Neighbourhoods for the Future A Plea for a Social and Ecological Urbanism

The current ecological crisis will transform the face and fate of cities. Neighbourhoods for the Future is based on the conviction that we should rethink cities from the ambit of the neighbourhood. It revisits the neighbourhood as the designated scale and arena to build our urban futures. The neighbourhood is small enough to be tangible, yet big enough to make a difference. In order for neighbourhoods to really work, residents need to be engaged and the tactics should be embedded within a wider social policy, if we want thriving cities. By introducing the concepts of neighbourhood arrangements and ecologies, based on examples in Europe and North America, this book provides a new perspective on the relation between participants, resources, and rules, to spark change and prepare urbanites and policymakers for realizing their own sustainable neighbourhoods for the future.

Author(s): Maarten Hajer, Peter Pelzer, Martijn van den Hurk, Chris ten Dam, Edwin Buitelaar