The Future of the City

Here is a treasure-trove for planners and architects seeking to grasp the impact of tall buildings--past, present, and future. Tall buildings are considered in the context of environmental impact, new technologies, and consciousness of the human experience in cities. This presentation will also interest general readers who experience cities as residents or visitors and who look at both new and older construction with wonder, awe, and a thousand questions about how such buildings came to be, how they function, and what they say about the future. K. Al-Kodmany (U. of Illinois at Chicago) and M.M. Ali (U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) cover the logic of vertical density, economics and city infrastructure, the skyline and visual integration, strategies for regulation, sustainability and environmental considerations, and individual skyscraper cities of the world, among other topics. The writing is clear, information-packed, and well-organized. Abundant full-page and smaller photos and other graphics support the text, presented in a slightly oversize volume measuring 8.5x12". The US office of WIT Press is Computational Mechanics. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)