Books

Navigates the Complicated History of the City as Both Site of Oppression and Space for Self-Determination

Confronts the Insufficiencies of Canonical Architectural Texts

Offers Fresh Insights about Environmental Design and Planning along the Great Lakes Shoreline

The weekly magazine Garden and Forest existed for only nine years (1888-1897). Yet, in that brief span, it brought to light many of the issues that would influence the future of American environmentalism. In The City Natural, Shen Hou presents the first “biography” of this important but largely overlooked vehicle for individuals with the common goal of preserving nature in American civilization. As Hou reveals, Garden and Forest was instrumental in redefining the fields of botany and horticulture, while also helping to shape the fledgling professions of landscape architecture and forestry.

Angelique Bamberg provides the first book-length study of the community of Chatham Village in Pittsburgh. She establishes its historical significance to urban planning and reveals the complex development process, social significance, and breakthrough construction and landscaping techniques that shaped this idyllic community.

Emily Pugh provides an original comparative analysis of selected works of architecture and urban planning in East and West Berlin during the “Wall era,” to reveal the importance of these structures to the formation of political, cultural, and social identities.

The devastation of World War II left the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade in ruins. Communist Party leader Josip Broz Tito saw this as a golden opportunity to recreate the city through his vision of socialism. In Designing Tito’s Capital, Brigitte Le Normand analyzes the unprecedented planning process called for by the new leader, and the determination of planners to create an urban environment that would benefit all citizens.

Celebrated Pittsburgh Historians Document the City’s Development Over the Last Two Centuries

American, Canadian, and British scholars probe the environmental history of London during the modern and contemporary period.

This book presents a broad overview of the planning profession, and discusses the major problems encountered in urbanism and planning. The essays view topics that include education, the urban community, the place of planning in governmental hierarchy, and its relationship to urban political dynamics.