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Reviewed by:
  • Soft City: Building Density For Everyday Life by David Sim
  • Richard C. Smardon (bio)
SOFT CITY: BUILDING DENSITY FOR EVERYDAY LIFE David Sim . 2019. Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life. Island Press

SOFT CITY: BUILDING DENSITY FOR EVERYDAY LIFE David Sim. 2019. Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life. Island Press

As stated in its introduction "Soft City is about moving closer together, connecting people to one another and to all the aspects of life around them" (p. 3). Written by an architect/planner, the book's purpose is to use sustainable humanistic planning and architectural concepts to improve urban residents' quality of life.

David Sim was initially trained in architecture in Scotland under the tutelage of Jan Gehl. He studied in Denmark and Sweden and was influenced by Steen Eiler Rasmussen, Sven Ingvar Andersson, Ralph Eskine, and Klas Tham. He joined Gehl Architects practice in Copenhagen in 2002 and has been working with this practice continuously as well as university teaching.

This book is divided into three major sections. There are subsections in each major chapter, which are richly illustrated with color photographs, cross sections, and diagrams. In the first chapter, the author finds ways to accommodate density and diversity in the same spatial area—emphasizing local living. The second chapter is a sequential unpacking of the physical and social challenges of people movement—starting from the resident's outside door. The third chapter is about connecting people to outdoor living and addresses nature–people interactions.

The book draws heavily from the Nordic humancentered planning tradition while addressing the need for individuality and sociability. There are many illustrated examples of the design concepts of Nordic, European, Japanese, and Australian origin. The presentation and treatment of the material is in the tradition of the work of Alexander (1979), Alexander et al. (1987), Cullen (1961), and Lynch (1960).

Chapter 1 covers basic architectural building blocks, such as enclosure, multiple use, diversity, layering, floor-by-floor purpose, scale, and resilience.

Chapter 2 addresses mobility issues, such as walkable buildings, streetscape, neighborhood walk-ability, cycling, street-based public transport, plus one-way versus two-way streets.

Chapter 3 addresses "living with the weather," including sections on natural light and ventilation, windows and doors, external greening, "building your own weather," bringing nature to the city, and climate change issues.

The final section of the book offers criteria for urban living:

  • • Diversity of built form

  • • Diversity of outdoor spaces

  • • Flexibility

  • • Human scale

  • • Sense of control and identity

  • • Pleasant microclimate

  • • Smaller carbon footprint

  • • Greater biodiversity

What is exemplary about the book is how the author uses clear graphics plus photos of existing development to impart his "soft city" architectural/planning concepts. The test is minimal but is just enough to communicate key concepts and philosophy. There are minimal references, but this is fine given the nature of the exposition. This book could be used as a text for basic architectural and urban planning courses or as a book for anyone interested in humanistic sustainable urban development.

Richard C. Smardon

Richard C. Smardon is a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at SUNY–College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

references

Alexander, A. (1979). The timeless way of building. Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Neis, H., Anninou, A., & King, I. (1987). A new theory of urban design. Oxford University Press.
Cullen, G. (1961). The concise townscape. Van Nostrand Rhinehold.
Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. MIT Press.
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