Top Urban Planning Books of All Time

1.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The Death and Life of Great American Cities 4.29 avg rating — 19,189 ratings
2.
Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time 4.32 avg rating — 8,339 ratings
3.
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York 4.52 avg rating — 27,075 ratings
4.
The Image of the City
The Image of the City 4.05 avg rating — 4,121 ratings
5.
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design 4.36 avg rating — 8,993 ratings
6.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series) 4.42 avg rating — 5,326 ratings
7.
Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier
Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier 3.92 avg rating — 6,284 ratings
8.
The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape 4.05 avg rating — 4,482 ratings
9.
The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects
The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects 4.10 avg rating — 1,453 ratings
10.
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream 4.12 avg rating — 2,640 ratings
11.
Design With Nature
Design With Nature 4.26 avg rating — 645 ratings
12.
Silent Spring
Silent Spring 4.05 avg rating — 53,315 ratings
13.
A Theory of Good City Form
A Theory of Good City Form 4.08 avg rating — 302 ratings
14.
Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century
Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century 3.84 avg rating — 711 ratings
15.
Cities for People
Cities for People
by: Jan Gehl
4.35 avg rating — 2,335 ratings
16.
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces 4.33 avg rating — 897 ratings
17.
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built
How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built 4.35 avg rating — 1,842 ratings
18.
The Economy of Cities
The Economy of Cities 4.09 avg rating — 1,246 ratings
19.
Edge City: Life on the New Frontier (Anchor Books)
Edge City: Life on the New Frontier (Anchor Books) 3.82 avg rating — 543 ratings
20.
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do and What It Says About Us
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do and What It Says About Us 3.72 avg rating — 8,118 ratings
21.
The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History
The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History 4.25 avg rating — 356 ratings
22.
The Works: Anatomy of a City
The Works: Anatomy of a City 4.10 avg rating — 1,547 ratings
23.
The High Cost of Free Parking
The High Cost of Free Parking 4.21 avg rating — 1,016 ratings
24.
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States
Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States 4.03 avg rating — 2,049 ratings
25.
Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile
Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile 4.10 avg rating — 841 ratings
26.
Great Streets
Great Streets 4.30 avg rating — 415 ratings
27.
The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City
The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City 3.77 avg rating — 670 ratings
28.
Urban Villagers: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-Americans
Urban Villagers: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-Americans 4.09 avg rating — 97 ratings
29.
The Timeless Way of Building
The Timeless Way of Building 4.37 avg rating — 2,573 ratings
29.
Street Smart: A Fifty-Year Mistake Set Right and the Great Urban Revival
Street Smart: A Fifty-Year Mistake Set Right and the Great Urban Revival 4.12 avg rating — 681 ratings
31.
The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life
The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life 3.68 avg rating — 3,329 ratings
32.
Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability
Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability 3.72 avg rating — 1,560 ratings
33.
The American City : What Works, What Doesn't
The American City : What Works, What Doesn't 3.72 avg rating — 58 ratings
34.
The Smart Growth Manual
The Smart Growth Manual 3.99 avg rating — 324 ratings
35.
The City: A Global History
The City: A Global History 3.40 avg rating — 498 ratings
36.
Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution
Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution 4.26 avg rating — 2,118 ratings
37.
City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World
City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World 3.73 avg rating — 426 ratings
38.
Planning in the USA: Policies, Issues, and Processes
Planning in the USA: Policies, Issues, and Processes 3.39 avg rating — 33 ratings
39.
A New Theory of Urban Design (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
A New Theory of Urban Design (Center for Environmental Structure Series) 4.16 avg rating — 237 ratings
40.
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West 4.26 avg rating — 3,509 ratings
41.
Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade
Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade 3.87 avg rating — 775 ratings
42.
Readings in Planning Theory
Readings in Planning Theory 3.91 avg rating — 116 ratings
43.
Towards Cosmopolis: Planning for Multicultural Cities
Towards Cosmopolis: Planning for Multicultural Cities 3.67 avg rating — 15 ratings
44.
The Essential William H. Whyte
The Essential William H. Whyte 4.14 avg rating — 21 ratings
45.
The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition
The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition 3.82 avg rating — 342 ratings
46.
Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives
Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives 4.37 avg rating — 868 ratings
46.
A History of Future Cities
A History of Future Cities 4.04 avg rating — 838 ratings
48.
The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream
The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream 4.03 avg rating — 109 ratings
48.
Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century
Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century 3.84 avg rating — 610 ratings
50.
Language of Space
Language of Space 3.93 avg rating — 76 ratings
51.
How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City
How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City 3.83 avg rating — 1,412 ratings
52.
The Exploding Metropolis
The Exploding Metropolis 4.24 avg rating — 21 ratings
53.
Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next
Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next 3.54 avg rating — 289 ratings
53.
The Art of City Making
The Art of City Making 4.13 avg rating — 39 ratings
53.
Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York
Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York 4.08 avg rating — 158 ratings
56.
