Alternative+Routes+to+the+Sustainable+City

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 * SUMMARY **


 * PREFACE (pg. xiii-xiv) **
 * Our author, Steven Moore, felt that a preface was needed to address 3 concerns:
 * Philosophical ideas should not necessarily be guiding design practices (much of what Chapter 1 is concerned about).
 * Public figures are quoted, otherwise anonymity is used in hope of reliable interpretations of the stories told of each city in Chapters 2-4.
 * Moore is from Austin and hence may be biased in his account of the city.
 * As Moore tells us, "The task I have set in this analysis is to try to make sense of the topic at hand without scrubbing away the circumstances that make it rich."

For Moore to make his argument, definitions and explanations of the vocabulary are needed in order for the implications to be understood. He argues that sustainability is a story line that shows first (or stronger) in cities with engaged citizens. Methodology and Methods Pragmatism is not the first term I would use when describing American tendencies. I disagree with Moore- our impetus is to look toward the self and focus on the bettering of the individual versus the more Eastern mindset of relying on community, which explains why our unsustainable habits are worse than most industrialized countries. -Becca Scott I think I would really enjoy reading more about these Science and Technology Studies, especially about how they study cities to determine social theories based on how they infrastructure developed. - Trisha Van Wig
 * CHAPTER 1 - A TALE OF THREE CITIES** (pg. 1-28)
 * Inquiry is driven by disturbed certainty and for Moore's investigation he relies primarily on American pragmatism emphasizing utility over truth, leading to question about what we do as citizens rather than individuals and why.
 * Reasons why the pragmatic approach was used:
 * 1) Studies of both pragmatism and sustainability imply that democracy is a central issue
 * 2) Sustainable pragmatism is actually an emerging field of thought looking at Science and Technological Studies and Urban Design Principles that tests the coherent logic of development
 * 3) Pragmatism is a large umbrella ideology so a strict foundational orthodoxy is not needed
 * Science and Technology Studies (STS) is a branch of sociology and philosophy that looks at how and why technology emerges and see cities at large as socio-technical artifacts.
 * **Pragmatists preferred search methods focus on action-oriented goals and ignore subjectivity/objectivity issues, and instead relies on fairness/activism.**
 * **Qualitative research initially preferred over quantitative analysis because it builds up a hypothesis and then tests it.**

