Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America (Brookings Metropolitan) [Paperback]

Pietro S. Nivola (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0815760817 | ISBN-13: 978-0815760818 | Publication Date: April 12, 1999

For decades, concerns have been raised about the consequences of relentless suburban expansion in the United States. But so far, government programs to control urban sprawl have had little effect in slowing it down, much less stopping it. In this book, Pietro S. Nivola raises important questions about the continued suburbanization of America: Is suburban growth just the result of market forces, or have government policies helped induce greater sprawl? How much of the government intervention has been undesirable, and what has been beneficial? And, if suburban growth is to be controlled, what changes in public policies would be not only effective, but practical? Nivola addresses these questions by comparing sprawling U.S. metropolitan areas to compact development patterns in Europe. He contrasts the effects of traditional urban programs, as well as "accidental urban policies" that have a profound if commonly unrecognized impact on cities, including national tax systems, energy conservation efforts, agricultural supports, and protection from international commerce. Nivola also takes a hard look at the traditional solutions of U.S. urban policy agenda involving core-area reconstruction projects, mass transit investments, "smart" growth controls, and metropolitan organizational rearrangements, and details the reasons why they often don't work. He concludes by recommending reforms for key U.S. policies--from taxes to transportation to federal regulations--based on the successes and failures of the European experience. Brookings Metropolitan Series

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press (April 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815760817
• ISBN-13: 978-0815760818
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good on how, bad on why, May 25, 2000

By 

Michael Lewyn (Forest Hills, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America (Brookings Metropolitan) (Paperback)

The purpose of this book was apparently to explain why European cities are healthier than American ones. Nivola does a good job of this: he lists not only the usual suspects like highways, but also the American tax system (which encourages consumption at the expense of work and saving, and thus encourages heavy consumption of gasoline and thus driving, while European systems tax consumption more heavily) and unfunded mandates that burden city governments and thus degrade city services.

But Nivola is completely clueless as to why sprawl matters, or why we should care. The only anti-sprawl argument he seems to believe is that it contributes to global warming, probably one of the weaker anti-sprawl arguments (given the scientific uncertainties about (a) how much global warming exists, (b) how much global warming has to do with human-generated air pollution, (c) how much of that pollution is related to driving, and (d) how much of that driving is related to sprawl). Nivola barely addresses the social justice issues surrounding sprawl: he virtually ignores the strongest anti-sprawl argument, the toll taken on the carless poor and disabled.

In fact, Nivola even defends the social injustices wrought by sprawl, arguing that municipalities have a right to exclude the poor (even though only Congress has the power to exclude immigrants). He inexplicably quotes Plato to support his view that rich and poor should be segregated into separate cities, even though Plato actually criticized great inequalities of wealth.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Urban Husbandry, June 26, 2000

By 

Elise LeQuire - See all my reviews

This review is from: Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America (Brookings Metropolitan) (Paperback)

