Renewing Urban Communities

Niamh Moore is Lecturer in the Department of Geography at University College Dublin and is also Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Ireland. Mark Scott is Lecturer in the Department of Planning and Environment Policy at University College Dublin and is Research Associate at the Urban Institute in Ireland.

• Contents: Introduction: The geographical and policy context, Niamh Moore and Mark Scott. Sustainable Urban Environments: Re-greening brownfields: land recycling and urban sustainability, Niamh Moore; Higher density or open space: the future role of green space, Craig Bullock; Suburbanising Dublin: out of an overcrowded frying pan into a fire of unsustainability, Andrew MacLaran; Urban form and reducing the demand for car travel: towards an integrated policy agenda for the Belfast metropolitan area?, Malachy McEldowney, Tim Ryley, Mark Scott and Austin Smyth; Improving energy efficiency in urban areas, J. Peter Clinch; From barricades to back gardens: cross-border urban expansion from the city of Derry into Co. Donegal, Chris Paris; Urban-generated rural housing and evidence of counterurbanisation in the Dublin city-region, Menelaos Gkartzios and Mark Scott. Sustainable communities: 'we're too busy for that kind of stuff': progress towards local sustainable development in Ireland, Geraint Ellis, Brian Motherway and William J. V. Neill; Social and ethnic segregation and the urban agenda, Brendan Murtagh; The state and civil society in urban regeneration: negotiating sustainable participation in Belfast and Dublin, Jenny Muir; Active citizenship: resident associations, social capital and collective action, Paula Russell, Mark Scott and Declan Redmond; Housing policy, homeownership and the provision of affordable housing, Declan Redmond and Gillian Kernan; Conclusion: towards a sustainable future for Irish towns and cities, Niamh Moore and Mark Scott; Index.

’...an excellent overview of the multi-faceted challenge of sustainable development...The book affords a welcome orientation to recent developments in Ireland North and South; it is empirically informative and conceptually evocative, likely to become a valuable resource for both science and policy in the coming years.’ Anne Buttimer, Former President, International Geographical Union ’This timely, well-researched and thought-provoking collection places our sustainable living and future at the heart of social science debates concerning the future of urban areas. The contributions recognize the inter-related problems associated with sustainable living and seek to debate solutions and policy developments that extend beyond any one particular discipline. The political, social, economic and environmental tasks now before us are laid bare and challenge us to understand the complexity of sustainable development.’ Mark Tewdwr-Jones, University College London, UK ’This book is a very useful contribution to the literature of urban sustainability...it provides an up-to-date and readable study of Irish experiences of urban sustainability.’ Geography ’I would recommend this book to any student of urban and planning policy who needs a good grounding in different facets of housing, transport, urban change and sustainable development in Ireland.’ European Journal of Housing Policy '... an excellent examination of one of the most interesting case-studies in Europe in the current effort to integrate regional spatial and planning policies.' Australian Planner, December 2007