>> Definitely. Sustainability is a term that is constantly redefining itself, and cannot be explicitly defined the nature of cultures and humanity is not a fixed definition. -Becca Scott >> Am curious, Michelle, in what way? Sandy > This idea parallel's Ehrenfeld's that technology got us into this mess and is the necessary to get us back out of it. (Not in those words of course.) -Becca Scott
 * **Sustainability and Stories**
 * "Sustainability implies a storyline because it begins with the knowledge claim that contemporary consumption habits cannot be sustained...and offers three narrative possibilities in response--denial, resignation, and hope." (pg. 6) These three responses seem very much like the basic responses to change. It is the fear of change that is at the root of our hesitancy to embrace more sustainable routes to living. -nika
 * * The difference between prediction and story is that a story is not based on authority and develops over time.
 * Sustainability develops not from a unique situation but from a periodic and necessary rewriting
 * A rough chronological order of different kinds of storylines would be Heroic, Religion, Science, Economy, and Sustainability.
 * The storyline under which one is functioning can change ideals, behavior, actors, modes of communication, and attitudes toward time. (See Fig 1.1)
 * Defining Terms
 * Sustainability as **public talks**--informal and inclusive
 * sustainability is not a fixed concept or a formal discourse
 * also, a note on accessibility--conversations involved those attracted to the topic and enthusiasts may employ different vocabulary
 * Storylines as Meta-conversations--"a shared way of making sense of the past and speculating about what might become true in the future." (pg. 11)
 * again noted though that vocabularies (and their varying familiarity) is still less important than actions (the plot) of the story.
 * The term "sustainability" does not and should not have a fixed definition because then it would ignore changing environmental and social concerns.
 * To relate the story of sustainable developments, public talks concerning political, environmental, and technological issues must be happening. I agree..political talks must happen, however, how do we move from talking to implementing action? From a glance, this book is similar to Ehrenfeld's. Michelle Freeman
 * Political Dispositions
 * Each city has the same forces of development but the citizens of the studied cities have very different political traditions.
 * Many believe the environmental crisis should not be solved by political talk, yet political talk explains why sustainable talks presents sooner or more forcefully in different cities.
 * Regime of Sustainability--political action is legitimized by an interest in scientific knowledge in which all political systems invariably have.
 * However, when private interests are served by municipal dependence on real estate taxes, they will inevitably conflict.
 * Table 1.2 shows the 4 Dispositions of Liberal Democracy and which city applies to which disposition. All have meaningfully different attitudes toward conflict.
 * Environmental Dispositions
 * Three competing interests must be at balance within civil society for sustainable development to be achieved. They are economic development, environmental protection, and social equity.
 * Fig. 1.1 (pg. 16) shows the interaction of "The 3 E's" and demonstrates that discourse is needed to balance all points for sustainable development to happen.
 * However the chart is based on American/European methods and don't necessarily apply to other situations with different political traditions
 * Fig 1.2 (pg. 18) instead shows other logics that shape alternate environmental dispositions
 * This all goes to show the difficulty of finding a coherent set of public conversations to the broad approach using the categories of Reformist/Radical and Prosaic/Imaginative is used to study the discourse.
 * Technological Dispositions
 * Technology can be seen as the most distinctive feature of modern society and so talking about alternative technologies can be seen as talking about something as pervasive as an "alternative modernity" or an "alternative future". (pg. 19)
 * The environmental crisis is a direct result of destructive social habits. However, using that perspective won't be easy as bad habits are hard to break since the technology enables them and also shuts out different methods so in order to change our future we must change our technological storyline.
 * Fig 1.3 (pg. 20) is used to understand technological choices some societies make by showing the competing stories that are employed, based on Technophilic/Technophobic and Deterministic/Voluntaristic societies.
 * The Question and Structure of the Inquiry
 * There can be no "best practices" list that is universally applied to summarize the discussion between stories and sustainability. Instead it is a social project to construct future-oriented storylines and must use reasonable talk models of the locals. Moore has found examples of successful developments of the sustainability storyline that don't necessarily follow the democratic path and uses this book to study and analyze them so they can serve as examples. Once a thorough storyline is constructed of each city, he then employs the quantitative analysis and looks at how the facts of each city (primarily found from Geographic Informational Systems) may have played a role in it's development as well.

