How did the industrialized nations of North America and Europe come to be seen as the appropriate models for post-World War II societies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America? How did the postwar discourse on development actually create the so-called Third World? And what will happen when development ideology collapses? To answer these questions, Arturo [More]

In 1993 the late architect and MacArthur Genius Samuel Mockbee started the Rural Studio, a design/build education program, in which students create striking architecture for impoverished communities in rural Alabama. Guided by frank, passionate interviews with Mockbee, Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio shows how a group of students use [More]

With urban expansion in almost global overdrive, opportunities for citizens to improve their own urban environment are growing steadily. Handmade Urbanism examines the possibilities of urban transformation that stem from community initiatives. It showcases projects that focus on the provision of social infrastructure, aiming to improve the living conditions of residents in the more impoverished [More]

A comprehensive overview of edible landscapes—complete with more than 300 full-color photos and illustrations Designing Urban Agriculture is about the intersection of ecology, design, and community. Showcasing projects and designers from around the world who are forging new paths to the sustainable city through urban agriculture landscapes, it creates a dialogue on the ways to [More]

Taking sustainable food systems far beyond community gardens and local farms, this guide, compiled by some of the most innovative leaders of the agricultural urbanism movement, envisions much larger networks that include food-processing businesses, organic-food wholesalers, and many kinds of training programs. Outlining key strategies for creating food precincts in towns and cities, the discussion describes ways to [More]

As living conditions among the world’s poor continue to decline, with more and more people occupying slums and shantytowns, architects and artists are attempting to apply new models of collaboration and sustainability to social crisis. Moderators of Change: Architecture That Helps showcases 20 international projects by architects, designers and artists that provide socially responsible models [More]

Throughout the world, and even in the United States, engineers are tackling the challenges of sustainable development and public health – challenges that engineers are uniquely qualified to address. Yet engineers working abroad on development projects often lack the knowledge and information to design, plan, construct, operate, and maintain technology that is culturally, economically, and [More]

Half the world’s population now resides in cities, which are expanding at an unprecedented rate. Close to one billion people live in crowded, unhealthy, informal settlements–commonly referred to as slums–many of which lack security of land tenure, adequate housing, sanitation, clean water and electricity. Experts estimate that by 2030, more than two billion people will [More]

Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion, nearly 5.8 billion people, or 90%, have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted; in fact, nearly half do not have regular access to food, clean water, or shelter. Design for the Other 90% explores more than [More]

Strips of urban and suburban “fabric” have extended into the countryside, creating a ragged settlement pattern that blurs the distinction between rural, urban, and suburban. As traditional rural industries like farming, forestry, and mining rapidly give way to residential and commercial development, the land at the edges of developed areas — the rural-urban fringe — [More]