As we continue to break global heat records and deplete our water resources, the criticism that cities like Phoenix are unsustainable grows louder. Yet Phoenix and other suburban cities—those that developed around the automobile and the single-family home—continue to increase in population. In The Future of the Suburban City, lawyer and professor Grady Gammage, Jr. takes a fresh look at what it means to be sustainable, arguing that the true measure of sustainability is how a particular place deals with its particular challenges over time. For many suburban cities—Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake, Dallas, San Diego, and others—this means overcoming challenges of heat, drought, and suburban sprawl.
An Arizona native, Gammage uses the story of Phoenix to illustrate how suburban cities are using innovation to tackle these challenges. Passionately argued and backed by research, The Future of the Suburban City is a realistic yet hopeful story of what is possible for any suburban city. Check out Chapter 1 from the book below.
View the PDF here.
