According to one review, ‘this book will – no question – make you think in new ways’. This book challenges the assumption that the streets belong to cars by pointing to the damage they do to our health and planet and asks, ‘who do our streets belong to, what do we use them for and who gets to decide?’ This revolutionary view of mobility is ideal for equipping students for GCSE AO3 (analysing geographical information to draw conclusions), with chapters on why we live this way, who the victims are, and what will happen if we continue. The last two chapters explore ways of doing things differently. This fits well with A-level units on ‘Dynamic Places’ and ‘Changing Places, Making Spaces’ and even as a secondary source for urban fieldwork at all levels. The A-level content of ‘lived experience of place’ here is the Netherlands: while some see this as a ‘mecca for cycling’, the book extends its critical analysis, by not accepting it as the urban utopia in which it is often portrayed.  

This is an inspirational book by an urban visionary focusing on New York. One review describes it as a ‘feel-great read for those of us who love cities, especially as pedestrians and cyclists’. While data-driven and in places ‘hands on’, this book is certainly accessible for students at GCSE and above. The book contains a wide range of international case studies of urban reclamation projects working towards better functioning streets and more sustainable transport (and so to encourage socialisation, business opportunities, less pollution and a more pleasant urban environment). Again, ideal for GCSE AO3 and AO4 (geographical skills) as the book contains geographical information in many forms, particularly the fascinating before-and-after images of contested spaces in New York City. Another valuable secondary source for urban fieldwork, particularly at A-level. 

A hands-on, academic book, drawing on a range of geographical data in the search for the elusive paradigm of sustainable transport. Each chapter is highly authoritative and explores a wide range of case studies to demonstrate what can be achieved and that sustainable transport can be a reality. The key components of sustainability are analysed, and in this case, the ‘triple helix’ of social, economic, and environmental sustainability are supporting a fundamental shift away from increased car numbers and the provision of an infrastructure to cope. At GCSE, carefully selected evidence for decision-making exercises can be presented to students when studying the key content of Sustainable Cities. At A-level, students could make more independent use of the resource. For both levels, the book serves as excellent secondary research to support fieldwork.  

Anita Rani explores public transport in Mexico City.

Dr Carey Curtis joins host Kit Marie Rackley from the University of Melbourne to discuss sustainability in transport and urban planning, the importance of balance between land use and infrastructures, and the tension between principles and their implementations from a feasibility angle, with a focus on Oxford's low-traffic neighbourhoods.