Urban Husbandry BY DENNIS MCCARTHY One of the defining trends of the last half of the 20th century was the collapse of America's cities. For those of us who love cities and see suburbia as the death of culture, this trend has had apocalyptic overtones. Fortunately, however, after decades of white flight, poor planning, misspent policies, and urban neglect, our nation's cities-some of them, at least-are coming back to life. How and why is not always clear, which makes replicating the successes difficult. Nonetheless, urban recovery is happening, and that in itself is cause for celebration. Worrying about the fate of cities has become big business if the spate of new books on the topic is any indication. Recently, I conducted a totally unscientific survey-I checked Amazon.com's listings of related books its customers are buying-and discovered no fewer than a score of new books on the topic. One of them was Pietro Nivola's Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America. Unlike some of the other recent books that are compendia of urban success stories-long on anecdotes and short on analysis-Nivola tells us how we got into the current mess. He explains why solutions have worked in some cities but not others, and he offers suggestions for getting around the unforeseen follies that past policies have produced. Nivola examines European and American cities and finds numerous examples of policies that have helped prevent European cities from suffering the same fate that has befallen the United States. For instance, the average price of gasoline is two and a half to three time higher in Europe than in the United States. Expensive gas discourages Europeans from moving to the suburbs, especially when their jobs are downtown. And their jobs are downtown, at least in part, because strictly enforced land-use laws control development in the urban fringe. Nivola, of course, is not suggesting that European urban policies are panaceas for America. For one thing, these policies don't easily transfer to the United States. For instance, how do we undo the federal highway system, which has been a major contributor to urban sprawl? The answer, of course, is we can't. The U.S. investment in highways is staggering compared to other countries. Our overall per capita transportation budget is unparalleled, as is the percentage of that budget that goes to highways. In 1993, for instance, the British invested 30 percent of their transportation budget in highways-the rest went to passenger trains and mass transit-while the United States put 86 percent of its transportation funds into highways. Since we can't undo earlier policies, the real question is, where do we go from here? One possibility is to develop new policies that undo the harm caused by earlier policies. Nivola likes this approach. For example, inner-city housing projects for impoverished residents in many cases have created breeding grounds for crime. Nivola proposes that these projects, where possible, be converted into mixed-income residences, that the government expand rental vouchers, which allow the urban poor to move to better neighborhoods, and that we stop making it so easy for parents to desert their families. The problem, of course, is that if government-mandated, well-meaning policies misled us the first time, how much confidence can we place in replacement policies that look good on paper but that may well produce their own unforeseen, unintended, and untoward consequences? It's too early to tell, for instance, whether enterprise and empowerment zones-the latest revitalization tools-will work where urban renewal failed. We borrowed the zone idea from the British, where it had little impact. Maybe it will work here, maybe not. Nivola provides another useful service by poking holes in some of our assumptions about the costs of sprawl and urban renewal. It's commonly assumed, for example, that it's cheaper to revitalize a community than to build a new one. Anyone who has tried to renovate a house recognizes the fallacy in this assumption. Moreover, Nivola points out that many communities charge developers special fees for new construction, which go a long way toward offsetting infrastructure costs. Of course, developers pass along the charges to buyers, but at least the infrastructure is paid for by buyers rather than taxpayers. And for the buyer, the money spent is more of an investment than a tax. Nivola also argues that the alternatives to, say, a sprawling Phoenix is not a Paris or Florence but a taller, denser Phoenix. And a taller, denser Phoenix, he says, probably won't better serve the environment, and it will drive up prices for the poor. Sure, the water supply would last a little longer if fewer suburbanites were watering their lawns, but the reality is that demand for water would continue unabated so long as supply was adequate. Right? Well, not necessarily. The point Nivola seems to miss is that not all the costs of sprawl can be easily quantifiable in economic terms. The losses of landscape, biodiversity, and clean flowing streams don't fit easily into a cost/benefit analysis. Nor do crippling traffic snarls, hour-long commutes, and loss of community life. These are real costs, and someone somewhere eventually will pay for them, whether it's through higher medical expenses or lost opportunities or poorer quality of life. If you need an example, look no further than the horripilating costs of hurricanes Floyd and Dennis this past summer. Setting aside the question whether past industrial activities contributed to the intensity of recent hurricane seasons, we wouldn't be rebuilding now if we hadn't allowed so much development to take place in areas totally unsuited for it. Of course, the rebuilding that's currently going on along the Carolina coast will have to be redone when the next disaster strikes. And you and I will pick up the tab, through insurance premiums or taxes or both. Laws of the Landscape is a good book. It's intelligent, thought-provoking, and well-written. If you love cities, this book deserves your attention. Buy it and read it. You'll not regret it.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Laws of the Landscape : How Policies Shape Cities, June 2, 2000

By 

Peter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America (Brookings Metropolitan) (Paperback)

The author does contain some flaws in his logic and reasoning that sometimes stick out too much, but as for a good book on an overview of America's "suburbia" situation, I would suggest this item because it is a quick and thorough read that provides the reader with a good synopsis of many of the issues American suburban city planning deals with.

Some of the possible alternatives for better city management hit me as a tad bit too idealistic and I felt Nivola's novel was written more from a European point-of-view as opposed to an American realist. Case in point is just convincing the American public which has grown up since birth to seek the goal of a nice suburban house and car to suddenly switch to the inner-city. But as I mentioned earlier, agree or disagree, it's an interesting book that provides an excellent overview of suburban/urban policies considering it is a fast and short read. The section on government subsidization policies that have contributed to urban sprawl is a definite read.