CONTENTS
Introduction i
I. THE CITY ON THE ROPES
Growing up in Cities and Suburbs 14
The Pre-War Anticity Polemic 21
Cheap Energy Fuels Personal Mobility:
The Flight to the Suburbs 31
A Toxic Convergence: Doubts Sown 36
II. THE CITY REBOUNDING
Action-Reaction: The Emperor Has No Clothes
The Streams Merge 48
Leaving for Amsterdam 54
Arriving in Toronto: A Second Chance 56
Jane Jacobs' Ideas Resonate 66
A Tipping Point 71
III. THE ELUSIVE ART/SCIENCE OF CITY BUILDING
A Unique Ability to Combine Things 78
We Shape Our Cities and They Shape Us 85
False Trails and Mirages 93
A Revival of City Building 105
IV.NEW TOOLS AND TEAMS
Epiphany in Prince Albert no Testing a Method in Toronto 114
Taking It on the Road to Saint Paul 131
There Is a Time to Say No 143
Optimizing the Whole, Not the Parts 147
New Kinds of Collaboration 152
A New Tool Kit 158
Serial Creations 169
V.CITIES PERPETUALLY RE-INVENT THEMSELVES
Shaping Forces in Our Time 174
Doing More with Less 186
Getting Out of Our Cars 193
Retrofitting Infrastructure 197
Greater Mix and Overlap 205
Cities in Nature 211
Universities as City Builders 225
Back from the Abyss 231
Suburban Transformations 244
VI- RECLAIMING THE PUBLIC REALM
Public Space Lost and Found 254
The Revival of the Commons 257
Back to the Water's Edge 265
Urban Trails and Public Access 273
VII: MANAGING CHANGE IN DEMOCRATIC SETTINGS
The Wisdom of Crowds 290
Getting to Scale: Subsidiarity 295
How the Development Table Is Structured 304
From NIMBY to YIMBY 311
Political Space: Mayors and Councillors 315
VIII: REDEEMING THE PROMISE OF CITIES
Turning the Corner 326
The Case for Empowering Cities 342
Notes 348
Acknowledgements 354
Image Credits 356
Index 358