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A pioneering book highlighting the dynamic environmental dimensions of towns and villages and spatial connections with surrounding land.
List of contents
Part I. Town Patterns, Processes, Change: 1. Town, village, and land spatial patterns; 2. Flows and movements; 3. Change; 4. Human dimensions; Part II. Ecological Dimensions of Towns: 5. Soil, chemicals, air; 6. Water systems and waterbodies; 7. Plants, habitats, greenspaces; 8. Diverse animals and town pattern; Part III. Town and Land Interactions: 9. Commercial, industrial, and residential areas; 10. Cropland, pastureland, and towns; 11. Forestland, aridland, and towns; 12. Tying transportation, towns, and land together; Part IV. Town Ecology Principles and Solutions: 13. Toward better towns, better land.
About the author
Richard T. T. Forman is Research Professor in Landscape Ecology at Harvard University, Massachusetts, where he teaches Urban and Town Ecology. Often considered a 'father' of Landscape Ecology and Road Ecology, he helped spearhead Urban Ecology, and has received honours, awards, medals and honorary doctorates from universities across the world. His books include Landscape Ecology (1986), award-winning Land Mosaics (Cambridge, 1995), Urban Regions (Cambridge, 2008) and award-finalist Urban Ecology (Cambridge, 2014). He received an award for excellence in teaching, and has served for many years on boards for town planning and land-protection non-profit organizations.
Summary
Highlighting towns and villages as dynamic environmental places, this pioneering book uses an ecology lens to explore the strong connections and effects on surrounding farmland, forest, and arid land. Key flows of water, soil, air and human systems are spatially linked to habitats, wildlife, plants, and biodiversity patterns around towns.