CHAPTER 2 - THE SPRINGS OF AUSTIN (pg. 29-72) "Keep Austin Weird" The problem many cities with these high-tech firms are facing now is that there is a significant lack of affordable housing. These jobs typically only take the most educated citizenry away from the blue collar jobs. The blue collar jobs are available and as people who need them come to town, they have a hard time finding an affordable home or apartment. - Greg McDanel - am curious how the changes in types of jobs staying in the U.S. versus being off-shored would impact this scenario. - Sandy // Barton Springs, center of the "Save our Springs" movement // This form of decision-making appears here in Kansas City. City Council decides to 'remove' an item the public voted on (rail system) and passed because it wasn't feasible (well, make it feasible) - Heather Aaron - I think there are actually four forms of goverance all together...or maybe three. ~Krystle That is true Heather, Kansas City has a weak-mayor form of governance where the city manager has wide latitude to make policy...that is until he is removed! - Max Rieper
 * Received Stories - historical context; unusual mix of identities gives context to why sustainability is taken so seriously
 * Seat as state capitol and state university allowed city to thrive during Depression as a progressive "New Deal" town with no wealthy elite (like oil men in other Texas towns) and heavy investment by government creating "latent value" in Austin
 * Rampant progressive populism in the 1940s, aligning with state employee unions propelled reformist civic leaders to power
 * Even the business community recognized the economic value of the landscape
 * Economic development planning attracted high-tech firms - IBM, Motorola, Lockheed - seen as "weird"
 * The inherent beautiful landscape, combined with the early government investment in the city, combined with the "weird" culture brought in by the high-tech firms = "amenity market" attractive to capital
 * Cycles of Planning - the arena in which dominant storyline and counter storyline come into conflict
 * 1976-1981 Awareness Building
 * Rationalists (pro-growth) vs. Romantics (anti-growth)
 * Early activists were amateurs who advocated without the authority of science to support them, however the public distrust of "experts" gave these amateurs credibility
 * 1981-1990 Code Building - codes are the "principal means by which societies formalize emergent social standards"
 * Development is unleashed by looser lending laws and Texas state legislation prohibiting cities from legislating land outside its borders but within its extraterritorial jurisdiction
 * Savings and Loan scandals, passage of Endangered Species Act fueled environmentalist "Save our Springs" movement
 * Struggle of two codes:
 * Developers want codes that allow for more development and individualism
 * Environmentalists want codes that regulate technology
 * 1990-2000 Regime of Sustainability
 * Activists overwhelmingly pass water-quality ordinance, elect slate of "green machine" officials to dominate city council
 * Results were mixed, reform was slow, and restrictive regulation may have fueled suburban growth
 * Centrist mayor Kirk Watson was able to forge compromise between developers and environmentalists, but the sustainability movement died out when he left his term to run for state office
 * 2000-present Regions and Neighborhoods
 * Without powerful incentives it is hard to get players to participate in regional policies
 * Neighborhoods planning is problematic in that it promotes NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard), segregates neighborhoods and fails to provide a comprehensive plan for the city. Again, this is similar to what has happened in the Kansas City metro area. I truly believe the expansion of the suburbs has killed the core city. With increased commuter times and the creation of neighborhood splinter malls, etc, people only frequent the city for work and/or entertainment. Michelle Freeman
 * Neighborhoods planning is problematic in that it promotes NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard), segregates neighborhoods and fails to provide a comprehensive plan for the city. Again, this is similar to what has happened in the Kansas City metro area. I truly believe the expansion of the suburbs has killed the core city. With increased commuter times and the creation of neighborhood splinter malls, etc, people only frequent the city for work and/or entertainment. Michelle Freeman
 * Forms of Governance
 * Weak mayor form of government leaves policy in the hands of technical experts on staff. This protects them from raucous politics, but also left them with little accountability, leading to chaos in the early 90s. It also keeps decision-making out of the hands of the people and depolitizes that which should be at the center of public talk. Without public talk and conflict resolution, resentments on both sides of the conflict festers.
 * Dominant Story Line - Rugged Individualism
 * Political Talk
 * Private property interests trump collective public
 * Laissez-faire logic in the development community - cities are machines for the production of wealth
 * This way of thinking was found to be 'unsustainable' in Ehrenfeld's book and seems to be predominate in everything American - Heather Aaron
 * Contract certainty is valued - government changing the rules inhibits investment
 * Environmental Talk
 * Economic rationalism - individuals in competition with each other, can best serve society and nature by satisfying their own interest
 * Technological Talk
 * Self-creation - God's grand plan allows men flexibility to pursue personal happiness through technology
 * Dominant Counter Story Line - Environmental Preservation
 * Political Talk
 * Strong history of populism in Texas, although this has waned due to intellectually undisciplined demagogery and the Reagan coalition of poor whites and big business
 * Environmental Talk
 * Utilitarianism - the greatest good for the greatest number of people; suppressing individual rights at the expense of collective enjoyment
 * Green romantics recognize global limits of growth, assume relationship between humans and nonhumans be "natural", argue neither humans nor nonhumans should be exploited as objects, advocate living holistically
 * Technological Talk
 * Technophobic initially (anti-nuclear protests), although technology is being embraced more in the digital age
 * Technophobic initially (anti-nuclear protests), although technology is being embraced more in the digital age

CHAPTER 3 THE MIRACLE OF CURITIBA (pg. 73-114)

 Chapter 3 provides an ample amount of background history regarding the city of Curitiba, Brazil and its sustainability efforts that led to success. One man has received primary recognition for the initiative towards sustainability in Curitiba. “The city of Curitiba, Brazil and its charismatic three-term mayor, Jaime Lerner, have achieved international recognition from multiple sources for having charted such an effective route to becoming a sustainable city.” However, Moore presents background history that provided additional information with reference to other powerful figures before him that helped Lerner lead Curitiba to be one of the most sustainable cities.

