Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown - Softcover

Gratz, Roberta Brandes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471361240 ISBN 13: 9780471361244

Publisher: Wiley, 2000

Synopsis

"A love song for the city . . . [this] volume, attractively packaged and richly illustrated, is really a cookbook for downtown revitalization." --Wall Street Journal In this pioneering book on successful urban recovery, two urban experts draw on their firsthand observations of downtown change across the country to identify a flexible, effective approach to urban rejuvenation. From transportation planning and sprawl containment to the threat of superstore retailers, they address a host of key issues facing our cities today. Roberta Brandes Gratz (New York, NY), an award-winning journalist and urban critic, is author of the urban design classic The Living City. A former staff reporter for the New York Post, Gratz has written for the New York Times Magazine and other publications. Norman Mintz (New York, NY) has played a leading role in the field of downtown revitalization for more than twenty-five years. He is Design Director at the 34th Street Partnership in New York City and a consultant on downtown revitalization across the country.

About this title

Review:

In Cities Back from the Edge, Gratz and Mintz offer a love song for the city...their volume, attractively packaged and richly illustrated, is really a cookbook for downtown revitalization. It turns out the most valuable contribution to urban understanding of the year isn't only a book, it's also a bumper sticker: Think globally, act locally."--The Wall Street Journal

Cities Back From the Edge was featured again in The New York Times. Frank Rich writes, "In their new book persuasively arguing for less grandiose, more indigenous urban renewal, Roberta Brandes Gratz and Norman Mintz write that a 'collection of visitor attractions does not add up to a city' whether those attractions are cultural centers, convention centers, aquariums, stadiums or enclosed malls."--The New York Times

"...provides a fascinating insight into the US Urban Design scenario..." (Urban Design, Autumn 2001)

From the Author:

Author's Web Site
Urban rebirth -- how it happens, where it happens, who makes it happen -- is not so mysterious. Because experts make it seem complicated does not mean it is complicated. No single issue, however, defines urban rebirth. Big project development vs modest, organic growth. Small business vs Superstores. Public markets vs enclosed malls. Public transit vs highways. Trolley car suburbs vs automobile suburbs. Community-based development vs top-down development. Public spaces for people vs empty sites. Everything is connected. All are tied together in Cities Back From the Edge to illustrate how the rebirth process works. To learn more, visit our web page at http://www.change.org./cities/ and read the introduction.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0471361240
• ISBN 13: 9780471361244
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 374