What Makes a Great City Press Kit

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By Alexander Garvin (September 8, 2016) Washington, DC – In his latest book, esteemed architect and city planner Alexander Garvin explores the question What Makes a Great City (Publication Date: September 8, 2016). As Garvin visited great cities to answer this question, he found that a city’s greatness has little to do with beauty or function, but rather depends on its relationship with the people who inhabit it. It is about what citizens can do to make a city great.

Looking at several North American and European cities, from New York to Seattle and Paris to Madrid, Garvin examines how these cities have adapted and transformed over time. He analyzes the history, demographics, politics, economy, topography, history, architecture, and planning of great cities, but the heart of the book lies with the public realm and its influence on the actions of the people.

In What Makes a Great City, he identifies six characteristics of the public realm that make a great city, and devotes a chapter to each. A great city has a public realm that: 1.

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is open to anybody, offers something for everybody, attracts and retains market demand, provides a framework for successful urbanization, sustains a habitable environment, and nurtures and supports a civil society.

From New York’s famous Central Park to the simple sidewalks, plazas, and streets in small neighborhoods and cities, Garvin argues that a great city’s identity is heavily connected to its public spaces. He explores places like Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain, which accommodates people of different goals, backgrounds, and reasons for being there by providing space for people to socialize, ISLAND PRESS | PRESS RELEASE | 1

sit on a bench, or relax at a café. On the other side of the Atlantic, Minneapolis has continually altered its public realm to meet the changing demands of citizens. During the twentieth century, the city’s main street was reconfigured twice for automobiles and twice for pedestrians, adapting to serve the realm’s changing needs. By exploring these and many other places, Garvin takes readers around the world to show how the six characteristics of a public realm work together to make a great city.

In What Makes a Great City “Garvin reveals the animating life force within cities from Barcelona to Brooklyn with the sharp eye of an architect, an anthropologist, and an economist, and with the ardent ability to distinguish great public places from mere space,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, Bloomberg Associates, former New York City Transportation Commissioner.

What Makes a Great City stands out from other books on city planning and design because of his first-hand experience in the cities he writes about. Garvin has practiced architecture and city planning for over half a century, and has visited or worked in all of the cities in the book. He focuses on the mechanics of change and how the residents in cities have taken steps to improve the public realm. The result is an inspiring look at how any city can become a great city.

Alexander Garvin is a professor of urban planning and development at Yale University and current President and CEO of AGA Public Realm Strategists, Inc., located in New York City. Over the last 46 years, he has held prominent positions in five New York City administrations, including Deputy Commissioner of Housing and City Planning Commissioner. He is the author of numerous books including The American City: What Works and What Doesn’t, now in its third edition.

What Makes a Great City Hardcover Publication Date: September 8, 2016 344 pages | Hardcover Price: $80.00/ $40.00 (Paperback)/ $39.99 (E-Book) ISBN: 978-1-61091-757-5/ 978-1-61091-758-2/ 978-1-61091-759-9 https://islandpress.org/book/what-makes-a-great-city Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 800 titles in print and some 40 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org. ###

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT EMAIL CONTACT EMAIL WEBSITE

Jaime Jennings, 202-232-7933 x44 jjennings@islandpress.org Katharine Sucher, 202-232-7933 x43 ksucher@islandpress.org www.islandpress.org

BIOGRAPHY Alexander Garvin Alexander Garvin has combined a career in urban planning and real estate with teaching, architecture, and public service. He is currently President and CEO of AGA Public Realm Strategists, Inc., a planning and design firm in New York City that is responsible for initial master plans for the Atlanta BeltLine; Tessera (a 700-acre new community outside Austin); and Hinton Park in Collierville, Tennessee. Between 1996 and 2005 he was managing director for planning at NYC2012, the committee established to bring the Summer Olympics to New York in 2012. During 2002-2003, as Vice President for Planning, Design and Development, he was responsible for planning the rebuilding of the World Trade Center for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Over the last 46 years he has held prominent positions in five New York City administrations, including Deputy Commissioner of Housing and City Planning Commissioner.

Garvin has won numerous awards, including the Municipal Art Society‘s New York City Masterwork Award for Best Planning and Urban Design, the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter Merit Award, and the American Planning Association New York City Chapter, Distinguished Service Award.

In addition to his professional work, for the past 50 years Garvin has taught at Yale University, his alma mater, where, as Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning and Management, he has taught a wide range of courses in architecture, city planning, and real estate development. Garvin has also taught workshops on basic real estate development for the Urban Land Institute.

Garvin is the author of The American City: What Works and What Doesn’t, now in its third edition, and What Makes a Great City, published by Island Press.

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