> nika thanks for pointing out this interesting oxymoron - there are many who believe development and sustainability cannot be synomymous. - sandy Curitiba’s counter-story line- Social democracy I think it is important to understand that Curitiba with all its merits is not without problems and far from a utopia. One-third of its houses in the metropolitan area are without sewage systems, just under 10% of its population still live in slums and about half its children have not completed grade school. It seems more needs to be done to improve the human quality of life. Submitted by R. Kaye Johnston Quality of life is such a abstract term. Our idea of a quality life usually includes unnecessary material objects. it is a quest that is never ending as we will never be satisfied. Nika "When will people learn, democracy just doesn't work!" Homer Simpson -Max Rieper Actually, you've encapsulated the most important message from the book. Not that it doesn't work, but it doesn't necessarily work as efficiently as a more authoritarian regime. The Brundtland Commission report set the normative perspective on the "How To" of sustainability, and prescribed democratic process, because of the idea that all effected stakeholders should have a say in what their ultimate reality looked like. Unfortunately, democracy as a process is not efficient. If sustainability is important to the ultimate well-being of the planet, and timing is of the essence, one might not prescribe democracy for this problem. Theoretically, of course. It's not like we have a choice. - Sandy
 * Development in Curitiba was not easy due to the anti- urbanism in areas of the rural city. It seems to me like that rural life would be more conducive to sustainability than an urban life and development does not usually mean sustainability.
 * Well until the late twentieth century, Brazilians south of the Mason Dixon line, hung on to an agrarian economy.
 * The political revolution was engineered by a group of semi authoritarian nationalists that were led by what they called tenentes or younger military lieutenants in order to overcome the political power of conservative landowners. The mission was under Estado Novo, who is considered a milder version of Getulio Vargas. Vargas was more of a populist with a cult type of personality than an ideological regime.
 * Father Louis Lebret, a French urbanist and two mayors Ney Braga and Ivo Arzua were just as equally important to the planning as Lerner.
 * Braga invented IPPUC, the Urban Planning and Research Institute of Curitiba and was a primary tool of planning implementation.
 * Kubitschek was the mayor in 1940 and was the reason behind the city being known for its modern architecture. Kubitschek also became president of Brazil in 1955 and became the architect of the new capital, Brasilia.
 * 1994, Brazil adopted the //Real// Plan in order to stabilized the nations inflation problem.
 * In the late 1990s about 19% worked in the manufacturing and was later given a boost at the end of the century by the location of major manufacturing operations by Fiat, Pepsi, and Volvo. Due to the substantial decrease in the birth rate, that is how a rapid economic development occurred.
 * Susan Di Guilio saw immigration as the biggest threat to the city’s sustainability. Immigration increased population from 500,000 in the mid 60s to 2.4 million in the late 1990s.
 * Planning in Curitiba had been conducted as a series of small campaigns of limited scope and not as a single integrated or “comprehensive” movement.
 * Five Innovative Strategies:
 * Production of green space-50 sq meters per citizen
 * Creating structural axes-“trinary" system
 * Transit system-high ridership reduced fuel consumption
 * Attracting foreign investment with regulation
 * Incremental projects-small scale quick return campaigns
 * Encouragement of recycle through an exchange of garbage for food or bus tickets. I really liked this idea as a realistic way to curb the amount of waste people produced. Incentives work! -Trisha Van Wig
 * Designers/politicians work toward resource productivity…without waiting to resolve disputes about policy.”
 * Distinction between data, propaganda and storytelling in the sustainability success story of Curitiba:
 * Data-document only a selected portion of the past that can be quantified
 * Propaganda- purposeful distortion of data
 * Storyline- responsible speculation of what might become true in the future founded on history
 * Periods of planning in Curitiba:
 * 1965-1975, when small was beautiful-implementation was faster than ideas
 * 1975-1985, modernization
 * 1985-1995, making and marketing the city’s identity
 * 1995-2005, metropolitan reality-coordinate the city and regional planning efforts
 * Curitiba’s dominant story line-Technocracy, technology and democracy, “technological rule or rule by means of technology”
 * Dominant political talk-suppresses conflict
 * Dominant environmental talk- nature is subordinated to human problem solving and subordinated to an administrative state.
 * Dominant technological talk- technology is good and increase human productivity
 * Counter political talk- conflict creates an opportunity for change
 * Counter environmental talk- “green rationalism”, equity should exist between all people. The food scarcity is linked to ecological integrity.
 * Counter technological talk- ad hoc, technologies contain politics and must be evaluated on a case by case basis. Bright futures depend on the political will of citizens to craft just tools. Technologies emerge from competing interests and values.

