[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” fullwidth=”on” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” background_color=”#444444″ next_background_color=”#ffffff” global_module=”258″][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title global_parent=”258″ title=”on” meta=”off” author=”on” date=”on” categories=”on” comments=”on” featured_image=”off” featured_placement=”below” parallax_effect=”on” parallax_method=”on” text_orientation=”center” text_color=”light” text_background=”off” text_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” title_font_size=”42px” custom_padding=”30px||20px|” parallax=”on” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ prev_background_color=”#444444″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.10.2″ author=”Foreword Reviews” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″]<\/p>\n
Peter Plastrik and John Cleveland\u2019s Life after Carbon<\/em> is a highly engaging, forward-looking study of how modern cities\u00a0are innovating to survive.<\/p>\n This superb book looks at the evolution of the world\u2019s cities and their challenging future. It is organized into three\u00a0cohesive parts: a survey of \u201curban climate innovation laboratories,\u201d the examination of four specific ideas that\u00a0represent modern city innovation, and a bold perspective on how these ideas will help set the course for cities of the\u00a0future.<\/p>\n Outstanding examples depict the many innovative ways that some of the world\u2019s cities are already positioning\u00a0themselves to meet challenges like climate change and urban congestion. Throughout the text and in sidebars, the\u00a0book refers to initiatives by cities in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and the Far East. These\u00a0illustrations effectively demonstrate the optimistic view that major global cities are already innovating, primarily in the\u00a0area of climate change, but also in urban infrastructure, transportation, resource consumption, and waste disposal.<\/p>\n The stories are powerful themselves, but the book takes them further by incorporating them into specific areas that\u00a0show how cities can use innovative thinking to create jobs, generate \u201curban abundance,\u201d protect urban life, and meet\u00a0future requirements.\u00a0While \u201cfuture think\u201d permeates the book, its third part is the most ambitious and prophetic. It offers a hopeful view of\u00a0the future, wherein urban \u201cgreening,\u201d autonomous vehicles, and renewable energy may contribute to cities\u2019 ultimate\u00a0survival.<\/p>\n A book that exudes passion, enthusiasm, and optimism for the future, Life after Carbon\u00a0 is essential reading for anyone\u00a0with a stake in the development of tomorrow\u2019s cities.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.10.2″ author=”Dr. Marc A. Weiss” job_title=”Chairman and CEO” company_name=”Global Urban Development ” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″]<\/p>\n I thoroughly enjoyed reading your beautifully written and excellently researched book,\u00a0Life After Carbon<\/em>. You should be very proud of what you have accomplished, and hopefully your book will reach a wide and enthusiastic audience.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial admin_label=”Timothy Beatley” author=”Timothy Beatley” job_title=”Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities” company_name=”School of Architecture at the University of Virginia” quote_icon_color=”#ce6e00″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.10.2″ body_font=”||||||||”]<\/p>\n Plastrik and Cleveland give readers nothing less than a new and compelling vision for what cities could be: carbon-free, climate adaptive, biophilic and nature-rich, with restorative closed-loop metabolisms, and, of course, wonderful places in which to live. Together these stories, ideas, and emerging practices chart an optimistic urban future.\u00a0Life After Carbon<\/i> is an essential resource for planners, mayors and citizens (all of us) with a vested interest in accelerating this future.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.10.2″ author=”Charles Savitt” job_title=”Founder, former publisher & CEO” company_name=”Island Press” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″]<\/p>\n Captivating! Life After Carbon’s\u00a0<\/em>story telling and ability to project a big vision is powerful. It will be a compelling and major tool to help cities and business move forward.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_testimonial admin_label=”Mindy Lubber” author=”Mindy Lubber” job_title=”CEO” company_name=”Ceres” quote_icon_color=”#ce6e00″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ body_font=”||||||||”]<\/p>\n In Life After Carbon<\/i> Plastrik and Cleveland lay out a hidden upside of climate action, detailing how innovative cities leading the fight against climate change are developing a new model for urban development that promises better cities in a carbon-free economy. This is an important and inspiring book for business leaders and other professionals in their efforts to create more livable cities while strengthening climate resilience.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial admin_label=”Bruce Katz” author=”Bruce Katz” job_title=”Coauthor” company_name=”The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism” quote_icon_color=”#ce6e00″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ body_font=”||||||||”]<\/p>\n Plastrik and Cleveland have written a timely, affirmative account of urban innovation and transformation in the face of climate change. Their vision of the post-carbon city is captivating and compelling, with ideas that are tangible, transferable and scalable. \u00a0This is a much needed contribution at a pivotal moment.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial admin_label=”Edward Mazria” author=”Edward Mazria” company_name=”Architecture 2030″ quote_icon_color=”#ce6e00″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ body_font=”||||||||”]<\/p>\n Life After Carbon<\/i> is a vivid and multifaceted look at the cities leading the global transition to a post-carbon world. Drawing insight from and connections among the communities at the forefront of urban climate innovation, Plastrik and Cleveland chart much-needed and promising pathways into the future.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.10.2″ author=”Pamela Plotkin” job_title=”Director of Texas Sea Grant” company_name=”Texas A&M University” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″]<\/p>\n I will never look at cities the same way again. The writing is outstanding!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.10.2″ author=”Ian Shears” job_title=”Practice Lead Urban Forest and Green Infrastructure” company_name=”City of Melbourne” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″]<\/p>\n I had the great pleasure of reading Life After Carbon<\/em> over the weekend.