Kansas State University

Coates publishes chapter in new book on sustainability

Submitted by Gary J. Coates

Gary J. Coates, professor of architecture and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture distinguished professor, has published a chapter, "Sustainable Urbanism: Creating Resilient Communities in the Age of Peak Oil and Climate Destabilization," in the book, "Environmental Policy is Social Policy–Social Policy is Environmental Policy: Toward Sustainability Policy (Springer)," edited by Isidor Wallimann.

Coates argues that exponential population growth, climate destabilization, environmental degradation and species extinction are combining with an irreversible decline in the availability of cheap fossil fuels to create a perfect storm that threatens the human prospect. He surveys four scenarios for the future and argues for the creation of a meta-industrial society comprised of resilient, renewable energy powered and ecologically sustainable human communities. He illustrates what such a society might look like by presenting a detailed case study of the sustainable urban district of Kronsberg, Hannover, Germany.