Laws of the Landscape: How Policies Shape Cities in Europe and America

The author does contain some flaws in his logic and reasoning that sometimes stick out too much, but as for a good book on an overview of America's "suburbia" situation, I would suggest this item because it is a quick and thorough read that provides the reader with a good synopsis of many of the issues American suburban city planning deals with.Some of the possible alternatives for better city management hit me as a tad bit too idealistic and I felt Nivola's novel was written more from a European point-of-view as opposed to an American realist. Case in point is just convincing the American public which has grown up since birth to seek the goal of a nice suburban house and car to suddenly switch to the inner-city. But as I mentioned earlier, agree or disagree, it's an interesting book that provides an excellent overview of suburban/urban policies considering it is a fast and short read. The section on government subsidization policies that have contributed to urban sprawl is a definite read.