Customer Reviews

Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and Their Governments

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mark really knows his stuff - so if you have been wondering how to turn your community, city or region into a more liveable, sustainable community, this is a great place to start. Pedestrian traffic calming ? Cycling routes ? Recycling facilities ? Greenways ? Local creek restoration ? Thriving neighbourhood centers ? This book would make a great gift for any new councillor, or any would-be community activist.

When I scanned the first 5 pages when I bought it I was expecting a little more. The book is an excellent reference for sustainability intiatives on the community and citizen level. However, it is not great at providing a real argument for sustainability (although, nobody really needs to convince me). Each chapter basically begins with the area (e.g. transportation, waste mgmt., etc.) and gives real-world examples of them. It's unknown how Roseland decides which communities to review. Additionally, these summaries are simply a long list. They don't provide any underlying principles or ideas. So, my poor review is based on my expectation of this book to be more explanatory and interesting. But, as a reference guide for sustainability it is good. I do not quite understand what the purpose of a book like this is. A reference is meaningless when the topic is citizen action because it does not offer anything practical or useful for an individual citizen. For more of an argument and practical ideology I would look at Natural Capital by Hawken, Lovins and Lovins.

Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and Their Governments is an excellent resource for those looking to help guide the creation of sustainably oriented policies in their communities. When I look at issues that revolve around planning our built environment, I like to look for ways that we as individual citizens can get involved in stimulating conversations and generating ideas for bettering our communities. As citizens we have a remarkable opportunity to use our collective intelligence to research ideas, explore implementation strategies, and aid in producing the policies that support the goals that we are trying to move toward. I've focused on a number of publications that promote citizen involvement in the past and I've yet to find a comprehensive manual brimming with sustainability ideas. Toward Sustainable Communities is just that.

At 239 pages Toward Sustainable Communities isn't an in-depth look into specific sustainability initiatives, instead it touches on the spectrum of possible policies that communities can enact to decrease their impact on the environment. For each topic of discussion the author (Mark Roseland) proposes tools and initiatives with examples of techniques employed in other localities. Topics are also vividly illustrated with appropriate diagrams and photos in order to provide a clear understanding. The topics covered range from the subjects of everyday conversations on sustainability (like urban sprawl) to the less glamorous aspects of human settlement (such as sewage treatment).

Personally, I found the title of the book alone to provide an extremely refreshing perspective outlook on sustainability (and community involvement). As the title, Toward Sustainable Communities: Resources for Citizens and their Governments, implies Roseland has geared the information both for citizens interested in promoting changes and for governments willing to embrace the changes. Roseland presents the information into three sections: Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Planet (this section sets the stage for the remainder of the book through placing the necessity of sustainable development into context and explaining the mechanisms through which sustainability can be achieved), Sustainable Community Building Blocks (this section explains the different areas through which improvements in sustainability can be gained), Mobilizing Citizens and Their Governments (this section explains the role of citizens, the need for public involvement, and the actions necessary by local government). From start to finish Toward Sustainable Communities provides information in a format that reaches the widest audience possible.

Toward Sustainable Communities is most useful as a sort of community organizer's guide to sustainability concepts or to individuals working in local government (whether it be staff, elected officials, or a board appointee) looking to bring sustainability into focus. There are certainly books available that are hyper-focused on a single sustainability issue, but Roseland provides a resource that allows the reader to evaluate what their community's "low-hanging fruit" are and to lay out over-arching goals to move "toward sustainable communities".

This book offers an overview of many areas that community members should consider and plan for when working toward sustainability. The guidelines that Roseland provides are applicable for citizens, leaders, governing authorities, and anyone interested in brining communities closer together.