Small and mid-sized suburban towns house two-thirds of the world’s population and current modes of planning for these municipalities are facing challenges of both philosophy and form. Common approaches that have prevailed in past decades no longer sustain new demands and require innovative thinking. Rather than dismissing small and mid-sized towns as unattractive suburban sprawl, Planning Small and Mid-Sized Towns offers ideas and methods on how small isolated and edge towns can be designed and retooled into sustainable, affordable and adaptable communities. Coverage includes: the evolution of small towns mobility and connectivity neighborhood and sustainable dwelling design town centers and urban renewal economic sustainability and wealth generation, and more. With numerous case studies from North America and Europe and over 150 color photographs, maps, and illustrations, Planning Small and Mid-Sized Towns is a valuable, practical resource for professional planners and urban designers, as well as students in these disciplines.

This easy-to-use guide shows citizens, students, and government officials how to approach planning in a small town. Rather than restating the principles of urban planning, the authors offer insightful, practical advice specifically aimed at towns with limited resources and fewer than 10,000 residents. The second edition covers the planning process from the assessment of community needs to the creation of zoning ordinances and capital improvement programs. It features expanded sections on plan implementation and economic development and includes a glossary of planning terms, an updated bibliography, and many more tables and graphs than the first edition.

The book introduces challenges affecting smaller urban communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants and offers urban planning and building/architectural strategies to strengthen their city centers. It divides urban renewal of small towns into sub-components such as environmental challenges, demographic trends, economic changes and cultural aspects, and aging infrastructure. In each, context is established, and principles are outlined and illustrated. Topics include urban form, mobility and connectivity, infill neighborhoods design, wealth generation, and promotion of local culture and well‐being. Reinforced with detailed case studies, Fundamentals of Sustainable Urban Renewal in Small and Mid‐Sized Towns is an ideal resource for municipal planners, architects, civil engineers, and policy makers.

The book introduces challenges affecting smaller urban communities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants and offers urban planning and building/architectural strategies to strengthen their city centers. It divides urban renewal of small towns into sub-components such as environmental challenges, demographic trends, economic changes and cultural aspects, and aging infrastructure. In each, context is established, and principles are outlined and illustrated. Topics include urban form, mobility and connectivity, infill neighborhoods design, wealth generation, and promotion of local culture and well-being. Reinforced with detailed case studies, Fundamentals of Sustainable Urban Renewal in Small and Mid-Sized Towns is an ideal resource for municipal planners, architects, civil engineers, and policy makers. Raises important questions on planning, urban design, and sustainability not previously covered by books devoted solely to large metropolitan regions; Presents a unique, systematic approach to the architecture, planning, and retooling of small towns that emphasizes the capacity for urban design to promote social regeneration and vitality; Suggests innovative strategies that tie theory and practice and offer a comprehensive primer to contemporary planning issues; Discusses a range of long-term strategies, anchored in principles of sustainable development, describing how to place a town on sustainable footing.

"For so long we were floundering and taking ad hoc measures, but the minute I understood what a downtown plan really was I said 'We need one of those!' As it turned out, it was the most fantastic vehicle I've ever seen," said Susan Moffat-Thomas of New Bern, North Carolina. Her hometown got a much-needed shot in the arm from a good downtown plan. Does yours need a similar boost? The Author, an experienced downtown-planning consultant, offers practical tips for preserving a sense of place, improving fiscal efficiency, and enhancing quality of life in Downtown Planning for Smaller and Midsized Communities. Planners and revitalization officials will learn how to address physical components of the downtown, as well as economic development. The Author, an experienced downtown-planning consultant, also explains how to develop an organization to implement a downtown plan; how federal, state, and local policies may influence the planning process; and how to fund a downtown revitalization effort.

A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

This book project highlights creative approaches to planning and local development. The dynamic complexity, diversity and fluidity which characterize contemporary society represent challenges for planning and development endeavours. While research and policy work has extensively focused on large cities and on metropolitan regions, there has been relatively little work on ‘smaller places’. This book shows that if these new challenges affect all places and regions, small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs) are suffering many specific problems that call imperatively for the design and implementation of very imaginative, creative approaches to planning and local development. What could enhance creativity in local development and planning? Is it possible to talk about creative capacity building at the level of a town that might release imaginative and innovative activities? Under what local and non-local conditions is creativity being initiated and flourishing? What are the major obstacles and in what way can these be contained in order to safeguard pockets of creative action? Interdisciplinary and with case studies from France, Norway and other European countries, this volume presents a wide range of approaches and territorial contexts of small cities and towns in which spatial dynamics and the consequences of the city-region for urban planning theory and practice in Europe are highlighted, with a special focus on the challenges for - and understanding of - planning and development of SMSTs. It provides a significant body of critical, comparative and contextual perspectives on the quest for urban sustainability and resilience in SMSTs, therefore emphasizing collaborative and potentially innovative approaches that can be detected, but also the shortcomings, pitfalls and 'traps' that can lie behind the approaches aimed at concerting ecological, economic, and socio-cultural concerns, and the discourses promoting them.