Research Catalog

Title

Concrete jungle : New York City and our last best hope for a sustainable future / Niles Eldredge and Sidney Horenstein.

Author

Eldredge, Niles

Publication

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2014]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Horenstein, Sidney S.

Description

ix, 276 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm

Summary

"Cities need healthy chunks of the world's ecosystems to persist if they are to survive; yet cities, like parasites, grow and prosper by local destruction of these very ecosystems. In this absorbing and wide-ranging book, the authors use New York City as a microcosm to explore both the positive and negative sides of the relationship between cities, the environment, and the future of global biodiversity. They illuminate the mass of contradictions that cities present by offering the best and the worst of human existence. Eldredge and Horenstein demonstrate that, though cities have voracious appetites for resources such as food and water, they also represent the last hope for conserving healthy remnants of the world's ecosystems and species. With their concentration of human beings, they bring together centers of learning, research, government, finance, and media--institutions that increasingly play active roles in solving environmental problems. Some of the topics covered in Concrete Jungle: --The geological history of the New York region, including remnant glacial features visible today --The early days of urbanization on Manhattan Island, focusing on the history of Central Park, Collect Pond, and Manhattan Square --The history of early railway lines and the development of New York's iconic subway system --The problem of producing enough safe drinking water for an ever-expanding population --Prominent civic institutions, including universities, museums, and zoos"--Provided by publisher.

Subjects

• Urban ecology (Sociology)
• Urban geography
• Biodiversity
• Environmental degradation
• New York (State) > New York
• Urban ecology (Sociology) > New York (State) > New York
• Urban geography > New York (State) > New York
• Biodiversity > New York (State) > New York
• Environmental degradation > New York (State) > New York

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Regarding broadway : the urban saga and the New York microcosm -- Forest primeval -- Building stones -- Landscape transformed -- Around the American Museum of Natural History -- East River shoreline -- Growth of the concrete jungle -- Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street -- Queensboro Bridge and East River -- Fouling, and cleaning, the nest -- The high bridge -- Invasion and survival -- John Torrey -- Fort Tryon Park -- The Battery -- The Sea Wall -- Resilience, restoration, and redemption -- Canyonlands and the future -- Cities, globalization, and the future of biodiversity.

Call Number

JFE 16-8342

ISBN

• 9780520270152 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0520270150 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 9780520958302 (ebook) (canceled/invalid)
• 0520958306 (ebook) (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

• 2014014646
• 40024092920

OCLC

877369534

Author

Eldredge, Niles, author.

Title

Concrete jungle : New York City and our last best hope for a sustainable future / Niles Eldredge and Sidney Horenstein.

Publisher

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2014]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Added Author

Horenstein, Sidney S., author.

Other Standard Identifier

40024092920

Research Call Number

JFE 16-8342