Timothy Beatley

Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where he has taught for over twenty-five years. His primary teaching and research interests are in environmental planning and policy, with a special emphasis on coastal and natural hazards planning, environmental values and ethics, and biodiversity conservation. He has published extensively in these areas, including the following books: Ethical Land Use; Habitat Conservation Planning: Endangered Species and Urban Growth; Natural Hazard Mitigation; and An Introduction to Coastal Zone Management. In recent years much of his research and writing has been focused on the subject of sustainable communities and creative strategies by which cities and towns can reduce their ecological footprints, while at the same time becoming more livable and equitable places. His books that explore these issues include Biophilic Cities, Resilient Cities, and Blue Urbanism (Island Press).

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Green Cities: Inspiration from Europe

It is fitting that I am here in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Basque country of Spain, on the occasion of the launch of our new edited book Green Cities of Europe. This beautiful city represents much of what I have come to admire about European cities and why I have spent so much of my life over the last twenty years visiting and studying them.

The Art of Artful Places

You almost never see a cow in a tree. That's why I was so surprised that day in February when I encountered one at the Docklands, a new green redevelopment district in the City of Melbourne.

The Role of Wonder in Planning

I don’t think we talk enough about wonder in planning schools today. That sense of fascination, awe, of being spellbound by the immensity, delicacy, beauty of something, is an essential ingredient of our human spirit, and to making life joyous and meaningful. Yet it goes virtually undiscussed in professional planning programs, with few insights offered about how to go about designing and planning places and communities that provide these experiences.  Planners are a wonkish bunch, more likely to wax on about special use permits, density bonuses, and sliding-scale zoning.

Lessons from the LA Ecovillage

Two weeks ago I had the chance to visit the Los Angeles Ecovillage (LAEV), and spent time with its visionary creator Lois Arkin. The story of the LAEV is inspirational and instructive.  Located 3-miles west of downtown, the Ecovillage represents a compelling model of how to begin to transform dysfunctional and unsustainable urban (and suburban) environments into real places, places with soul and meaning and commitment to community and environment.