Curitiba

CHAPTER 4 THE BANKS OF FRANKFURT

Dominant factors in storyline: political, environmental and technological Dominant storyline: “progressive capitalism: is constituted of public talk that strives toward political tolerance, ecological modernization, and technological progress.” (P118) This fits in nicely with the Brutland report‘s definition of sustainability (the balance of economic, environmental and social equity) although one variable weighs heavier in Frankfurt: economic development. *Frankfurt’s banking history: (directly relates to why there is a heavier emphasis on economic development) *After World War II became the nation’s financial capital *The Jewish community usually got assigned to economic tasks; by the 17th century Jewish bankers had the support of the Emperor which gave them “semi-freedom” (P121) *Frankfurt Jewish community became a very important center to the Jewish culture in the 17th and 18th centuries. *1811 Jews received citizenship, 1864 full political rights in 1925 67% of all Frankfurt’s bankers were Jewish. *“Europe’s postwar banking industry in Frankfurt was not an act of invention but an act of recuperation.” (P122) I.e.: not invented by Germans but a direct outcome of the Jewish community and their success in the banking industry before the war. Commerzebank tower: Progressive capitalism vs. the weaker story line red/green party or the “regime of sustainability” (P127) They reached an agreement they called “a policy of ecological and social responsibility” (P128) *going up rather than out, avoiding the d destruction of older landmarks *avoided suburbanization and made room for renters/ mixed use *city required them to use advanced energy-efficient technologies within the building *it was called “ecological high-rise” and “eco-skyscraper” (P130) What came out of all this the feeling that the public talk that helped shape the Commerzebank tower created a new trend towards energy-efficient buildings in Frankfurt.

Dominant Political talk: Liberal-minimalism or pluralist vs. the weaker political talk: red/green Liberal-minimalism: there are inevitable conflicts that are resolved through bargaining. The bargaining rules and etiquette is based upon tolerance. Red/greens: sought social transformation as opposed to tolerance. Instead of tolerating conflict the re/green party sees it as an opportunity to transform conditions or “transformative politics” (P138)

Environmental talk: Progressive capitalists: managers of natural resources Red/greens: “sought to alter the categories that distinguished between human and non-human well-being.” (P135) “Green romanticism vs. Green rationalism” (realists vs. fundamentalists) Green romantics reject politics and enlightenment values-green rationalists embraces them they are environmentalists and humanists

Ehrenfield touches upon this as well, but it was interesting that Frankfurt capitalists factored in quality of life issues as part of their economic calculus when making business and government decisions. Again, I question how its possible to effectively make qualitative evaluations. - Max Rieper

Technological talk: Progressive Capitalists: embraced new technologies and used them for solutions to the city’s problems. Soft version of “technological determinism” (P141) Red/greens: searched for new technologies that would “enable a particular way of life (P135) or “social determinism” or “technological voluntarism” (P141) determinists see the amount of influence technology may have upon society, the voluntarists see the influence society has on technology."

CHAPTER 5 - STORY VS. SPACE (pg. 153 - 192) > However the shape of cities like L.A. was formed because of the reliance on automobiles, if the city were to shift away from this type of transportation the infrastructure of the city would surely adapt quite a bit. -Becca Scott How we treat each other seems to follow our views on the environment and humankind's impact to it. If we forget that the barista making our latte is a human and continue to have our conversation on the cell phone, we lose a piece of our humanity. This eventually disconnects us from the people and ultimate nature. - Heather Aaron
 * Public talk shapes history and also geography - the physical landscape of the city
 * "individual talk" - led to urban zoning
 * "sports talk " led to privatized open spaces
 * "race talk" - led to segregating the human population
 * Space reveals rather than conceals the social processes behind it
 * No sustainable approaches work uniformily in all cities
 * Example : Iran (winding alleys, interconnected open spaces = high efficiency)
 * Would not work in L.A. or many U.S. cities
 * Implementation is not about sustainable development models themselves
 * Maps are a powerful tool to visualize sustainability and physical relationships
 * GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Analysts show that:
 * Austin, Texas - map reflects attitudes of contrasting citizenry (progressives vs. N.I.M.B.Y)
 * Curitaba, Brazil - map reflects technocratic authority, transportation
 * Frankfurt, Germany - map reflects leapfrog development, agricultural and open spaces integrated into cityscape
 * Public talk and social equity can flourish in spaces where citizens are in constant contact with those unlike themselves
 * Diversity supports sustainable methods

