Consumed in a concrete and tarmac passion

The literature on sustainable development is now considerable and yet we are not much clearer about the steps that have to be taken in practice in order to achieve this elusive goal. This book is to be welcomed, both for extending the sustainable development literature into the relatively unexplored area of urban development, and for providing a wealth of empirical detail and examples of good practice.

Two key arguments run through the book. The first is a strong normative view of how the built environment of developed countries may be made more sustainable. Using the concept of "environmental space", the authors argue that developed countries need to reduce both levels of consumption and the materials intensity of urban areas. A wide-ranging review suggests how this may be achieved in terms of different energy systems, a radically altered construction process and a planning system geared towards reducing our dependence on the car. There is much of interest in these early chapters, although the relentlessly polemical tone leads to some overstatement and some rather implausible policy prescriptions. It also results in very little questioning of the literature presented.

The second key argument derives from the authors' view that "the built environment is an expression in brick and mortar, in tarmac and concrete, of the society that has created it". Hence the root cause for unsustainable urban development lies in the capitalist drive towards economic growth and processes of centralisation and globalisation. Building a more sustainable built environment involves a challenge to these processes.

The second half of the book explores how sustainable development necessarily implies a healthier and more equitable built environment based on a revitalisation of community and local economies. While these are familiar arguments within the environmental literature, the vision presented here borders on the utopian: "Our towns, cities and villages should be communities of social interaction, human fulfilment and ambition which are as conscious of the next generation's needs as their own."

Some readers may find discussion of how to move towards this utopia rather lacking. For example, the critique of conventional economic dynamics is stringent. But how can one move from contemporary patterns of European integration (let alone globalisation) towards a situation in which regional, national or even international trade, would not be the norm? The authors are quite persuasive in their case for greater local responsibility for energy production and waste assimilation, so that communities are more likely to realise the impact of their own expansion. But how realistic is it to call for "the removal and dilution of spatial competition from its decision-making pedestal"? Similarly the call for a more communitarian approach to social organisation seems both overly didactic and not based in much contemporary evidence of social practice.

It is in the assessment of contemporary policy practice and the analysis of potential policy change that the book is weakest. After all, if society gets the built environment it deserves, must we wait for wholesale societal change before any movement towards sustainability? The authors recommend "steering" rather than radical change but this sits uneasily with both their normative prescriptions and their analysis of root causes.

Nevertheless, for its wide-ranging and comprehensive approach to the topic and, indeed, for its very normative approach, the book will find a place on many planning, urban studies, surveying, housing and environmental reading lists.

Yvonne Rydin is reader in environmental planning, London School of Economics.