Reading

On another list, someone writes:

A friend of mine wants to read about: “ideas about how public space/livability relate to innovation/economic health of a city . . . I'm looking into a couple related books..."Small-mart Revolution" and "The Flight of the Creative Class".” Could anyone suggest other good books to read on this subject?

Changing Places by Richard Moe and Carter Willkie. City: Rediscovering the Center by William Whyte is about place in the city. It's long out of print, but used copies are available. (A piece of this book was published in advance as the Social Life of Small Public Spaces and it is still in print.) The Living City and Cities: Back from the Edge by Roberta Gratz. The latter is the one book I recommend to people to read about when it comes to urban revitalization. It's like a primer based on Jane Jacobs.

Steve Belmont's Cities in Full: Recognizing and Realizing the Great Potential of Urban America is probably the best book out there right now about why focusing on center cities and recentralization is key. But it's not so much about place.

And then gray literature or reports.

1. Profiting Through Preservation (report/NY)
2. Living Spaces: Cleaner, Safer, Greener (UK)
3. Contributions of Historic Preservation to Quality of Life in Florida (University of Florida)
• Research Report Executive Summary
• Research Report - Technical

And this article about Project for Public Spaces, Pride of Place, and everything on their website, especially What Makes a Successful Place?," "Why Public Spaces Fail," and "Benefits of Places."

There's also the great overview by Dan Burden, "How Can I Find and Help Build a Walkable Community?" and Principles of "True Urbanism" from International Making Cities Livable.

I have a couple books by Charles Landry, The Creative City and Art of City Making but I haven't worked through them yet. And I haven't worked through these two books by Simon Anholt yet either, Brand America and Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions (Hardcover).

Of course, the best is Jane Jacobs Death and Life of Great American Cities, but it's easier to start with Gratz. I think that this book is subtle and nuanced and you need experience to understand it, on the other hand I've met many people who read the book in high school...

And then there is The Economy of Cities, also by Jacobs. These two books are also about the role of the city in innovation.

And now I'm thinking I need to pick up a textbook in urban economics...

And I have to admit, these reports from Urban Land Institute are quite good too:

• Ten Principles for Reinventing America's Suburban Strips
• Ten Principles for Rebuilding Neighborhood Retail
• Ten Principles for Reinventing Suburban Business Districts
• Ten Principles for Successful Development Around Transit.

They've got some new ones that I have to check out before I add them to the list (one on malls, one on "creating value from local government property," etc.). The suburban ones are still good on the principles of connectedness.

And this sounds crazy, but the Tourism Destination Assessment Workbook from Nova Scotia helps you drill down and understand the components of a complete destination, and frankly, the Tourism Development Handbook: A Practical Approach to Planning and Marketing by Kerry Godfrey and Jackie Clarke lives up to its title. It's a great practical approach to destination development and management.

Finally, I always recommend the Urban Design Compendium, which is now available as a pdf on the English Partnerships website, you used to have to order it. But they'll still send you a copy, for free...