For most JAPA issues, finding any sort of “theme” to describe and introduce the review section can be something of a challenge. Planning is a wonderfully broad field with nooks and crannies that sometimes surprise, but always enrich our profession. Books on topics as diverse as micro-housing, urban agriculture, cutting-edge methods for collaboration, transportation innovations, and emerging new technologies are featured in this section. But finding a common theme for these books often requires creativity, if not outright surrender.
This issue is no different, with reviews on topics ranging from streetscapes, to public health, to regionalism, to the impacts of the Atlanta Beltline. As always, JAPA's reviewers have brought a critical eye to their task, offering up insights into the utility and limitations of these different books and reports. In tasking people with these reviews, I always charge them with offering far more than a book report, instead urging the reviewers to highlight both strengths and weaknesses in their reviews.
First out of the gate is a review of Ryan Gravel's provocative look at the Atlanta (GA) Beltline, Where We Want to Live: Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of Cities. Professor Daniel Immergluck from the Georgia Institute of Technology brings his local insights and expert eye to Gravel's book. Immergluck reports that Gravel, the chief visionary behind the Beltline, writes an interesting but incomplete appraisal of this exciting, high-visibility, expensive green infrastructure and public transit project. In his review, Immergluck suggests ways the Beltline might change course to better serve the needs for all residents in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Next up is Carlton Basmajian's review of Carolyn T. Adams's From the Outside In: Suburban Elites, Third-Sector Organizations, and the Reshaping of Philadelphia. Basmajian, a faculty member at Iowa State University, and himself an author of a book looking at regional planning in Atlanta, finds much to like in Adams's book. For planners with a regionalist bent, Basmajian reports that From the Outside In goes beyond descriptions of regionalism in an attempt to understand how “third-sector” organizations are shaping the Philadelphia region.
University of Oregon architecture and urban design professor Nico Larco offers up a review of Robert Mantho's The Urban Section: An Analytical Tool for Cities and Streets. Books like The Urban Section are often of great value for planners because they include visualizations of desirable and undesirable streetscapes and corridors, which can provide images for staff and public presentations. Larco reports that while there are some beautiful international street comparisons on offer, the book somewhat misses the mark. Mantho has done very well to compile a huge amount of information on streetscapes from around the globe, though, so planners looking for inspiration (or information) on streets around the world will find much here.
My own review of Edward J. Jepson, Jr., and Jerry Weitz's Fundamentals of Plan Making: Methods and Techniques follows. Having taught courses on planning methods, infrastructure systems, land use, and comprehensive plans for most of my career, I was excited when this book showed up in my review queue. Jepson and Weitz are two of the field's most successful people working at the intersection of the academy and the profession, in what many call “pracademics.” They each have also been passionate about making planning education directly relevant to the profession, with a particular focus on the role and value of the local comprehensive plan. In Fundamentals of Plan Making they provide an overview of traditional planning methods and how they contribute to the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan.
The final review takes a look at a recent report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program on climate change and its health consequences. Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate Ella J. Kim reviews The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. This report is particularly relevant for a planning audience because it summarizes and details the evidence on the public health impacts of climate change. Kim reports on the breadth and utility of this report for planning practice, and also draws attention to the report's clever approach for dealing with the uncertainty related to our knowledge of climate change.
As always, I welcome suggestions for books, e-books and apps to be reviewed, offers to complete reviews, and other feedback on the section ([email protected]).