Sustainable cities for the third millennium : the odyssey of urban excellence / Voula P. Mega.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-228) and index.

1. Cities in an Era of Fragility -- 2. For a New Balance Among Nature, Humans and Artefacts in Cities -- 3. Transport for Sustainable Cities -- 4. Energy for Sustainable Cities -- 5. Competitive and Attractive Cities -- 6. Social Justice and Solidarity in Cities -- 7. The Cities of Sciences, Culture and the Arts -- 8. The Urban Renaissance of the Third Millennium -- 9. The Cities of the Citizens -- 10. Sustainability Indicators: The Benchmarks of Urban Excellence -- --

1. Cities in an Era of Fragility -- 1.1. Cities in an Urbanising Planet -- 1.1.1. At the Crossroads of Cities -- 1.1.2. Cities and Demography: The Fundamental Facts -- 1.1.3. Scanning the Horizon of the Future -- 1.1.4. The "Silent Crisis" of Poverty -- 1.1.5. Megapolises, Metropolises, Megacities: Powerful yet Vulnerable -- 1.2. The Battle for Sustainability Will Be Won or Lost in (Because of) Cities -- 1.3. The Sustainability Dynamics of the European Urban Archipelago -- 1.4. From Resource-Consuming to Knowledge-Intensive Cities -- 2. For a New Balance Among Nature, Humans and Artefacts in Cities -- 2.1. Improving Urban Consumption: A Vital Priority -- 2.2. In Search of Innovative Ecological Models -- 2.3. Lighthouses of Actions for Climate -- 2.4. The Fundamental Urban Resources -- 2.5. Eco-Buildings, Eco-District and Eco-Cities -- 3. Transport for Sustainable Cities -- 3.1. Mobility and Accessibility: Patterns and Effects -- 3.2. High-Quality Urban Public Transport -- 3.3. Walking and Cycling in Civilised Cities -- 3.4. Cleaner Transport Concepts and Technologies -- 3.5. Car-Free Cities? -- 4. Energy for Sustainable Cities -- 4.1. Secure, Clean, Competitive and Affordable Energy -- 4.2. Distributed Energy Systems and Renewable Energies -- 4.2.1. Wind Energy -- 4.2.2. Solar Energy -- 4.2.3. Bioenergy -- 4.2.4. Fuel Cells and Hydrogen -- 4.2.5. Geothermal, Ocean, and Tidal Energies -- 4.2.6. Realising the Potential of Renewable Energy Sources -- 4.3. Cleaner and More Efficient Energy Consumption -- 4.3.1. Producing More Cleanly and Smartly To Ensure the Transition -- 4.3.2. Consuming Less and Better -- 4.4. Energy Ethics: For Science with a Conscience -- 4.5. Prospects for Nuclear Fusion: A Competitor for Renewables? -- 5. Competitive and Attractive Cities -- 5.1. Cities, Players in the Knowledge Economy in Crisis -- 5.2. Aligning Green Growth with Sustainability -- 5.3. Employment, the Cornerstone of Sustainable Cities -- 5.4. Quality of Lifeas an Asset for Cities -- 5.5. The Competitive Edge of Cities -- 6. Social Justice and Solidarity in Cities -- 6.1. From Distressed to Fulfilling Cities -- 6.2. Youths and Women: The Actors of Urban Solidarity and the Stake of Education -- 6.3. Sustainable Housing: The Living Cells of the Cities -- 6.4. Public Health, Well-Being and Safety -- 6.5. Urban Peripheries: From Tensions to Hope -- 7. The Cities of Sciences, Culture and the Arts -- 7.1. Cities as Beehives of Creativity, the Spark of Excellence and Change -- 7.2. Knowledge Cities and Helices: Investing in Innovation -- 7.3. Cities, Epicentres of Cultural Energy -- 7.4. Cities as Theatres of Artistic Creation -- 8. The Urban Renaissance of the Third Millennium -- 8.1. Recreating Cities as Beacons of Civilisation -- 8.2. Sustainable Regeneration Rather Than Expansion -- 8.3. Cities on the Waterfront: Chances and Challenges -- 8.4. New Landmarks for the Urban Futures -- 8.5. Strategic (Spatial and Time) Planning -- 9. The Cities of the Citizens -- 9.1. "What is the City but the People?" (William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 3.1.199) -- 9.2. Institutional Innovation and Local Governance -- 9.3. Rights and Duties to the City: Citizenship, Participation and Accountability -- 9.4. A World Pact for Cities and Citizens: For a Global Coalition of Excellence -- 10. Sustainability Indicators: The Benchmarks of Urban Excellence -- 10.1. Robust and Significant Indicators To Assess and Compare Progress -- 10.2. Principles for a Meaningful Set of Urban Indicators -- 10.3. Indicative Set of Headline Urban Indicators.

"Cities are propellers of sustainable growth, theatres of values, schools of skills and abilities, beacons of culture and temples of citizen duties and rights. Aristotle called them "built politics", places which have the noble aim to offer citizens a fulfilling and worthy life. Cities have always been beehives of cross-fertilised creativity, the only places where people and resources congregate at a point beyond which synergetic effects become more important than the simply additive ones. The book offers a 360° view of the challenges facing cities at the dawn of the millennium in terms of growth, governance, environmental well-being, social inclusion, science, culture and the arts, urban renaissance and planning. One year after the crisis that started in 2008, the book presents responses to overcome the crisis of values and engage in a sustainability path from European and world cities. It tries to distil useful messages for all cities wishing to adopt bolder and better policy initiatives. Each chapter focuses on an essential dimension of the sustainable city and presents, in a nutshell, visions and actions of cities that herald meaningful far-reaching change. "--Publisher's website.

Machine converted from AACR2 source record.