Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-239) and index.

State of the world, a year in review / Lisa Mastny -- An urbanizing world / Kai N. Lee -- Timbuktu: greening the hinterlands -- Loja: ecological and healthy city -- Providing clean water and sanitation / David Satterthwaite, Gordon McGranahan -- Lagos: collapsing infrastructure -- Farming the cities / Brian Halweil, Danielle Nierenberg -- Freetown: urban farms after a war -- Greening urban transportation / Peter Newman, Jeff Kenworthy -- Los Angeles: end of sprawl -- Melbourne: reducing a city's carbon emissions -- Energizing cities /Janet L. Sawin, Kristen Hughes -- Rizhao: solar-powered city -- Malmo: building a green future -- Reducing natural disaster risk in cities / Zoe Chafe -- Jakarta: river management -- Mumbai: policing by the people -- Charting a new course for urban public health / Carolyn Stephens, Peter Stair -- Nairobi: life in Kibera -- Petra: managing tourism -- Strengthening local economies / Mark Roseland with Lena Soots -- Brno: Brownfield redevelopment -- Fighting poverty and environmental injustice in cities / Janice E. Perlman with Molly O'Meara Sheehan.

This [book] examines changes in the ways cities are managed, built, and lived in, focusing on how those changes could create healthier, more peaceful urban areas in the future. The authors investigate water and sanitation, urban faming, local energy production, "green" transportation options, disaster preparedness, local economic stability, and much more. -- From back cover.