- True and technology plays a big role in the distance in human relationships. The cell phone replaces the need to see the people we communicate with ~Krystle I think this is the strength of the Moore reading. Too many cities have tried the cookie-cutter approach - what works in one city will work here. His emphasis on historical context, public talk, physical relationships, the dynamic between government/business/public and how they all impact whether or not sustainable policies will work or not is vitally important. It would be interesting to go through this exercise for Kansas City. - Max Rieper

- Max, great points! I am eager to see what happens now that Mark Funkhouser has successfully removed Wayne Cauthen as city manager. Cauthen is to blame for a lot of Kansas City's problems that pre-dates his tenure in KC. Matter of fact, Funkhouser was City Auditor far longer. He is a part of the problem as well. Most want Kansas City to be similar to St. Louis. Both cities are apples and oranges to each other. What kills Kansas City, and I've said it numerous times, is the expansion of the suburbs both north and south of the river. Michelle Freeman

CHAPTER 6 - SUSTAINABILITY AND DEMOCRACY (pg. 193 - 222)
 * No consistent pattern that we can associate with sustainable development.
 * "One size does NOT fit all"
 * Urban form is related to how public talk describes the city and the content is related to its history.
 * Publics create spaces and spaces create publics.
 * Strong democratic publics form coalitions and building these coalitions become harder when their members are separated by spatial and linguistic barriers.
 * Successful activists break down barriers by rewording dominant story lines with vocabularies that are historically part of the local public talk.
 * Some volatile public debate spurs from distinctions between "Technical Rationality" and "Cultural Rationality."
 * Technical Rationality: Abstract or symbolic logic associated with the scientific method.
 * Historically privileged and accepted as more objective than social, political, or economic interests that may distort "the Truth."
 * Measures in terms of "Probability."
 * Tend to think group decision making is a waste of valuable time that might be more efficiently spent in getting stuff done.
 * Efficiency is assumed to be a public good while inefficiency - the unconscious waste of resources - is a public bad.
 * Cultural Rationality: Produces a kind of knowledge that assesses risk in a "situated" manner rather than abstract manner.
 * Measures in terms of "Risk" - the evaluation of good and bad outcomes.
 * Argues that setting goals on what is socially desirable, rather than what is scientifically possible, will be more effective because they are understood at the outset as socio-technical in scope. Time is expended in the process, however, the inclusion of multiple perspectives in the design of artifacts and institutions renders them more satisfying.
 * This is true, as much as it makes me grit my teeth. Even though from an environmentalist standpoint we want to abide by what science is telling us, it is wise to look at what is socially desirable and adapt to that because more people will be on board. -Kathryn
 * Technical and Cultural Rationality must be accounting to each other for sustainability to succeed.
 * Scientists and Activists agree that the gap between technological and cultural rationality has increased as our technologies become more complex and opaque.
 * Citizens equate technological rationality with cultural irrationality.
 * Rejects the authority of science in favor of other value systems.
 * Spurs "Not-In-My-Back-Yard" from citizens.
 * The counter-reaction is for scientists, engineers, and politicians to consider citizens as irrational and self-interest (Frankfurt and Curitiba during the 1970's and Austin in the 1980's).



