The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning

Book Description

Award-winning guide to ecologically-sound landscapes!
The first edition of Frederick Steiner's The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning, won a coveted ASLA merit award. This revised Second Edition's strong design-oriented approach meets the needs of today's professionals, focusing on how to create a plan and explains each major step with examples from various localities. The new edition links each step to current planning practice and to new theory in landscape ecology and sustainable development.You'll find:

More than 20 case studies covering urban, suburban, rural, domestic and international environments
Scores of checklists and step-by-step procedures
Details for conducting environmental impact assessments
Full coverage of zoning, land use, and other regulatory issues
Much more

Customer Reviews:

The Living Landscape.......2002-10-14

The Living Landscape has made a lasting contribution to ecological planning through its detailed documentation of this planning process and thoughtful comparison of the process's application in case studies. Dr. Steiner demonstrates in his book that ecological planning is just not a static plan-making process, but rather a dynamic process that requires consistent and meaningful input from stakeholders. In addition, he sees plan-making as a process that has implications for different scales of the environment, from the nation to the neighborhood. He stresses that the ecological planning process does not end when the plan is finished, but rather the process continues through the linkage of planning concepts to physical design. Given the strengths of this book, it is an essential volume for the library of any professional or student in the disciplines of the built environment and environmental management.

A Unique and Useful Contribution.......2002-05-06

It is a rare planning book that outlines a detailed process for guiding landscape change in a deliberate and ecologically sound manner. The Living Landscape accomplishes this in a robust, clear and convincing way. The second edition improves on the first by including more landscape design information, updating case studies, and deepening the planning method (for instance, by including more on the use of Geographic Information Systems). The liberal use of cases is a strong asset of the book; each step in the ecological planning process is illustrated and explained by way of 'stories' from real places around North America. The Living Landscape is useful reading for students and practitioners in landscape architecture, architecture, environmental planning and natural resource management.

From a landscape for living to a living landscape.......2002-05-05

The second edition of The Living Landscape has came out nine years after the first. The first, in fact, was published in 1991, it received an ASLA Merit Award for Communications in 1993, and then it was translated into Italian in 1994, where it was very well received among scholars and students of planning as well as in the schools of architecture throughout the country.
The very first difference between the two editions is the publishing series. The first did not form part of a series while the second is now in the McGraw-Hill "Professional Architecture" series. The Professional Architecture series is devoted to giving helpful tools to practitioners who are on the field and The Living Landscape provides a very wide set of how-to and why-to-do-it instructions, where-to-keep information, and best practices examples to learn from, organized around an eleven-step Ecological Planning Model. I consider The Living Landscape a refined, high-level professional handbook devoted to enhance the toolbox of any present or future planning practitioners.
The Living Landscape II edition, as was the first, is built around a scheme of eleven steps called "Ecological Planning Method" briefly presented in the first chapter and used as a step-by-step pattern to guide readers into the organization of a planning process. The "Ecological Planning Method" is a framework for presenting information to decision-makers, and to display "a common language, a common method among all those concerned about social equity and ecological parity" (p. 9). The approach to planning presented by Steiner is innovative for two reasons. The first is the incorporation of ecology in planning - briefly "the use of biophysical and sociocultural information to suggest opportunities and constraints for decision making about the use of the landscape" (pp. 9-10). The second reason is the author's stress on the citizen's involvement in almost every step of his method. These two issues, even if they are the prime themes of the book, are prudently embedded into the body of the full text. Ecology and citizen involvement are the leitmotif of the entire book which is composed of a precise combination of techniques and tools presentation, useful references to literature, light - but effective - revocations of the theoretical frameworks on the issues, and application examples deriving from real plans or projects.
The eleven-step Ecological Planning Model goes from the identification of problems and opportunities (step 1) and the establishment of goals (2) to inventories and analysis at regional (3) and local level (4). It proceeds with the realization of detailed studies (5) and the definition of planning concepts (6). The landscape plan (7) follows and it is directly assessed and criticized by citizens (8), who are involved and educated along the whole process-phasing. Design exploration (9) comes next and the study of the implementation of the plan and projects (10) precedes the administration (11) that is the last step of the model. The Ecological Planning Model is linear in its descriptions (the book chapters - excluding the introduction and the conclusion - are devoted to deepen every single step, with some minor exceptions), but the steps are strongly interactive. In the graphic scheme of the model (p. 11), solid and dashed arrows between the steps emphasize the necessity and the opportunity of feedback and retroactions in order to monitor the previous results.
Citizen involvement is the center of the model. Almost every step is addressed to inhabitants and a systematic educational and citizen involvement effort occurs throughout the process. The model, between the last step - administration - and the first - problem and/or opportunity identification -, presents a dashed arrow in order to accent that problems and opportunities facing the region and the goals addressed that may be altered by time, occurrences and circumstances.
Compared to the first edition, the structure of the Ecological Planning Model and of the book contents remains unchanged in the second, but the book has some 120 more pages. Graphic design of tables and figures has been enhanced - a four-color page section was added to present the GIS maps of the Desert View Tri-Villages Area (Arizona) and of the Camp Pendleton study area (California), two of the many new examples used along the entire book. New photographs, mostly authored by Steiner, follow the entire text. Sources and references have been updated including recent books and articles on the matters. New examples, as said before, have been included in this edition to present more recent application of techniques and tools explained and illustrated along the text. The final glossary, one of the many useful tools of the book, has been enlarged with 46 new entries bringing the total to 350.

