Storyline and Design: How Civic Stewardship Shapes Urban Design in New York City

Abstract

Cities and urban settlements are clearly the immediate future of humankind, and the fi lter through which the vast majority of people will experience nature from now on. Consequently, the future of the world’s cities, in all their amazing variety, is the most pressing issue for scholars who study cities, professionals who design them, and for citizens who advocate for better urban environments. What will the cities of the future be like? How will they meet the needs of all their future residents? How can they soften the impact of human consumption of resources, of technological life support, and the consequences of these two? How can ecological metabolism, which is the ultimate and ongoing origin of material resources and human life support, continue to function and adapt in an increasingly urban world? These