'Cities Design and Evolution'

Why are modern cities often uglier and less fit for purpose than traditionally-evolved older ones? That's the question raised and answered by Stephen Marshall in his new book 'Cities Design and Evolution'.

As Senior Lecturer UCL's Bartlett School of Planning Dr Marshall is ideally qualified to undertake this analysis. And what could potentially be a dry subject is brought to life with an engaging narrative and an adroit choice of reference material to bolster his case for a new 'evolutionary' perspective in urban planning.

Dr Marshall draws together the theories of biological evolution by Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins with the planning philosophies of Patrick Geddes and Le Corbusier and blends them into a compelling case for changes in city structure and architectural thought.

This book isn't just for academics, but for anyone looking for fresh ideas on resolving environmental dissonance - a theme too often given terrible reality on the evening's news agenda.

'Cities Design and Evolution' will be published in July by Routledge, priced £42.50. ISBN: 0-415-42329-5

About the author
Stephen Marshall is a senior lecturer at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. He has nineteen years' experience in the built environment field; his research addresses the relationships between urban form and structure, and urban design and planning.

This experience includes UK research council funded investigations into transport, urban form and urban structure, and EC research into land use, transport, streets and urban design issues. He has also undertaken research for UK and Scottish government level projects in transport and planning fields, and detailed urban design and street design studies for local authorities