Main entry:

Eldredge, Niles, author.

Title & Author:

Concrete jungle : New York City and our last best hope for a sustainable future / Niles Eldredge and Sidney Horenstein.

Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2014]

Description:

ix, 276 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Regarding broadway : the urban saga and the New York microcosm -- Forest primeval -- Building stones -- Landscape transformed -- Around the American Museum of Natural History -- East River shoreline -- Growth of the concrete jungle -- Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street -- Queensboro Bridge and East River -- Fouling, and cleaning, the nest -- The high bridge -- Invasion and survival -- John Torrey -- Fort Tryon Park -- The Battery -- The Sea Wall -- Resilience, restoration, and redemption -- Canyonlands and the future -- Cities, globalization, and the future of biodiversity.

Summary:

"Cities need healthy chunks of the world's ecosystems to persist if they are to survive; yet cities, like parasites, grow and prosper by local destruction of these very ecosystems. In this absorbing and wide-ranging book, the authors use New York City as a microcosm to explore both the positive and negative sides of the relationship between cities, the environment, and the future of global biodiversity. They illuminate the mass of contradictions that cities present by offering the best and the worst of human existence. Eldredge and Horenstein demonstrate that, though cities have voracious appetites for resources such as food and water, they also represent the last hope for conserving healthy remnants of the world's ecosystems and species. With their concentration of human beings, they bring together centers of learning, research, government, finance, and media--institutions that increasingly play active roles in solving environmental problems. Some of the topics covered in Concrete Jungle: --The geological history of the New York region, including remnant glacial features visible today --The early days of urbanization on Manhattan Island, focusing on the history of Central Park, Collect Pond, and Manhattan Square --The history of early railway lines and the development of New York's iconic subway system --The problem of producing enough safe drinking water for an ever-expanding population --Prominent civic institutions, including universities, museums, and zoos"--Provided by publisher.

ISBN:

9780520270152 (cloth ; alk. paper)
0520270150 (cloth ; alk. paper)
(ebook)
9780520958302
0520958306

Subject:

Urban ecology (Sociology) New York (State) New York.
Urban geography New York (State) New York.
Environmental degradation New York (State) New York.
Biodiversity New York (State) New York.
Écologie urbaine New York (État) New York.
Géographie urbaine New York (État) New York.
Environnement Dégradation New York (État) New York.
Biodiversité New York (État) New York.
SOCIAL SCIENCE Sociology Urban.
Développement durable.
Changement climatique.
Ecologie.
Effets sur l'environnement.
Biodiversité.
Villes.
Zones urbaines.
Biodiversity.
Environmental degradation.
Urban ecology (Sociology)
Urban geography.
Stadssociologi miljöaspekter New York.
Stadsgeografi New York.
Miljöförstöring New York.
Biologisk mångfald New York.
Etats-Unis d'Amérique.
New York (State) New York.

Added entries:

Horenstein, Sidney S., author.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 289019
Call No.: BIB 231175
Status: Available