Description: "[Shrink the City] surveys ways in which cities around the globe have created compact neighborhoods where residents' daily needs are quickly accessible on foot or by bicycle--a concept known as the 15-minute city. . . . deeply researched and winsomely written. . . an invaluable overview of the cutting edge of urban planning."--Publishers Weekly
Brief description: Glasgow-based writer and editor Natalie Whittle is a freelance contributor to the Financial Times, where previously she held editing roles across the magazine and arts sections of FT Weekend for fifteen years. She founded Outwith Books, an independent bookshop and writing space in Govanhill on Glasgow's Southside that was open from 2019 to 2022.
Review Quotes: Shrink the City makes the case for creating smaller cities within big cities. Whittle describes a series of small, densely occupied circles within cities that would allow people to mingle naturally and get to know one another in their neighborhoods. Today, many city dwellers don't have easy access to parks, libraries, theaters, restaurants, schools, and so on. Putting the ideas in this book to practice would cut down the time it takes to get to these places, enriching the lives of city residents, and transforming megalopolises from discouraging human interaction to encouraging familiarity and friendship.--Dickson Despommier, author of The Vertical Farm and The New City: How to Build Our Sustainable Urban Future