Kim Dovey Libri

Featuring 50 contemporary case studies of informal settlements from over 30 cities across the Global South, the 'Atlas of Informal Settlement' maps the processes by which informal settlements and slums grow and develop. Each case study uses maps and aerial photographs to examine the key stages of development, while accompanying texts outline the impact of environmental, social, economic and political factors - ultimately revealing the hidden rules and logics embodied in informal settlements worldwide. As the focus of sustainable urban development shifts towards the upgrade of slums through community collaboration, it has become vital to understand how such places develop. Key insights are provided, enabling designers and planners to better harness the positive capacities of informal production.

Focusing on the urban waterfront's evolution, the book explores the revitalization efforts of the Yarra River, Melbourne Docklands, and Port Philip Bay. It highlights the changes in these areas, detailing the impact of development on the city's landscape and community. Through an examination of key projects and transformations, the narrative illustrates how these waterfront regions have been reimagined and integrated into Melbourne's urban fabric.

This book examines a key set of urban design strategies that have emerged in the twenty-first century. Such projects range from guerrilla gardens and bike lanes to more formalized temporary beaches and swimming pools, parklets, pop- up plazas and buildings, and container towns.

Urban Design Thinking provides a conceptual toolkit for urban design. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, it shows how the design of our cities and urban spaces can be interpreted and informed through contemporary theories of urbanism, architecture and spatial analysis. Relating abstract ideas to real-world examples, and taking assemblage thinking as its critical framework, the book introduces an array of key theoretical principles and demonstrates how theory is central to urban design critique and practice. Thirty short chapters can be read alone or in sequence, each opening a different kind of conceptual window onto how cities work and how they are transformed through design practice. Chapters range from explorations of urban morphology, typology, meaning and place identity to particular issues such as urban design codes, informal settlements, globalization, transit and creative clusters. This book is essential reading for those engaged with the practice of urban design and planning, as well as for anyone interested in the theoretical side of urbanism, architecture, and related disciplines.