Humans have always been influenced by natural landscapes, and always will be, even as we create ever-larger cities and our developments fundamentally change the nature of the earth around us. In Human Ecology, noted city planner and landscape architect Frederick Steiner encourages us to consider how human cultures have been shaped by natural forces, and how we might use this understanding to contribute to a future where both nature and people thrive. Human ecology is the study of the interrelationships between humans and their environment, drawing on diverse fields from biology and geography to sociology, engineering, and architecture. Steiner admirably synthesizes these perspectives through the lens of landscape architecture, a discipline that requires its practitioners to consciously connect humans and their environments. After laying out eight principles for understanding human ecology, the book's chapters build from the smallest scale of connection, our homes, and expand to community scales, regions, nations, and, ultimately, examine global relationships between people and nature. In this age of climate change, a new approach to planning and design is required to envision a liveable future. Human Ecology provides architects, landscape architects, urban designers, and planners, and students in those fields, with timeless principles for new, creative thinking about how their work can shape a vibrant, resilient future for ourselves and our planet.

An innovative synthesis of human ecology that challenges all design disciplines to consider how people and nature connect; Noted landscape architect Frederick Steiner offers eight principles for understanding complex relationships between humans and their environments; Steiner's evocative prose draws the reader into the world of ancient Rome as easily as modern day Korea.

About the Author
Frederick Steiner is clean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas, Austin. His books include The Living Landscape, 2nd Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2001) and, with Ian McHarg, To Heal the Earth (Island Press, 1998).


Book Information
ISBN 9781610917384
Author Frederick R. Steiner
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Island Press
Publisher Island Press