I will not travel beyond Glasgow's city limits, or use any vehicles except my bike, for a whole calendar year. - Ellie Harrison, January 2016

This simple proposition - to attempt to live a 'low-carbon lifestyle of the future' - put forward by an English artist living in post-industrial Glasgow cut to the heart of the unequal world we have created. A world in which some live transient and disconnected existences within a global 'knowledge economy' racking up huge carbon footprints as they chase work around the world, whilst others, trapped in a cycle of poverty caused by deindustrialisation and the lack of local opportunities, cannot even afford the bus fare into town. We're all equally miserable. Isn't it time we rethought the way we live our lives?

In this, her first book, Ellie Harrison traces her own life's trajectory to examine the relationship between literal and social mobility; between class and carbon footprint. From the personal to the political, she uses experiences and knowledge gained in Glasgow in 2016 and beyond, together with the ideas of Patrick Geddes - who coined the phrase 'Think Global, Act Local' in 1915, economist EF Schumacher who made the case for localism in Small is Beautiful in 1973, and the Fearless Cities movement of today, to put forward her own vision for 'the sustainable city of the future', in which we can all live happy, healthy and creative lives.

About the Author

Ellie Harrison was born in the London borough of Ealing in 1979. She moved north to study Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University in 1998. In 2008 she continued northwards to do a Masters at Glasgow School of Art and has been living in Glasgow ever since. She has previously described herself as an artist and activist, and as 'a political refugee escaped from the Tory strongholds of Southern England'. In 2009 she founded Bring Back British Rail, the national campaign for the public ownership of our railways. As a result of thinking globally and acting locally during The Glasgow Effect in 2016, she is now involved in several local projects and campaigns aimed at making Glasgow a more equal, sustainable and connected city.

Book Information
ISBN 9781910022795
Author Ellie Harrison
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Luath Press Ltd
Publisher Luath Press Ltd
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 28mm