- I love this picture, it depicts the chaos that comes with being out of touch with nature. ~Krystle Very fun! NIMBY cows!!! love it. - Sandy


 * Malthus vs. Marx - Scarce vs. Abundant resources.
 * It is no longer rational to argue that scarcity is a myth fabricated by the rich to justify suppression of the poor, but it is no more rational to argue with neo-Malthusians that coercion is the only way we can halt overconsumption of increasingly scarce resources.
 * Moore's middle-of-the-road argument:
 * Coercion never works.
 * Consuming less can be made attractive by design
 * This will be difficult to achieve as long as our national 'health' is mearsured by how much we spend - Heather Aaron
 * Human nature is developmental and history is contingent.
 * Co-Evolution of Nature and Technology
 * "Of human organisms it is especially true that activities carried on for satisfying needs so change the environment that new needs arise which demand still further change in the activities of organisms by which they are satisfied; and so on in a potentially endless change." John Dewey, 1991.
 * Rapid cycles of action and reflection tend to speed up the co-evolution of society, nature, and technology.

CHAPTER 7 - ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO THE SUSTAINABLE CITY (pg. 223-229) The case studies of Austin, Frankfurt, and Curitiba show that not only do alternative routes to the sustainable city exist but also that no abstract models or lists will guarantee successful urban development. Instead, as a general rule, sustainability will emerge from cities shows to be self-conscious and experienced in creating, merging, and editing evolving storylines. Moore ends by telling us, "It is the responsibility of citizens to tell attractive stories--to catalyze preferred situations by redescribing existing ones."
 * Twelve Abductive Tools
 * "abductive" means to make inferences from a wide base of knowledge. This makes the list different from a list of "best practices" because it opens the way for new conversation relying mostly on local intelligence instead of authoritarian figures.
 * The propositions are provided in efforts to reach the most rational mutation of sustainable development:
 * 1) Regimes of sustainability will tend to show up in culturally diverse spaces where coalitions of environmentalists and social justice advocates redescribe dominant story lines in ways that are attractive to most citizens.
 * 2) Projects are likely to be considered successful by more people when experts depend on citizens to define them.
 * 3) Efficient design will optimize what is technically possible, but effective design will optimize what is socially desirable.
 * 4) Natural resources do have finite limits, but these can be stretched by human mental labor.
 * 5) Because humans, nature, and technologies coevolve, changes in one of these variables can never be studies in isolation.
 * 6) The appearance of new technological codes reflects changed social values and stimulates changed social habits.
 * 7) "Wicked" problems can be solved by employing experimental design thinking, not by sticking with the same scientific assumptions, traditional values, and social habits that created them.
 * 8) Be concerned with the consequences of actions more than their qualities--how brave, simple, or generous they are.
 * 9) It is not particularly helpful for citizens to be concerned with scientific "Truth", but it is very helpful to figure out what it is that we can //do// together to solve common problems. - This is interesting. As technological advances are introduced in society, it seems as if we are more independent and less connected in a way. Sure, we are connected through the internet and social networks, however, everyone is waiting for "someone else" to make a difference in regard to sustainability. I see this as one of the major obstacles towards achieving sustainability. Michelle Freeman
 * 10) Conceptual models and lists of best practices are of some heuristic value but tend to divert attention away from local opportunities for action that derive from local story lines already related to sustainable development.
 * 11) Although irrational mobs and disciplined clients can both contribute to sustainable conditions in the short run, rational deliberation among citizens contributes most in the long run.
 * 12) Methods of implementation are theories of conceptualization in disguise. (pg. 228)

​ I found myself reading this book looking for defined methods to acheive sustainable development in cities. And low and behold the "list" I was looking for was on the last page! Quite frankly that is the point of Moore's book. The theories and story lines unique to each city are what makes them sustainable. There is no one cookie cutter approach to sustainable cities. - Greg McDanel Greg,  Very great comments throughout. I agree with you wholeheartedly. It seems from the book summary that there is no one right way to change the dynamics in a city to a more sustainable path. There are so many variables. But I do think the framework in the book shows several different strategies that worked for each of the cities showcased. Kansas City will certainly take an even more creative approach because we have such as diverse base of folks living in the region. -Submitted by Kaye Johnston

Why would this book be a great read? This book first does a great job of looking at sustainability from different angles. Three different cities with three different problems, provide an outline for planners, activists and others who are looking to sustain where they live. It gives an understanding that creating a sustainable city is not an over night process and each city has to move at its own pace to reach sustainability, in which you can take a little bit from each chapter because we are similar in our differences. Three cities, three governances, three ways to save...one goal, sustainability. These ideas are very interesting and I think the ideas that are brought to the table for each of the cities can be used in other cities with similar problems.