Neighbourhoods for the Future: A Plea for a Social and Ecological Urbanism

A plea for the social efficacy of the neighborhood and its ecology

The pressure is on: people move to cities in ever-growing numbers. So we build new neighborhoods, we transform old industrial areas and renew the existing city. Right now, the focus lies on energy-neutral neighborhoods. But in order for these new neighborhoods to really work, residents need to be engaged and the tactics need to be embedded within a larger social policy. Only then do thriving cities arise. Neighbourhoods for the Future revisits the neighborhood as the designated scale and arena to build our urban futures. The neighborhood is small enough to be tangible, yet big enough to make an actual difference. Introducing the concepts of neighborhood arrangements and ecologies, this book provides a new perspective on the relation between participants, resources and rules to spark change and prepare urbanites and policymakers for realizing their own sustainable neighborhoods for the future.