Green Urbanism Down Under

In this immensely practical book, Timothy Beatley sets out to answer a simple question: what can Americans learn from Australians about &quote;greening&quote; city life? Green Urbanism Down Under reports on the currstate of &quote;sustainability practice&quote; in Australia and the many lessons that U.S. residents can learn fromthe best Australian programs and initiatives.Australia is similar to the United States in many ways, especially in its &quote;energy footprint.&quote; For example, Australia's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are second only to those of the United States. A similar percentage of its residents live in cities (85 percin Australia vs. 80 percin the United States). And it suffers from parallel problems of air and water pollution, a national dependence on automobiles, and high fossil fuel consumption. Still, after traveling throughout Australia, Beatley finds that there are myriad creative responses to these problems-and that they offer instructive examples for the United States.Green Urbanism Down Under is a very readable collection of solutions.Although many of these innovative solutions are little-known outside Australia, they all prespractical possibilities for U.S. cities. Beatley describes &quote;green transport&quote; projects, &quote;city farms,&quote; renewable energy plans, green living programs, and much more. He considers a hof public policy initiatives and scrutinizes regional and state planning efforts for answers. In closing, he shares his impressions about how Australian results might be applied to U.S. problems.This is a unique book: hopeful, constructive, and filled with ideas that have been proven to work. It is a &quote;must read&quote; for anyone who cares about the future of American cities.