the first half of the 19th century. Breathtaking in its comprehensiveness, its survey and comparisons of early urban politics is without parallel. The study is based on a thorough examination of fifteen cities--Albany, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Charleston, Cincinnati, Louisville, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, St. Louis, and Washington. This group of cities--the fifteen largest in 1850--provides a good mix of northern and southern, eastern and western, old and new, and fast-...