A Field Guide to Sprawl - Softcover

Hayden, Dolores; Wark, Jim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393731987 ISBN 13: 9780393731989

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006

Synopsis

A Field Guide to Sprawl was selected by the urban web site Planetizen for its list of "Top Ten Books in Urban Studies" and by Discover magazine for its list of "Top 20 Books in Science." Features on the book appeared in The New York Times and the Boston Globe. Duck, ruburb, tower farm, big box, and pig-in-a-python are among the dozens of zany terms invented by real estate developers and designers today to characterize land-use practices and the physical elements of sprawl. Sprawl in the environment, based on the metaphor of a person spread out, is hard to define. This concise book engages its meaning, explains common building patterns, and illustrates the visual culture of sprawl. Seventy-five stunning color aerial photographs, each paired with a definition, convey the impact of excessive development. This "engagingly organized and splendidly photographed" (Wall Street Journal) book provides the verbal and visual vocabulary needed by professionals, public officials, and citizens to critique uncontrolled growth in the American landscape.

About this title

Product Description:

Paperback. Pub Date: 07 2006 Pages: 128 Publisher: WW Norton & Co. A Field Guide to Sprawl was selected by the Urban web site Planetizen for its list of Top Ten Books in Urban Studies and by Discover magazine for its list of Top 20 Books in Science. Features on the book appeared in The New York Times and the Boston Globe.Duck. ruburb. tower farm. big box. and pig-in-a-python are among the dozens of zany terms invented by real estate developers and designers today to characterize land-use practices and the physical elements of sprawl. Sprawl in the environment. based on the metaphor of a person spread out. is hard to define. This concise book engages its meaning. explains common building patterns. and illustrates the visual culture of sprawl. Seventy-five stunning color aerial photographs. each paired with a definition. convey the impact of excessive development. This engagin...

Review:

A landmark contribution to this literature.

A flair for words and a collection of stunning photographs. . . . Captivating.

May well establish Ms. Hayden as the Roger Tory Peterson of Sprawl.

A concise guide to not only sprawl but to the powerful political and financial forces that sustain it.

[T]he images are fascinating and, in many cases, a frightening testament to human impact on the landscape.--Ben Brain

You have to know what to call something before you can do anything about it. So if you really hate the way urban blight is despoiling virgin landscapes, take a look at this snappy pictorial guide to developer slang, US-style, which could rival Dr Seuss for verbal inventiveness.

[T]he often beguiling beauty of sprawl photographed from the air.--Nicholas A. Phelps

A wonderful guide to the terrible things being done to the American landscape.--Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

[P]rovides a great hawk's-eye overview of exactly what uncontrolled growth has done to the American landscape...a must-read.

Educational as well as humorous...a great stocking stuffer for the environmentalist in the family.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0393731987
• ISBN 13: 9780393731989
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128