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Modern
cities make a huge impact on their environments, but would still
prosper if they were to dramatically reduce their consumption of
resources and energy. Waste recycling can massively reduce urban
use of resources whilst creating many new jobs; new materials and
architectural designs can greatly improve the environmental performance
of urban buildings.
Cities
can also adopt imaginative new approaches to transport planning
and management, and the use of urban space. We can dramatically
improve the experience of urban life by the creation of new urban
villages, reducing the peoples' desire to escape from the pressures
of city life.
How can we put the pulsing heart of conviviality back into our cities?
How can we make sure of creating cities of diversity for the new
millennium-places of cultural vigour and physical beauty that are
also sustainable in economic and environmental terms? This Schumacher
Briefing shows the way forward.
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Herbert
Girardet, Chairman of the Schumacher Society, is a UN Global
500 Award recipient, the author of the acclaimed The Gaia Atlas
of Cities and co-author of Making Cities Work, published by Earthscan
for Habitat II. His documentary on London's metabolism, Metropolis,
was shown on Channel 4, London, in 1994. His report Getting London
in Shape for 2000 was commissioned by London First. He also co-authored
the report Creating a Sustainable London. He is Visiting Professor
for Environmental Planning at Middlesex University, London.

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