Fundamentals of Sustainable Urban Design

This book begins with an introduction describing current societal transformations that merit new urban designs, including depletion of non-renewable natural resources, elevated levels of greenhouse gas emissions, large numbers of aging “Baby Boomers,” and climate change. Dr. Friedman then examines these challenges through ten topical chapters of interest to architects, civil and construction engineers, and urban planners. Each of these topics represents an aspect of urban design and describes an innovative solution and offers a detailed description of underlying principles. The text presents the state of the art and how it compares to a conventional design. In the second part of each chapter, several international projects are featured as case studies illustrating design implementations.Considers concepts that minimize urban development’s carbon footprint, such as district heating, passive solar gain, net-zero neighborhoods and shared transport;Emphasizes strategies for preserving a site’s natural assets, including open green spaces, existing building stock, and edible landscapes;Examines contemporary urban design concepts and illustrates these with examples from around the world.