A wide variety of excellent books exist and are continually being published about a wide range of aspects and viewpoints relating to urban environments. A small sample of books is provided below (the author of this website has no affiliation with any authors mentioned).
You can access a general information page about urban information sources on Suredis Cities, a website that is linked to the Urban 2.0 initiative.
A magnum opus, a veritable bouillabaisse of a book. Long, slow but for all that, a good and interesting read.
By Jane Jacobs
One of the most stimulating books on cities ever written. A critique of city planning and rebuilding, it introduced new principles.
An argument that operational urban planning can be improved by the application of the tools of urban economics.
By Charles River Editors
Although Uruk was not the only city that the Sumerians built during the Uruk period, it was by far the greatest.
By Ben Wilson
Metropolis is the story of our extraordinary cities over time and of the vital role they have played in making us who we are.
By Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin
Why the city is where the battles of inequality, social division, pandemics and climate change must be faced.
Understanding the modern city and the powerful forces within it is the life’s work of Harvard urban economist Edward Glaeser.
The assumption that if something is unhealthy or bad about urban life, then nature holds the cure. But is this always the case...?
By Garry J. Smith
Examines government and public approaches to sustainable development in Australia and the current inability to address problems.
A guide to the complexity of contemporary global urbanism, this book traces four distinct pathways that characterise cities today...
Happy City is the story of how the solutions to this century's problems lie in unlocking the secrets to great city living.
Whilst this book is not specific to cities and towns, it holds valuable lessons for them on what value really us and how to measure it.
By Joel Kotkin
This book questions common practices, suggesting they do not consider the needs and desires of the majority of people.
By Linda Gibbs, Jay Bainbridge, Muzzy Rosenblatt, Tamiru Mammo
Creative solutions for global cities addressing their urgent homeless crises.
By David Rudlin, Vicky Payne, Lucy Montague
To understand the high street crisis and how it might be addressed, this book looks at retailing with one hundred case studies.
By David Sim
A visual and clear guide to building better density to create happier, more livable cities around the world.
By Claire Bradbury
Dwellbeing is about what we need from our city homes: wilderness, nourishment, movement, connection, dwelling, imagination and love.
If we only take the time to look we can see how nature is adapting to our human-engineered urban environments.
By Henry Grabar
This book surveys the US parking crisis and how a compulsion for car storage has exacerbated some acute problems.
By Susan Handy
This book offers ideas and strategies that can improve the health of our car-centric transportation system.
This book is about how clearer thinking about public transit can enrich our communities and our lives.
Tokyo is one of the most vibrant and livable cities on the planet, which manages to stay intimate and adaptive...
City of Djinns seeks out the essence of this ancient and ever-changing metropolis in a travelogue like no other.
This book takes us through the intricate fabric and history of a 2,000-year-old city first established by the Romans.
Selected papers by Bill Hillier
A compilation of Professor Bill Hillier's work that reflects his influential ideas through the decades...
This book calls on city leaders, planners, designers and citizens to lead the charge in transforming their cities...
By Jon Alexander & Ariane Conrad
Citizens shows us what we must do to survive and thrive as individuals, organisations, and nations...
By Terry Gibson
This book describes who the disaster makers are, what they do, and how we can do things better...
Edited By Michael Lindell
A review of urban resilience, considering the interaction of social, environmental, and physical systems with disasters...
A visual exploration of human civilisation through 70 captivating historical maps of cities around the world...
Please get in touch if you have any suggestions of books to add to this library.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about Urban 2.0 or if you would like any information.