Building for people

"In Building for People, architect and planner Michael Eliason makes the case for low-carbon ecodistricts and presents tools for developing these residential and mixed-use neighborhoods. He draws lessons from Europe but shows how this type of affordable, climate-adaptive living option is possible anywhere. Eliason helps cities to maximize public investment in transit and infrastructure through well-planned ecodistricts. Full-color photos and illustrations show what is possible in ecodistricts through existing examples around the world. Looking at small districts like Steingau in Kirchheim unter Teck, to massive urban redevelopment like Vienna's Sonnwendviertel and Seestadt-Aspern as models, Eliason argues that building regulations and planning processes in the US must change to make these livable neighborhoods possible. Most of the positive examples in the book are from Germany, with some in Austria (Vienna) and Sweden (mostly Stockholm). There are mentions of projects within the US, but they are not extensive. Most of the US mentions are in the Seattle area where the author lives (including regulatory changes that he has advocated for). He mentions, for example, Capital City Co-housing in Seattle, Eastern Village co-housing in Silver Spring, MD, Via Verde in the Bronx, Onion Flats in Philly, and Dan Parolek's project in Arizona"--