This book delves into the urban planning theory of "smart growth" to encourage the creation of smart cities, where compact urban spaces are optimized to create transit-oriented, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly areas, with a clear focus on developing a sustainable, humanistic transport system.
Over the last century, increased demographic changes and use of motor vehicles in the wake of "urbanization" led to the rapid expansion of cities, giving rise to economic, social and environmental problems. Sprawls and extension into natural areas caused a scattered urban context replete with empty spaces. This book provides an effective solution to this with an overview of the historical application of smart growth principles as a response to the issue of sprawling cityscapes, and sheds light on the theoretical information and methodologies used by cities to re-develop the urban landscape. It also encloses a checklist for practitioners and decision makers to inform the developmental process and integrate smart growth strategies into land use planning.
This book effectively engages with the global problem of urban sprawl in cities and hence will be an asset to both urban planning professionals, and graduate and postgraduate students of urban studies and the related disciplines.
About the Author: Amir Shakibamanesh is an urban designer with more than 12 years of professional experience. He currently works as an associate professor of urban design at the University of Art, Tehran, Iran. He is the author or co-author of more than 25 scholarly articles and monographs, and the author of 8 books and book chapters. His research interests include urban modelling, urban simulation, virtual reality and urban scene analysis.
Mahshid Ghorbanian is an urban designer and planner with more than 10 years of professional experience. She currently works as an assistant professor of urban design and planning at the Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran. She is the author or co-author of more than 14 scholarly articles and monographs, and the author of 8 books and book chapters. Her research interests include urban modelling, urban spatial structure and health, morphological and visual analysis of city textures, and urban transportation in the complex city network.
Seyed Navid Mashhadi Moghadam is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Art and Architecture at Tarbiat Modares University in Iran. His research focuses on social aspects and dynamics in power distribution between citizens and governance.