\u00a0I want to congratulate you and John for such a fine piece of work, such a good narrative, giving hope and a necessary and viable vision of the future.\u00a0Well done and I hope the book proves to be as enabling, empowering and transformative as possible.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_testimonial _builder_version=”3.10.2″ author=”K K Shahid” job_title=”Staff Writer” company_name=”Pakistan Today” quote_icon_background_color=”#f5f5f5″]<\/p>\n During the UN Climate Change Conference 2018, COP24, currently underway in Katowice, Poland, PM Imran Khan\u2019s Advisor on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said \u201cwe are running out of time\u201d in the global bid to forestall climate change.<\/p>\n During COP24, Aslam has reaffirmed Islamabad\u2019s support of the Paris Agreement \u2013 especially considering the country ranks eighth on Germanwatch\u2019s index of countries most affected by climate change \u2013 and even got superstar and environment activist Arnold Schwarzenegger to say yes to coming to Pakistan.<\/p>\n As COP24 gets global heads together and get as many of them to stick to a global action plan, a critical question would be on developing new models for a \u2018carbon-free economy\u2019.<\/p>\n A prominent contribution in this regard is Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities, <\/em>written by John Cleveland and Peter Plastrik underlining the city as a unit taking on climate change for urban development in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint. The book underlines efforts to create the most livable cities with the least climate fallout.<\/p>\n Life After Carbon <\/em>unveils itself in three sections, beginning with the climate laboratories \u2013 25 of them that the book draws inspiration from \u2013 then examining the ideas that impacted the way modern cities were constructed, and then highlighting the work needed to pull off the requisite urban transformation. The book\u2019s contents are neatly divided in these three broad sections.<\/p>\n Life After Carbon <\/em>starts by elaborating how cities have incorporated innovation in their response to climate change by promoting bicycling and walking, streamlining movements for various vehicles, channelising buildings\u2019 energy consumption, recycling waste, mining wastewater for heat, promoting solar, in addition to complete redesigns of buildings, public squares, coastlines and other structures.<\/p>\n \u2018Urban climate innovation labs\u2019 are thoroughly discussed as cities that are acting on climate change challenges and reinforcing their commitment for the same. There are three characteristics that bind them: commitment to achieving long-term climate change goals, targeting of urban systems for large-scale change and initiating of experiments to see what works.<\/p>\n Shifts in transport modes to reduce driving to ensure car-free zones and periods are crucial in the pattern of innovation clusters and waves that the book wants to build on. It cites the example of Copenhagen to dissect what makes a \u2018better city\u2019 going into the future. The book also uses Star Wars <\/em>to drive home its idea of a \u2018rebel alliance\u2019 that would transform the world\u2019s modern cities.<\/p>\n But what exactly do these transformational ideas do? They encourage voluntary action, send price signals, offer choices and issue requirements \u2013 to point out a few.<\/p>\n \u2018Today, cities that are aggressively following a climate-innovation pathway are abandoning the very ideas that made them modern and got them this far. They are turning to a set of new ideas\u2026 transformational ideas that are embedded within the hundreds of climate innovations emerging in lab cities and spreading from city to city.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n The book then elaborates the advantages of going carbon free and how cities are changing their role from the reign of the fossil-fuel global economy. A major challenge is streamlining the consumption of energy, which is embedded in lifestyles of modern cities.<\/p>\n Life After Carbon <\/em>argues that that cities can use energy and resources more efficiently to generate a revamped urban abundance, which needs to be sustainable, holistic and widely shared. It also urges compact lifestyles.<\/p>\n \u2018Urban compactness offers an efficiency advantage that builds on density, one that many cities had before they were designed for the automobile and that innovation lab cities are busy reclaiming. Compactness refers to the proximity of stores, jobs, and amenities to where people live\u2014a development pattern that shortens routine travel distances and changes how people travel.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n The book emphasises upon the cities to restore the natural system power in order to uplift urban life. Here it cites the example of Melbourne where \u201cevery tree\u2019s life matters.\u201d The impetus to expand the use of green infrastructure stems from there factors: performance, cost effectiveness, and cobenefits.<\/p>\n Going forward, Life After Carbon <\/em>underlines, that cities should be able to cultivate the inhabitants\u2019 capacity and adapt accordingly in order to meet the requirements of the future. It is all about survival and \u201cstaying in the game\u201d which the authors maintain as the necessary goal.<\/p>\n The road ahead requires a change in context, highlighting of the green and strong decision-making. Those ahead of the game are focusing on climate-oriented businesses and efforts to reduce consumption which bolsters the circular economies all the while promoting green infrastructure, biodiversity and biophilic immersion.<\/p>\n The authors seek city livability driven by climate action and aggressive performance expectation. They call out to \u2018champions of big change\u2019, which can of course be found in the private markets. New governance models, technical capacities and expanded financial resources need to be developed.<\/p>\n \u2018New ideas are taking hold in cities. They feed our needs and nourish our desires. They provide us with a new story about our future together. They fire our imaginations. They are transforming our cities.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peter Plastrik and John Cleveland\u2019s Life after Carbon is a highly engaging, forward-looking study of how modern cities\u00a0are innovating to survive. This superb book looks at the evolution of the world\u2019s cities and their challenging future. It is organized into three\u00a0cohesive parts: a survey of \u201curban climate innovation laboratories,\u201d the examination of four specific ideas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2327"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2543,"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2327\/revisions\/2543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in4c.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}