Anne Whiston Spirn

In 1984, I published The Granite Garden: Urban Nature and Human Design (Basic Books), a book that demonstrated how cities could be designed in concert with natural processes rather than in conflict. Since then I have applied this approach to existing cities, specifically to inner-city neighborhoods, seeking integrated solutions to environmental and social problems. Over the past twelve years, I have worked in real neighborhoods with real people to build real projects, have had successes and failures, and learned important lessons.

I am working on a book, Landscape and Community, that summarizes the results of this research-in-action, sets that work within the context of broader issues in urban and environmental policy, and draws lessons for the theory and practice of planning and design.

This project is supported by a fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC for academic year 1995-1996.