People who live in compact traditional towns have far smaller environmental footprints than those who live in sprawling suburbs. Is urban sprawl inevitable? Are there better ways of getting about? And can 60 million people crammed into a land bulging at the seams ever find ways of treating it with respect?
This book argues that we should look for the answer to America – the country that embraced urban sprawl and car dependency on a far grander scale than we ever did. There is much we can learn from its ‘Smart Growth’ movement, which is successfully arguing for compact cities, rail-based transit systems and restoring communities decayed by decades of self-centred suburban life.