Comeback Cities: A Blueprint For Urban Neighborhood Revival
Comeback Cities: A Blueprint For Urban Neighborhood Revival 3.54 avg rating — 81 ratings
57.
Twenty Minutes in Manhattan
Twenty Minutes in Manhattan 3.66 avg rating — 435 ratings
57.
The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space
The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 137 ratings
59.
Redesigning the American Dream: The Future of Housing, Work and Family Life
Redesigning the American Dream: The Future of Housing, Work and Family Life 4.16 avg rating — 129 ratings
60.
Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities
Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities 3.90 avg rating — 526 ratings
61.
Urban Acupuncture
Urban Acupuncture 3.67 avg rating — 476 ratings
61.
Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City
Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City 3.93 avg rating — 1,003 ratings
63.
The Trouble with City Planning: What New Orleans Can Teach Us
The Trouble with City Planning: What New Orleans Can Teach Us 3.53 avg rating — 34 ratings
63.
A Field Guide to Sprawl
A Field Guide to Sprawl 3.95 avg rating — 205 ratings
63.
The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream
The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream 3.90 avg rating — 184 ratings
66.
Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities
Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities 3.70 avg rating — 438 ratings
67.
The Cure for Catastrophe: How We Can Stop Manufacturing Natural Disasters
The Cure for Catastrophe: How We Can Stop Manufacturing Natural Disasters 3.83 avg rating — 83 ratings
67.
Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America
Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America 3.61 avg rating — 2,033 ratings
69.
The Last Tenement: Confronting Community and Urban Renewal in Boston's West End
The Last Tenement: Confronting Community and Urban Renewal in Boston's West End 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
69.
Housing a divided community
Housing a divided community really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating
69.
Lost Toronto
Lost Toronto 4.36 avg rating — 11 ratings
69.
Carfree Cities
Carfree Cities 4.40 avg rating — 75 ratings
69.
The Just City
The Just City 3.76 avg rating — 170 ratings
69.
The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life
The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life 3.93 avg rating — 529 ratings
69.
Why Old Places Matter: How Historic Places Affect Our Identity and Well-Being
Why Old Places Matter: How Historic Places Affect Our Identity and Well-Being 4.05 avg rating — 79 ratings
69.
The Lure of the City: From Slums to Suburbs
The Lure of the City: From Slums to Suburbs 3.33 avg rating — 9 ratings
69.
Dystopia: How The Tyranny of Specialists Fragment African Cities
Dystopia: How The Tyranny of Specialists Fragment African Cities 3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
69.
Ciudades rebeldes: del derecho de la ciudad a la revolución urbana
Ciudades rebeldes: del derecho de la ciudad a la revolución urbana 3.92 avg rating — 2,039 ratings
69.
What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs
What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs 3.75 avg rating — 24 ratings
69.
Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (Inside Technology)
Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (Inside Technology) 4.16 avg rating — 185 ratings
69.
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity
Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity 4.27 avg rating — 2,701 ratings
82.
The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban Form Through History
The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban Form Through History 4.04 avg rating — 107 ratings
82.
How to Study Public Life
How to Study Public Life
by: Jan Gehl
4.13 avg rating — 374 ratings
82.
Urban Smellscapes
Urban Smellscapes 4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings
82.
The Shape of the City: Toronto Struggles with Modern Planning
The Shape of the City: Toronto Struggles with Modern Planning 3.88 avg rating — 40 ratings
82.
101 Things I Learned in Urban Design School
101 Things I Learned in Urban Design School 4.26 avg rating — 295 ratings
82.
The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future
The Best-Laid Plans: How Government Planning Harms Your Quality of Life, Your Pocketbook, and Your Future 3.59 avg rating — 37 ratings
82.
Building Commons and Community
Building Commons and Community
by: Karl Linn
4.20 avg rating — 5 ratings
82.
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America 4.44 avg rating — 44,181 ratings
90.
Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision
Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 71 ratings
90.
Shape of the Suburbs: Understanding Toronto's Sprawl
Shape of the Suburbs: Understanding Toronto's Sprawl 3.73 avg rating — 41 ratings
90.
Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation
Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 20 ratings
90.
White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism
White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism 4.27 avg rating — 1,015 ratings
94.
The Culture of Cities (Book 2)
The Culture of Cities (Book 2) 4.09 avg rating — 146 ratings
94.
Up Against City Hall
Up Against City Hall 3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
94.
Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World
Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World 3.81 avg rating — 387 ratings
94.
Building Together: Case Studies in Participatory Planning and Community Building
Building Together: Case Studies in Participatory Planning and Community Building 3.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
94.
Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom
Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom 3.86 avg rating — 222 ratings
99.
The Architecture of the City (Oppositions Books)
The Architecture of the City (Oppositions Books) 4.04 avg rating — 1,291 ratings
99.
Planning the Built Environment
Planning the Built Environment 3.91 avg rating — 11 ratings
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