Kellert, Stephen R. Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2005.

This new work illustrates how architects and designers can use simple methods to address our innate needs for contact with nature. Through the use of natural lighting, ventilation, and materials, as well as more unexpected methodologies — the use of metaphor, perspective, enticement, and symbol — architects can greatly enhance our daily lives. These design techniques foster intellectual development, relaxation, and physical and emotional well-being. Review in March 2006 Planning magazine.

Nelson, Robert H. Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2005.

From 1980 to 2000, half the new housing in the United States was built in a development project governed by a neighborhood association. More than 50 million Americans now live in these developments. Robert Nelson reviews the history of neighborhood associations, explains the reasons for their recent explosive growth, and examines the political and economic consequences of this change in local governance. "Planners Library" review, February 2006.

Williams, Rhonda Y. The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women’s Struggles against Urban Inequality. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2004.

In this collective biography, Rhonda Y. Williams takes us behind, and beyond, politically expedient labels to provide an incisive and intimate portrait of poor black women in urban America. Drawing on dozens of interviews, Williams challenges the notion that low-income housing was a resounding failure that doomed three consecutive generations of post-war Americans to entrenched poverty. Instead, she recovers a history of grassroots activism, of political awakening, and of class mobility, all facilitated by the creation of affordable public housing. Review in July 2005 Planning magazine.

Litman, Todd. Parking Management Best Practices. Chicago: American Planning Association, 2006.
The parking management strategies described in this book will help planners increase parking facility efficiency and reduce parking demand. Parking management offers an alternative to traditional "predict and provide" parking planning, which has contributed to widespread auto dependency and urban sprawl. Instead of providing plentiful free parking, parking management provides optimal parking supply and pricing. Its benefits include support for transit-oriented development; reduced stormwater management costs, water pollution, and heat island effects; improved travel options for non-drivers; lower housing costs; and more livable communities.

Low, Setha, Dana Taplin, and Suzanne Scheld. Rethinking Urban Parks: Public Space and Cultural Diversity. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005.

This book argues that cultural diversity should be a key goal in designing and maintaining urban parks. Using case studies of New York City's Prospect Park, Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park, and Jacob Riis Park in the Gateway National Recreation Area, as well as New York's Ellis Island Bridge Proposal and Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, the authors identify specific ways to promote, maintain, and manage cultural diversity in urban parks. They also uncover the factors that can limit park use, including historical interpretive materials that ignore the contributions of different ethnic groups, high entrance or access fees, park usage rules that restrict ethnic activities, and park "restorations" that focus only on historical or aesthetic values.

Solomon, Susan G. American Playgrounds: Revitalizing Community Space. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2005.

Since the 1970s, American playgrounds have degenerated into irrelevance as cultural artifacts and educational tools. Solomon's text is a frank indictment of American attitudes that are stunted by a heavy-handed emphasis on safety that limits the nature of play and the vitality of places for public assembly. The author proposes fresh and urgent remedies that blend excellent design principles, innovative planning, and affordability — a vision for the future of the playground in America.

Dowling, Timothy J., Douglas T. Kendall, and Jennifer Bradley. The Good News about Takings: The Citizens Planning Series. Chicago: American Planning Association, 2006.

This guidebook explains what commissioners and other officials need to know about the new takings standards in easy-to-understand language. It’s a handy reference with information about how recent developments affect specific planning techniques that often give rise to regulatory takings challenges. A must-read for any official who wants to stay out of court.

Hommels, Anique. Unbuilding Cities: Obduracy in Urban Sociotechnical Change. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2005.

Despite the fact that cities are considered to be dynamic and flexible spaces — never finished but always under construction — it is very difficult to change existing urban structures; they become fixed, obdurate, securely anchored in their own histories as well as in the histories of their surroundings. Unbuilding Cities looks at the tension between the malleability of urban space and its obduracy, focusing on sites and structures that have been subjected to "unbuilding" — redesign or reconfiguration. It brings the concepts of science and technology studies (STS) to bear on the study of cities.

Lucy, William H., and David L. Phillips. Tomorrow’s Cities, Tomorrow’s Suburbs. Chicago: Planners Press, 2006.

Planning scholars William H. Lucy and David L. Phillips document signs of resurgence in cities and interpret omens of decline in many suburbs. They offer an extensive analysis of the 2000 census, with insights into the influence of income disparities, housing age and size, racial segregation, immigration, and poverty. They also examine popular perceptions — and misperceptions — about safety and danger in cities, suburbs, and exurbs that affect settlement patterns.

Lang, Jon. Urban Design: A Typology of Procedures and Products. Oxford, UK: Architectural Press, 2005.

Provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to urban design, presenting a 3-dimensional model with which to categorize the processes and products involved. It not only defines the subject, but also considers the future direction of the field and what can be learned from the past. Fifty international case studies demonstrate the variety of urban design efforts that have occurred in recent history. Review in March 2006 Planning magazine.