Infrastructure Planning and Finance is a non-technical guide to the engineering; planning; and financing of major infrastucture projects in the United States; providing both step-by-step guidance; and a broad overview of the technical; political; and economic challenges of creating lasting infrastructure in the 21st Century.Infrastructure Planning and Finance is designed for the local practitioner or student who wants to learn the basics of how to develop an infrastructure plan; a program; or an individual infrastructure project. A team of authors with experience in public works; planning; and city government explain the history and economic environment of infrastructure and capital planning; addressing common tools like the comprehensive plan; sustainability plans; and local regulations. The book guides readers through the preparation and development of comprehensive plans and infrastructure projects; and through major funding mechanisms; from bonds; user fees; and impact fees to privatization and competition. The rest of the book describes the individual infrastructure systems: their elements; current issues and a how-to-do-it section that covers the system and the comprehensive plan; development regulations and how it can be financed. Innovations such as decentralization; green and blue-green technologies are described as well as local policy actions to achieve a more sustainable city are also addressed. Chapters include water; wastewater; solid waste; streets; transportation; airports; ports; community facilities; parks; schools; energy and telecommunications. Attention is given to how local policies can ensure a sustainable and climate friendly infrastructure system; and how planning for them can be integrated across disciplines.
#4561312 in eBooks 2013-11-05 2013-11-05File Name: B00GHJLB38
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy LuisinaExcellent!1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. UniqueBy Filipe CostaGreat book! An fundamental book to understand design aplication beyond products.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. A Social Innovation for Design for Social InnovationBy ChowFirst thing first: If there were a ldquo;Book of the Yearrdquo; award in design; I would vote for this one.lsquo;Design. When Everybody Designsrsquo; is an insightful contemporary account on designing social-technical conditions for initiating and supporting collaborative social changes. However; the work is more a (design) proposal and a call for action than an academic examination on the topic. A more precise sub-title might have been: An Introduction to Manzinirsquo;s Vision; Stories and Guidelines of Design for Social Innovation. The delimitation would not only be helpful to orient readersrsquo; expectation and but also acknowledge the fruits of Manzinirsquo;s decades of labour; and his intention of writing the book. Manzini aims to offer a specific design point of view written in its own language. ldquo;(I)t is a contribution to a specific design culture parallel and complementary to othersrdquo; (p.5). Once it is clear about what the book is and about; it is easier to understand its slight evangelist tone of voice and the omission of other positions that an ldquo;Introductionrdquo; normally includes. I will come back to this point later; but first the juice.Manzini masterfully assembles and interprets; in short creatively synthesizes; numerous third-party and own projects; concepts and theories from different disciplines to construct his arguments and positions. The key points are: we (particularly in the post-industrialized world) cannot and must not go on living as we did: individualistic; passive and excessive in consumption. Everyone; as lsquo;diffuse designerrsquo;; ought to participate collaboratively in redefining and creating social; economical and environmental well-being sensible to her own contexts. Expert designers should remake themselves and play the new role of activist; initiator; facilitator or supporter in co-designing for social innovation. There are promising design cases; principles; methods; and tools to be employed and improved; as shown and discussed in the book. Expert and diffuse designers should ldquo;make things happenrdquo;: experiment; replicate and connect. Together slowly but hopefully a new sustainable and meaningful civilization will be created to replace the current dysfunctional one.On the one hand; I am totally inspired and feel that I can follow this book and start experimenting. On the other hand; I am curious about how Manzini draws the lines when he says:ldquo;The book crosses various specialist ambits that mingle together in design practice; seeking to elaborate its own point of view and its own language: in short; its own culture. So; although it touches on different disciplinary fields; it is not an interdisciplinary book; it is a contribution to a specific design culture; parallel and complementary to others. This is a culture to whose growth all other social actors may contribute; but it is the design experts who should be its major producers.rdquo; (p.5)What specific design culture does he refer? Surely it is not Politecnico Milano since Manzini is interested in contributing to an international debate. Does his design culture includes Tony Fry in Australia; Cameron Tonkinwise in the USA; or Wolfgang Jonas in Germany; or to step a bit further and backward to ldquo;Designing Social Systems in a Changing Worldrdquo; by Bela Banathy who has also advanced the idea of creative participation of ordinary citizens for social change.Was Banathy a design expert writing from a design point of view in a design language? Well; I think; Harold Nelson; for example; would think so. And so would Klaus Krippendorff whose idea of design as sense making (The Semantic Turn) has been taken by Roberto Verganti and to whom Manzini refer.Despite its brilliance; this book; like many other design books; is a stand-alone disconnected from other relevant design discourses. Now; to be fair; the other living design thinkers do not necessarily seek connections to Manzini. The academic design culture is rather individualistic. Perhaps in design; a social innovation in which everybody not only designs; but also reads; examines; corrects and builds on others is needed.Best Regards;Rosan Chow; Germany