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作者

Bell, Sarah

来源

JOURNAL OF HOUSING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT,Vol.38,Issue1,P.

语言

英文

关键字

作者单位

摘要

Urban communities in the United States have a rich history of resistance and renewal in the face of powerful interests and political indifference. From the Ground Up is a timely contribution to the literature documenting how citizens are able to shape their cities to make them more liveable, safe and just. It is a casebook of projects and movements to improve local environments and communities in US cities. 12 case studies from 9 cities tell stories of how cities in the US are being reimagined and remade as places where people and nature can thrive and be better prepared for the shocks and stresses of climate change, environmental degradation and economic uncertainty. The book is intended as a ‘call for action’ by showcasing exemplars of progressive urban change, demonstrating how neighbourhoods and cities can be transformed to improve resilience and equality. It is beautifully written and illustrated, reflecting a care for detail and clarity that is a feature of the patient, humble nature of much of the work of the citizens, activists, public servants and professionals that it reports. The cases are each presented as a chapter of the book, which is divided into 4 sections, each addressing a core theme of urban environmental change. ‘Reclaiming the Streets’ deals with improving accessibility, reducing car dominance and making streets safe for everyone. ‘Tear up the Concrete’ gathers cases of improved urban water management, implementing green infrastructure and integrated watershed management. ‘Plant the City’ showcases urban forestry and tree planting programs. Coastal restoration and just adaptation to coastal realignment and flood risk is the focus of case studies in ‘Adapt the Shoreline’. Three essays by guest authors are included alongside the case studies to provide connection to wider themes and movements. The case descriptions are lively and detailed. They are grounded in environmental and social histories, showing that current movements draw on rich legacies of previous generations of urban activists and respond to deeply embedded structural inequality. For instance, the strength of Minneapolis’s bike network is traced to campaigns for bicycle infrastructure in the 1890s. New Orleans’s efforts to adapt to higher rainfall and address racial injustice in exposure to flood risk is positioned within colonial and Progressive Era drainage programs and racist real estate development. Successful projects are grounded in the details of particular places and communities. Interviews with participants and leaders in each of the cases bring their voices into the stories, which tell of struggles and barriers, as well as strategies and tactics for success. Attention to the complexities of funding and delivery, including the role government agencies, provide insights into the challenges of achieving and sustaining progressive urban change. The book reflects the urgency of the current moment while maintaining a longer view of urban problems of institutional and structural racism, poverty and economic inequality, climate change and pollution. Black communities and leaders are foregrounded several of the chapters, such as Balitmore’s Urban Wood program and Bayview-Hunters Point coastal park program in San Francisco. The Covid-19 pandemic is presented as yet another shock to urban communities, testing resilience and generating further evidence of the need for and strength of bottom-up action. Bottom-up action can be led by grassroots communities, such as the residents of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district campaigning for safer streets, and by local and regional government, such as Portland’s watershed management program. Successful initiatives connect across different levels of democracy and are able to navigate the sometimes tortuous systems of government administration and finance as well as engaging local communities. The cases address key challenges of climate change and inequality, covering pollution, water, tree cover and coastal change. Whilst this wide coverage of urban environmental issues is impressive, biodiversity is under-emphasised despite its importance as a driver and co-benefit across urban water, coasts and forests initiatives. From the Ground Up is written for a wide audience and will be of interest to community organisers, activists, designers, urban planners and others working to improve the resilience of cities. It is a useful compendium of US exemplars, across different urban sectors. It is a good sources of case studies for university teaching in urban design, planning, engineering and community development. The US focus of the book provides a coherent national context for the case studies. However, it misses opportunities to reference international movements and reflect upon how the American experience might relate to similar work in other places. International readers will find much of value as a source of US cases, even though this not an explicit intention of the book. The book does not engage directly with urban, political or social theory. The introduction and conclusion are short summaries of key themes, with limited comparison of the cases or analysis to identify unifying principles, underlying structures or common factors. Concepts such as environmental justice, community planning and resilience are present in the description of the cases, but the book does not engage directly with the rich literature and theory of urban politics, governance and change that could provide support for deeper analysis and stronger conclusions. From the Ground Up is an exciting contribution to action and debate about how cities can be transformed to adapt to changing climates, restore degraded environments and address social and racial injustice. The case study stories are presented in rich detail, demonstrating the power and promise of small interventions, without shying away from the struggles and persistence required to achieve progress. It is a useful casebook to share knowledge and inspire impactful action to create towards more resilient, just cities.