Main entry:

Doucet, Clive.

Title & Author:

Urban meltdown : cities, climate change and politics as usual / Clive Doucet.

Publication:

Philadelphia, Pa. : New Society ; [Lancaster] : [Gazelle Drake Academic, distributor], 2007.

Description:

xix, 251 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
pt. I. A poet goes to city hall -- 1. Global cities and horse and buggy nations -- 2. Neighborhoods to love -- 3. The Barbell society and just-in-time delivery -- 4. From Mont Tremblant to Sik Tremblant -- 5. Along Bayswater Street -- 6. Urban villages -- 7. It ain't planning : it's politics -- 8. Citizenship versus faithship -- pt. II. The idea of progress and why we got it wrong -- 9. The mayor of Hiroshima and intimations of God -- 10. The idea of progress and the first nations -- 11. Biological and social phase transitions -- 12. Cod, government and the transpiration cycle -- 13. Care of the soul/care of the city/care for the planet -- 14. 1984-2004 : poets and visions -- 15. Cape Breton beaches and the Gulf of Mexico -- pt. III. Trying to create a new order of things -- 16. The rise of cities and decline of the planet -- 17. 689 spadina and coming of age in Toronto -- 18. The 1960s : a global paradigm shift that never happened and how the same pattern is repeating itself -- 19. The world social forum II and trying to change things -- 20. The world social forum III and failing to change things -- 21. Saving the world with Stephen Lewis? -- 22. The Bush bubble comes to Ottawa -- 23. Jean de La Fontaine -- 24. Cities, climate change and politics as usual.

Summary:

In 1950, only thirty percent of the world's population lived in cities. By 2007, the planet's population has now doubled and today, as many people live in cities as populated the entire planet in 1950. Eighty percent of the planet's greenhouse gases are created by these energy-intensive urban centres. Thus, the key to creating climate change solutions resides with cities. Author and Ottawa city councillor Clive Doucet provides a razor-sharp insider's perspective, stating his central theme: "It's not about planning. It's about politics." Climate change is proceeding so quickly not for lack of knowledge, but because politicians who deviate from the car-based sprawl model cannot get elected. Urban Meltdown describes how we got here, why we got here, and what can be done about it, as evidenced by the author's observations that: economic growth has no built-in environmental accountability; until the political thinking about growth and the progress model itself is changed, our environmental concerns will never be properly addressed; we need a new governance paradigm at all three levels; the cautionary tale of how the 1960s tried to take us down a different route but failed, not for lack of leadership but because the system didn't permit it. Urban Meltdown reveals, castigates and inspires. This is an important book for anyone who cares about thinking differently, acting differently and making a difference.

Resources:
ebrary
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description

ISBN:

9780865715844 (pbk.)
086571584X (pbk.)

Subject:

Urban climatology.
City planning Climatic factors.
Municipal government.
Global warming Political aspects.
Climatic changes.
City planning Environmental aspects.
Environmental degradation.
Environmental protection Citizen participation.
Climate Change
Réchauffement de la Terre Aspect politique.
Climat Changements.
Administration municipale.
Urbanisation Aspect de l'environnement.
Urbanisme Aspect de l'environnement.
Environnement Dégradation.
Environnement Protection Participation des citoyens.
Climatologie urbaine.
municipal government.
climate change.
Klimaänderung
Stadtplanung
Urbanization Environmental aspects.

Form/genre:

Ottawa print collection.
Ottawa authors, musicians, etc.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 259544
Call No.: BIB 190454
Status: Available