By Paul Lukez
(New
York: Princeton Architectural Press,
2007); 978-1568986838
Smart
Growth advocates, environmentalists, and New Urbanists have all tried in their
own ways to spread the message of reforming current land use patterns. Their
solutions are often criticized for being overly prescriptive, opposed to
growth, or nostalgic, respectively. Suburban Transformation offers an
alternative to these practices while synthesizing many of the ideas and
proposals that they put forth. Five case studies provide fully expressed
examples of the process, beginning with a sophisticated system of mapping and
culminating in computer projections of likely future outcomes, giving the
designer the ability to project changes in the community fabric and adding that
knowledge to the designer’s kit of place-making tools.