In America today we see rampant development, unsustainable resource                  exploitation, and commodification ruin both natural and built landscapes,                  disconnecting us from our surroundings and threatening our fundamental sense of                  place. Meanwhile, preservationists often respond with a counterproductive stance                  that rejects virtually any change in the landscape. In The Working Landscape, Peter                  Cannavò identifies this zero-sum conflict between development and preservation as a                  major factor behind our contemporary crisis of place. Cannavò offers practical and                  theoretical alternatives to this deadlocked, polarized politics of place by                  proposing an approach that embraces both change and stability and unifies democratic                  and ecological values, creating a "working landscape."Place, Cannavò argues, is not                  just an object but an essential human practice that involves the physical and                  conceptual organization of our surroundings into a coherent, enduring landscape.                  This practice must balance development (which he calls "founding") and preservation.                  Three case studies illustrate the polarizing development-preservation conflict: the                  debate over the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest; the problem                  of urban sprawl; and the redevelopment of the former site of the World Trade Center                  in New York City. Cannavò suggests that regional, democratic governance is the best                  framework for integrating development and preservation, and he presents specific                  policy recommendations that aim to create a "working landscape" in rural, suburban,                  and urban areas. A postscript on the mass exile, displacement, and homelessness                  caused by Hurricane Katrina considers the implications of future climate change for                  the practice of place.

The Working Landscape: Founding, Preservation, and the Politics of Place (Urban and Industrial Environments) PDF

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