Compact Cities: Sustainable Urban Forms for Developing Countries. (Reviews - Developing Cities).

Edited by Mike Jenks and Rod Burgess.

London: Spon Press. 2001. [pounds sterling]35

This is the third book in a sequence that began with The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form? (Jenks et al, 1996) and Achieving Sustainable Urban Form (Williams et al, 2000). Those predecessors were concerned with the question of the nature of sustainability in the cities of the developed world. Now the focus has shifted to the equally pressing problem of developing cities.

Over 20 essays, by authors from round the world, present a wide-ranging analysis and debate on an issue that is shown to be of the utmost complexity. The editors offer judicious commentary and avoid the trap of proposing simplistic conclusions. The cities of the developing world are shown to be extremely diverse; culturally, historically, economically and formally. The contrasts between Dhaka; Medellin and Hong Kong are vivid demonstration of this. These facts deny the possibility of the 'quick-fix'. Yet, a number of the papers present case studies, such as the managed densification and urban intensification of Curitiba, Brazil, that might be adapted and applied in very different contexts, in the developing world and, perhaps, in older cities of the developed world.

Most of the essays are concerned with issues of macro-scale and with processes of management rather than design. That is a necessary reflection of the nature of the problem. There are, however, useful perceptions that derive from a more architectural perspective. For example, an elegant essay by de Schiller and Evans, of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism at Buenos Aires, presents a convincing critique of the stereotypes of architectural globalism and argues for a more climatically responsive approach to the architecture of the sustainable city.

This book and its companion volumes deserve a place on the bookshelves of all who believe that architecture and urbanism have obligations beyond the territories of pragmatism or fashion.