Ecological plannnig has a future with this effort ........2002-04-14

I am a graduate student in landscape ecological planning. I would recommend Dr. Steiner's book for students, professionals and the lay leaders interested in making a difference in their community. The idea of planning is sometimes hard to grasp by communities that are ruled by economics and development,not ecology. Dr. Steiner shows us step by step how to include ecology into communities and how that may give us other alternatives that we may not have considered.

The use of case studies in this book enhances the practical application of ecological planning in real world situations.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in ecology, planning or being part of your community's future.

Book fails to make the connection.......2002-01-23

I picked up a copy of "the living landscape" at the local library thinking I was on to something interesting. Instead, I found the book to be a rehash of old, simple ideas under the cloak of a "sexy", progressive title. I am a practicing environmental planner and must admit that I was even fooled by the picture on the cover--How in the world is a linear mono-cultural hedgerow of trees that line an walkway even remotely a just symbol of "ecological planning"? The picture seems to satisfy the landscape architect's need to have order-- Ecology is anything but linear or orderly.

Book Description

This book is a model of applied ecological economics. The author presents an accessible introduction to the subject while at the same time broadening its theoretical basis by introducing a post-positivist, participatory method. He then applies this theoretical framework to case studies in biodiversity conservation, drawn from around the world and a range of different ecosystems.
It makes an ideal textbook for students of ecological economics and an excellent introduction for scientists and environmentalists needing to understand the role of economics in ecology and conservation

Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies)

Average customer rating:

Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies)
Ole Bruun
Manufacturer: RoutledgeCurzon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Geography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0700703012

An ecological approach to conservation (Burgess education series)

Average customer rating:

An ecological approach to conservation (Burgess education series)
Russell L Hamm
Manufacturer: Burgess Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Managing Wetlands: An Ecological Economics Approach

Average customer rating:

Managing Wetlands: An Ecological Economics Approach

Manufacturer: Edward Elgar Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Natural Resources | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1843761300

Book Description

The extensive destruction of wetlands across Europe represents a significant loss of biodiversity along with its related economic, cultural, ethical and scientific benefits. This volume addresses the critical issues surrounding this environmental change process, employing a range of analytical methods drawn from a variety of disciplines which bridge the social and natural science divide.

The authors begin by exploring the various methodological approaches to the analysis of the causes and consequences of wetland loss in Europe. The findings reveal that a formal decision-support process can be defined which can assist in the search for a more sustainable approach to wetland management. The methods and tools advocated are interdisciplinary and require coordinated action by experts from a variety of different fields. The authors move on to present a series of case studies from which a number of general conclusions can be drawn. In particular, they identify conflicts concerning use, value and interest groups to be the most common in the context of wetland management versus development. Consequently, they argue that scientific analysis requires support from the social sciences in order to better understand and implement more participatory approaches to environmental management.

