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OverviewAmidst city concrete and suburban sprawl, Americans are discovering new ways to reconnect with the natural world. From community gardens in New York's Lower East Side to homeless shelters in California, the search for a more sustainable future has led grassroots groups to a profound reconnection to place and to the natural world.Studies of the health consequences of renewing a connection with nature support the urgency of providing green surroundings as cities expand and the majority of the earth's population lives in urban areas. Medical research results, from groups as diverse as healthy volunteers, surgery patients, and heart attack survivors, suggest that contact with nature may improve health and well-being. Engagement with nearby natural places also provides restoration from mental fatigue and support for more resilient and cooperative behavior. Aspects of stronger community life are fostered by access to nature, suggesting that there are significant social as well as physical and psychological benefits from connection with the natural world.This volume brings together research from anthropology, sociology, public health, psychology, and landscape architecture to highlight how awareness of locale and a meaningful renewal of attachment with the earth are connected to delight in learning about nature as well as to civic action and new forms of community. Community garden coalitions, organic market advocates, and greenspace preservationists resist the power of global forces, enacting visions of a different future. Their creative efforts tell a story of a constructive and dynamic middle ground between private plots and public action, between human health and ecosystem health, between individual attachment and urban sustainability. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Peggy F. Barlett (Emory University) , Roderick Frazier NashPublisher: MIT Press Ltd Imprint: MIT Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.476kg ISBN: 9780262524438ISBN 10: 0262524430 Pages: 336 Publication Date: 26 August 2005 Recommended Age: From 18 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely Availability: In Print Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock. Table of ContentsReviewsUrban Place is the story of an exciting revolution in the way we design, build, and live in urban settings, driven by the recognition that human health and that of nature are one and indivisible. Peggy Barlett and her colleagues are describing nothing less than the renaissance of a humane and decent civilization and the outlines of a sustainable urban world. --David W. Orr, Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College Author InformationPeter D. Turney is Senior Research Officer in the Institute for Information Technology of the National Research Council of Canada. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |