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Superbia: 31 Ways to Create Sustainable
Neighborhoods
Superbia! is a book
of practical
ideas for creating more socially, economically, and environmentally
sustainable neighborhoods. It is about remaking suburban and urban
neighborhoods to serve people better and to reduce human impact on the
environment.
The authors first trace the history of
the
suburbs, showing how they fail to meet many peoples' needs. They then
describe how existing neighborhoods can be transformed, offering
cohousing and new urbanist communities as examples. The reader is then
guided through the transformation of a fictitious neighborhood that
adopts the authors' thirty-one steps. Ideas for the blossoming of the
suburb are described in order of difficulty, from easy to boldest,
including:
- the creation of a
neighborhood
newsletter to foster a sense of neighborhood
- identity and cooperation
- regular community dinners,
discussion
groups, and baby-sitting co-ops
- the removal of backyard fences to
create
park-like spaces for community play areas, or gardens
- retrofitting homes for energy
efficiency,
and installing community energy systems.
Examples from all over North America
and
beyond provide real-life proof that citizen planners can create
Superbia! And the most comprehensive resource listing imaginable puts
all the tools needed at your fingertips.
About The
Authors
Dan Chiras is the
author of nineteen
books including The
Natural Plaster Book (New Society Publishers, 2003)
and over
200 articles, a contributing editor to Mother Earth News,
and
an adjunct professor at Colorado College.
Dave Wann has
produced six video
programs on community, is coauthor of Affluenza:
The All-Consuming Epidemic and two other books
about design.
Both live in Colorado.
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