Book Description

Investing in Natural Capital presents the results of a workshop held following the second biannual conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics. It focuses on the relation of human development to natural capital, and the relation of natural capital to environmental processes.

Because we are capable of understanding our impact on the environment and the importance of managing it sustainably, humans play a special role in our ecosystem. The book emphasizes the essential connections between natural ecosystems and human socioeconomic systems, and the importance of insuring that both remain resilient. Specific chapters deal with methodology, case material, and policy questions, and offer a thorough exploration of this provocative and important alternative to conventional economics.

Amazon.com

The energy of solar radiation reaching the earth clocks in at 5,500,000 exajoules, an exajoule being one watt per second taken to 10 to the 18th power. The energy used to strike a typewriter key is 20 millijoules, a millijoule being one watt per second taken to 10 to the negative 3rd power; that keyboard-striking energy is a full order of magnitude larger than the energy a flea expends in hopping from one spot to another. Such is the sort of information that geographer Vaclav Smil delights in presenting in his endlessly interesting handbook of the various energy technologies of nature and culture. "Energy is the only universal currency," Smil writes, but, he notes, it is little understood. Beginning with a grand tour of the solar system and the terrestrial biosphere, and taking into account such matters as the movement and latent heat of waves, Smil moves on to consider the energy of natural food chains, the efficiency of human growth, the energy requirements of agriculture, and the terrible force of modern weapons, among hundreds of other subjects. His heavily illustrated book is one of a kind, and it makes for both entertaining bedside reading and a highly useful reference. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Energy is the only universal currency. One of its many forms must be transformed into another in order for stars to shine, planets to rotate, living things to grow, and civilizations to evolve. Recognition of this universality was one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century science, yet even today there is little literature that tries to view the world broadly through the prism of energy.

In this highly original book, ecologist Vaclav Smil takes the principle of universality seriously, presenting a comprehensive and integrated survey of all the forms of energy that shape our world, from the sun to the human body, from bread to microchips. Written in a scientifically sophisticated yet accessible style, Energies consists of eighty-two short essays organized under six headings: Sun and Earth, Plants and Animals, People and Food, Preindustrial Societies, Fossil-Fueled Civilization, and Motion and Information. Each essay explains the science of the energy form as well as its implications for the functioning of the universe, life, or human society. Cross-links and summary diagrams allow easy comparisons among the various levels and flows of energy.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent -- a joule of a book.......2003-12-04

This is an incredibly easy book to read and understand, amply illustrated by clear graphics. This is not a simple book. It is an encyclopedia of energy, from sunlight, to the biology produced by sunlight, to the energy we gain from using our environment as fuel. Reading through each section (they are clear and cogent) is an exercise in connecting simple inputs with complex outputs. The section on transportation takes you from walking to running to riding the bicycle, all the way to trains, planes, and rocket boosters, all of which developed differently and use energy very differently.

The book is packed with wonderful essays that are well written, ideas that jump off the page, and graphic illustrations that make sense. It's one of those books you can actually flop open at random and get engrossed in all over again. If there's a criticism to this book, it is that it is only a sampler. It could easily have been twice as long.

Not a book for the layperson.......2000-01-11

I recently bought this item after reading the review for this book. I found this to be a mistake. I am an engineer by trade, and I found myself reading old school books so I could understand what this book was talking about. This book covers a wide variety of information and is difficult to read. This is not a book for the layman.....

A reference book for energy.......1999-07-04

This is a fascinating book. It provides a comprehensive and integrated survey of the energies shaping our world. It is filled with diagrams, graphs, maps, drawings and photographs to support the text.

This book can't be described. It has to be experienced: energy production of the sun, global patterns of latent heat flux, a horse's suspensory and check ligaments that allow it to use hardly any additional energy for standing, preindustrial societies, cars and computers and much more.

Use this book for reference and for browsing. Spend an afternoon with a calculator and the figures listed in the tables in this book. You will begin to appreciate the complex relationships involving the energies that shape our world.

Average customer rating:
Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization
Vaclav Smil
Manufacturer: MIT Press, Cambridge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RZJR7U

Average customer rating:
Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization

Manufacturer: MIT Press, Cambridge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I9L8PO

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books