Renewing Urban Communities

Book excerpt: Ireland is now an urban society, and both parts of the island have experienced rapid urban-generated growth and new patterns of development in recent years. This inter-disciplinary book adopts an all-Ireland perspective to investigate the tension that exists between sustainable urban development values and rhetoric - such as increased densities, brown field development, the compact city and social inclusion - and the emerging geography of urban Ireland, influenced by consumer and lifestyle choices. The introduction provides an overview of the dynamics of urban change, particularly during the 1990s, and the experience of rapid economic growth. The following chapters are divided into two parts, considering sustainable urban environments, and sustainable communities. This book will appeal to students, academics, policy and decision-makers, given that it adopts both a qualitative and quantitative approach, and introduces a range of new empirical studies covering both physical and social sustainable development.