Planning for the Caring City

As the world has become increasingly urbanised and planetary well-being ever more threatened, questions have emerged over just what the priorities should be for how we live in cities. Clearly for many the current ways of planning and managing city environments are not working, given so many of their human and non-human inhabitants struggle on a daily basis to maintain their well-being and survival. Different approaches to city development are crucial if they are to be inclusive places where all can thrive. Ensuring that cities are safe and sustainable and provide a level of care for all their residents places a significant mandate on those who manage cities and on planners in particular. This book examines all the parts of the city where care needs to be incorporated, how we plan, create nurturing environments, include all who live there, build sensitively, support meaningful livelihoods, and enable compassionate governance. With planners in mind this book examines why care is needed in the urban environment, and drawing on real world examples examines how it can be applied in an effective and empowering fashion.

Claire Freeman is a Professor in Planning in the School of Architecture at Victoria University Wellington - Te Herenga Waka, New Zealand, specialising in environmental planning. Her research interests are in the relationships between people and the environments in which they live.

Etienne Nel is a Professor and Head of the School of Geography at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. His primary research interests are in the areas of urban, economic, and regional development and he has undertaken research into these themes in Southern Africa and Australasia.