Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs Updated Edition

"THE BIBLE OF THE RETROFITTING MOVEMENT." —Blair Kamin, architecture critic, Chicago Tribune A guide, with multiple case studies, for redeveloping out–of–date suburban developments into more urban, sustainable places The winner in the Architecture & Urban Planning category of the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (The PROSE Awards) The last fifty years have been dominated by the reproduction of sprawl development patterns. The big project for the next fifty years will be retro–fitting sprawl into sustainable places. This edition of Retrofitting Suburbia, which includes a Foreword by Richard Florida and new updated Introduction by the authors, is a comprehensive guidebook for urban designers, planners, architects, developers, environmentalists, and community leaders that illustrates how existing suburban developments can be redesigned into more urban and sustainable places. Retrofitting Suburbia in the press: Retrofitting Suburbia was featured in Time magazine′s March 23, 2009 cover story on "Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now" "In their book, architects and academics Ellen Dunham–Jones and June Williamson . . . recommend urban strategies to solve suburban problems. The book′s numerous case studies show that this strategy has its merits. Increasing density, transit, and walkability often (though not always) can help to revitalize struggling communities." — Allison Arieff, The New York Times "Why, where, and how should suburbia be retrofitted? This content–rich, well–written book provides compelling answers. The book′s analysis and commentaries are rigorous and comprehensive, predicated not on academic theory but on planning and development history, social science, demographics, market conditions, and regulatory considerations." — Architectural Record "Architects Ellen Dunham–Jones and June Williamson confront the challenge of redeveloping abandoned suburban retail space in their new book, Retrofitting Suburbia. The detailed text also explores several creative solutions in which progressive planning has reinvigorated suburban communities nationwide." — Popular Mechanics "Hats off to Ellen Dunham–Jones and June Williamson. Their work is helping us chart a way to better suburbs, better communities, and a better, more fulfilling way of life. Wielding careful research, eye–opening before–and–after case studies, and a panoply of urban design solutions, Retrofitting Suburbia presents a highly convincing argument for both the desirability and the feasibility of redeveloping failed suburban properties into more sustainable places." — from the Foreword by Richard Florida

Foreword: by Richard Florida. 2011 Update. Preface. Introduction. Acknowledgments. PART I. THE ARGUMENT. Chapter 1. Instant Architecture, Instant Cities, and Incremental Metropolitanism. PART II. THE EXAMPLES. Chapter 2. Retrofitting Garden Apartments and Residential Subdivisions to Address Density and the New Demographics. Chapter 3. Residential Case Study: Changes to “Levittown”. Chapter 4. Retrofitting Social Life Along Commercial Strips. Chapter 5. Strips Case Study: Mashpee Commons, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Chapter 6. From Regional Malls to New Downtowns Through Mixed–Use and Public Space. Chapter 7. Mall Case Study: Cottonwood, Holladay, Utah. Chapter 8. Mall Case Study: Belmar, Lakewood, Colorado. Chapter 9. Edge City Infill: Improving Walkability and Interconnectivity. Chapter 10. Edge City Case Study: Downtown Kendall/Dadeland, Miami–Dade County, Florida. Chapter 11. Suburban Offi ce and Industrial Park Retrofits to Recruit the Creative Class. Chapter 12. Office Park Case Study: University Town Center, Prince George’s County, Maryland. Epilogue: The Landscape of Incremental Metropolitanism in 2050. Notes. Image Credits. Index.

Ellen Dunham–Jones, AIA, is professor of architecture and urban design in the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. An award–winning registered architect, she has published extensively on urban design and criticism and is on the board of directors of the Congress for the New Urbanism. June Williamson, LEED AP, is associate professor of architecture at The City College of New York. A registered architect, she has contributed to numerous urban design projects. Her writing has been published in numerous journals and, in 2010, she conceived the design competition "Build a Better Burb."