Where do you get your inspiration? Browsing social media, listening to new podcasts, and just taking to the streets for a walk are just a few ways to start reimagining our cities for the better. But one easy way to get lost in the ideas of a better world can be found between the pages of a book.
Recommended by the Dance team, try these encouraging reads for fresh ideas and inspiration on the future of urban design.
Cities Are Good For You, by Leo Hollis
Can cities create a better life, and a better world in the future? In this engaging read, writer and historian Hollis presents the evidence that they can, setting the record straight on how urban environments can truly benefit the lives of its residents.
Toward The Livable City, by Emilie Buchwald
Through a wide-ranging series of essays, Toward the Livable City was created for urban dwellers concerned about making their surroundings more livable and interested in knowing what that might mean. Covering themes like opportunity-based housing, infrastructure and pedestrian rights, this essay collection champions the beauty of urban living.
The Ideal City: Exploring Urban Futures, Space10
From apps designed to curb food waste to inventive fresh water infrastructure, The Ideal City chronicles the hopeful initiatives working towards the goal of making tomorrow's cities happier, healthier and more inclusive places to be.
Insider tip: we even have a copy of this in the Dance office.
Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in our Lives, by Melissa and Chris Bruntlett
After moving their family from Canada to the Netherlands, urban mobility advocates Chris and Melissa Bruntlett examine the compelling reasons why more cities would benefit from transforming into more human scale. Weaving personal anecdotes with thoughtful interviews with experts, Curbing Traffic is an optimistic read on the psychological and sociological benefits low-car environments have on urban residents.
Bike Nation: how cycling could save the world, by Peter Walker
In Bike Nation, Guardian journalist Walker makes a measured, well-researched argument for greater bike use and infrastructure, and eventually reducing private cars in urban transport. This is a book for bike (and ebike!) lovers on the transformative power of bikes on the health of our minds, bodies and citizens.
Which books are we missing? Share your recommendations with us on social media!
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