Optional Reading List - Winter 2011

As part of a continuing series of recommended readings from the professors and students of Eastern Washington University's Urban and Regional Planning program, here is your latest optional reading list!

The works, and my understanding of them, are below. If the descriptions are inaccurate, then it's because I misunderstood and I'd appreciate a heads-up!

A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, nonfiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. In a beautifully written series of essays about his observations of nature, Leopold expresses the importance of preserving the environment and his concept of the Land Ethic.

Our Ecological Footprint, by Williams E. Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, nonfiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. This is the book that defines the concept of our "footprint" and argues that our combined footprint is exceeding the planet's capacity to renew itself.

The Last Landscape, nonfiction by William H. Whyte recommended by Dr. Hurand. This book, published more than four decades ago, urges Americans to make better use of space. While others noted its importance at the time (Jane Jacobs called it "an excellent book"), it is relevant to today's sprawl-oriented nation searching for an alternative.

Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, fiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. I reviewed this after I read it a few weeks back. It's a story about Mother Culture, and a challenge presented to her by a telepathic gorilla. No, it's not science fiction: it's a survey of human history and human present, and asks us to consider what the human future is going to be.

Integral Urbanism, by Nan Ellin, nonfiction recommended by Dr. Winchell. It documents the transition from mechanical, rigid modernistic architecture to humanist post-modern architecture and its application to New Urbanism.

Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, nonfiction by Herman Daly, recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. This is an economic treatise recognizing the upcoming change to the very nature of economics when the irrational assumption of unending growth is finally overthrown.

House Form and Culture, nonfiction by Amos Rapoport and recommended by Dr. Hurand. Amos Rapoport is an environmental psychology researcher, studying the complex interplay between how people change their environment and how the environment affects human behavior. In this work, he discusses the connection between the culture of a people and the kind of housing they construct.

The Levittowners, nonfiction by Herbert Gans and recommended by Dr. Hurand. The first infamous suburban development is studied to determine what kind of culture was being created in an extended area of mass-produced, identical houses.

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America, nonfiction by Timothy Egan, recommended by, well, everyone. Just over 100 years ago, there was a spectacular fire here in the northwest in which an area the size of Connecticut burned in a weekend. The flames moved faster than a horse at full gallop. The frontier was officially closed by this point in American history, and Roosevelt was trying to ignite a tradition to conserve this nation's wild spaces. This work tells the story of the fire, and how it changed the way America treats its public lands.

Triumph of the City

Harvard economist Edward Glaeser was a guest on The Daily Show. His book, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier is the subject of the segment. Just as Lewis Mumford observes in his classic "The City in History," Glaeser states that the proximity of people within cities allow interactions that increase our knowledge. In modern times, life expectancy is actually greater in cities due to better lifestyle habits, such as walking, and due to investments in key health technologies such as the provision of clean water. Additionally, cities are economically stronger places.

Despite these advantages, Glaeser points out anti-urban federal policies such as the home mortgage interest deduction ("we make a fetish of home ownership in this country") and higher highway subsidies in suburban areas ("[funded] two to one in the lowest density areas").

Obviously, no place or form is perfect. Every neighborhood must choose its own best solution. But I believe that Glaeser is setting up an important point: if cities are so bad, why do we subsidize the suburbs?

h/t to Studio Cascade for bringing this to my attention!

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Ishmael

TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.

I originally scheduled, for today, an "Optional Reading List" for Winter 2011, just as I had for Fall 2010. However, I've preempted it because, due to the kindness of a friend, I actually got the chance to read one of the books contained in the Winter list.

"Ishmael," by Daniel Quinn, consists almost exclusively of a dialogue between a human and a telepathic gorilla named Ishmael. The discussion posits an ongoing conflict between two groups of people, the takers and the leavers. Today's society is cast as the ever-expanding culture of the takers, so-called because we take more than is necessary to survive. This is not just American culture or European culture, but all cultures who participate in the agricultural revolution. Quinn makes an excellent point: the agricultural revolution was a seminal even in human history, and we're taught when it started, but did you ever think about when it ended?

The gorilla's name comes from Genesis, wherein the first son of Abraham, Ishmael, was cast out and remained wild and always in conflict with the people. This is apt, as our gorilla is a representative of the leavers, never taking more than is necessary to live. Taker culture casts leavers as wild and in need of education to raise them out of their wretched state, that is, the culture needs to be destroyed.

As the self-appointed judges of what should live and what should die, the takers have transformed the world into a massive food production processor. But at what cost? "Ishmael" explores the dangers of our present course. While I personally find dialogues difficult, this was a relatively easy read, its 260-some pages going down in just a couple hours. And it has hand-drawn maps. How could you go wrong with that? I recommend it, and I'm looking forward to discussing it with you!

Optional Reading List - Fall 2010

Part of being in a graduate-level planning program is hearing about all the wonderful things that can (and really should) be read as part of your education. Of course, there's never enough time to read everything, so some very good works get set to the side. (We've also been told we will never be good planners until we've read them all, though I'm hoping that is a bit of professorial hyperbole!)

The works, and my understanding of them, are below. If the descriptions are inaccurate, then it's because I misunderstood and I'd appreciate a heads-up!

Walden Two, by B.F. Skinner, was recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. It is a fictional work portraying a rural utopia in which democracy and capitalism are abandoned and where children are reared according to the principles of behaviorism.

Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, by Robert Reich, was recommended by first year graduate student Karl Almgren. A non-fiction work focused on how to reverse the increase of "income inequality" and the decreasing size of the middle class.

How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill and recommended by Dr. Winchell. When the "dark ages" descended over Europe, the knowledge of the past was lost to areas dominated by the church. But, there were some places the church did not go....

Redesigning the American Dream, by Dolores Hayden, recommended by Dr. Winchell. A non-fiction critique of the suburbs and exposing the social isolation which has torn at the fabric of society.

You Owe Yourself a Drunk, by James P. Spradley, recommended by Dr. Winchell. A non-fiction ethnography looking into the lives of urban nomads (city dwellers who have no home), including the realization that you must be in a culture to be allowed to see it. In this case, he uncovered a governmental scandal in the process.

Bowling Alone, by Robert Putnam, recommended by everyone. A non-fiction work which provides results from studies of "social capital," and what it means, for instance, that even though more people go bowling now than in the past, why there are fewer bowling leagues.

The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, non-fiction recommended by Dr. Winchell. An explanation about how cities work, and don't work, from a resident of New York City who delivers a blistering critique of urban "renewal" activities in inner city neighborhoods.

Garden Cities of To-morrow, by Ebenezer Howard, non-fiction recommended by Dr. Hurand. Though a stenographer, Howard described a way of constructing Utopian city clusters out in the countryside in an attempt to avoid big city problems.

Better Not Bigger, by Eben Fodor, non-fiction recommended by Dr. Zovanyi. Fodor argues that the earth cannot sustain us as we currently live, so it is time for us to find a lifestyle that emphasizes quality over quantity.

The Image of the City, by Kevin Lynch, recommended by Dr. Winchell. Non-fiction. Lynch presents results from a study which indicates how people interpret what they see when they're in a place. From this, he provides a model by which we can analyze, and create, places.

Idiocracy, directed by Mike Judge. Fictional video recommended by Dr. Winchell. A dystopian comedy about two Americans who sleep for 500 years to find a world on the brink of disaster from, well...too many idiots in the world. Rated R for language and sex-related humor.