Please forgive the shameless self-promotion:
Constructed Climates: A Primer on Urban Environments
(Univ. Chicago Press)
Will Wilson
Duke University
In our urban world, people construct new climates ranging in size from a
building site to the city to the region, continent, and globe. Far from
city centers, we see the “open space” of natural areas: the proud
forests, vast fields, green pastures and cool lakes. But in constructed
urban environments, the remaining open spaces range from single
water-starved street trees to overly manicured lawns, gardens, and
large, people-rich parks.
What good are these small, pitiful remnants of the natural world in
urban centers? Their ecological value often pales in comparison to
their rural counterparts, and they occupy increasingly expensive real
estate. In the face of schools needing resources, roads and sewers
needing maintenance, and people suffering harm at the hands of others,
why should cities spend scarce dollars planting trees and preserving parks?
Constructed Climates examines precisely those questions. Though carbon
sequestration and sustainability grab today’s headlines, Constructed
Climates examines a broad collection of empirical studies showing that
urban open spaces make healthier urban climates, smarter children, and
calmer citizens. In congested urban areas even a single tree can
brighten someone’s day. As people of the cities become more accustomed
to instant access and communication, and more detached from the delayed
gratification needed to spend time planting something now with a payoff
months or years off in the future, we face a greater challenge in making
sure the cities we live in will have fifty year old trees sixty years
from now. Among the general features of cities is a socioeconomic
inequity: low income areas have less vegetation, poorer health, and
lower education measures.
Free Open Content: http://www.constructedclimates.org/
Buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/Constructed-Climates-Primer-Urban-Environments/dp/0226901467
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http://www.biology.duke.edu/wilson/
