Livable Cities? Urban Struggles for Livelihood and Sustainability

The cities of the developing world are hubs of economic growth, but they are increasingly ecologically unsustainable and, for ordinary citizens, increasingly unliveable. This book explores the issues of livelihood and ecological sustainability in cities of the developing and transitional world.

"An exciting book that captures the urban environmental condition through the struggles and knowledge of real people, Livable Cities? reveals how grassroots input can make top-down policy more effective. By focusing on small, seldom-studied communities in such countries as Vietnam, the book illuminates the particular intersection between larger environmental dynamics and their concrete materializations in specific settings."—Saskia Sassen, author of The Global City 2001

"This is an essential book about a fundamental topic: the urban politics of environmental sustainability. Leading social researchers from around the world provide a rigorous assessment on the conditions under which local societies can contribute to the development of a sustainable global order."—Manuel Castells, co-author of The Local and the Global: Management of Cities in the Information Age

" Livable Cities? introduces a fresh and crucial agenda for scholars and activists: how can communities across the world organize to foster both environmental reform and economic well-being-in a word, "livability"? Urban scholars, development scholars, and those in the growing environmental field will take a keen interest in this book."—Harvey Molotch, co-author of Building Rules: How Local Controls Shape Building Environments and Economies

"Peter Evans opens up a new area of thinking on how global environmental problems arise in the context of cities in the Third World and how they are translated into continuing policy debates and political struggles."—John R. Logan, author of The New Chinese City: Globalization and Market Reform

"Within a comprehensive theoretical framework, Livable Cities? studies how particular "ecologies" of political actors have formed in diverse cities in East Asia, Europe, and Latin America to improve the quality of life in poor communities. With its focus on cities and their disempowered majorities, this book provides a welcome contribution to the politics of "another" development, one centered on people's well-being."—John Friedmann, co-author of Human Settlements and Planning for Ecological Sustainability: The Case of Mexico City

The sprawling cities of the developing world are vibrant hubs of economic growth, but they are also increasingly ecologically unsustainable and, for ordinary citizens, increasingly unlivable. Pollution is rising, affordable housing is decreasing, and green space is shrinking. Since three-quarters of those joining the world's population during the next century will live in Third World cities, making these urban areas more livable is one of the key challenges of the twenty-first century. This book explores the linked issues of livelihood and ecological sustainability in major cities of the developing and transitional world. Livable Cities? identifies important strategies for collective solutions by showing how political alliances among local communities, nongovernmental organizations, and public agencies can help ordinary citizens live better lives.