CONTENTS
CITY COMFORTS CONTENTS
How TO BUILD AN URBAN VILLAGE 7
Why the urban village is appealing and its three key architectural patterns.
SOME OVER-RIDING PRINCIPLES 15
Some approaches to the urban environment, software, philosophies and methods.
BUMPING INTO PEOPLE 24
The city is a place to bump-into, to 'mix and meet.' Four general principles and some specific examples.
KNOWING WHERE You ARE 44
Our modern cities are vast and confusing. But there are ways to make the world more comprehensible.
CHILDREN IN THE CITY 64
Children are an indicator species of urban health.
FEELING SAFE 70
The design of buildings and streetscapes alone does not make cities safer. But some basic principles—natural surveillance and territoriality-—can make a difference.
LITTLE NECESSITIES 78
Little personal comforts make life, well, more comfortable.
SMOOTHING EDGES: BUFFERS & SHIELDS 86
Sharp change is unsettling. Certain uses conflict with others. There are ways to make them more harmonious.
FITTING IN 100
New buildings are often more unpopular than need be because they do not follow simple rules of being a good neighbor.
WASTE NOT,WANT NOT:
OLD SHOES ARE MORE COMFORTABLE 112
Weaving the old and the new together is good business and good sense. There are several ways we do so—discovered spaces, habitat restoration, and recycling as three examples.
GETTING AROUND 125.
Motion is a delight and a virtue of our era is how many people can enjoy it. 'Traffic calming, bicycles-as-transport and universal accessibility keep a city moving ahead.
PERSONALIZING THE CITY WITH ART:
"KILROY WAS HERE" 156
Public art is important in helping to create places and breaking down the walls of personal isolation.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS 166
How this book came to be. What is the common denominator, if any?
How TO LEARN MORE 169
Some approaches to increasing our understanding of the physical environment.
WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT ABOUT 171
Expensive design, high density, heavy rail and government projects are not the prerequisite for comfortable cities.