building the ecological city by rodney white, 2002. woodhead, xv + 238 pp (hbk). isbn 1-85573-531-8

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

1. THE PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABILITY by SimonDresner, 2002. Earthscan, vii + 200 pp, £14.95 (pbk).ISBN 1-4039-0255-0

Simon Dresner does in the space of 200 pages what manyother writers have failed to do in texts of far greaterlength. He provides a rapid fire introduction to theorigins, evolution and current state of thinking on sus-tainability, and, in doing so, he offers a combined analy-sis and critique. Even though it is unlikely that everyreader will agree with all of his points of observation andinterpretation, the great merit of Dresner’s book is thewide span of its coverage. Even though some subjects are ignored and others treated to a somewhat cursoryexamination, the overall effect is of value as an introduc-tion for the undergraduate student or the interestedcitizen.

2. GLOBALIZATION AND ENVIRONMENTALREFORM by Arthur P.J. Mol, 2001. MIT Press, x + 273pp, £23.95 (hbk). ISBN 0-262-13395-4

It is always a pleasure to review a book by Arthur Mol,and this is no exception. Building on his earlier work onecological modernization, the author extends his inter-pretation to the growing dominance represented by glob-alization. The core of Mol’s argument is that althoughprocesses of modernization and globalization often resultin environmental degradation, this need not be the case.In presenting his argument, Mol points to instances ofwhere the processes have been harnessed in order toencourage the development and implementation of poli-cies and programmes designed to arrest degradation andimprove environmental quality. The book provides con-vincing evidence of the effectiveness of ecological mod-ernization, and all of this is provided in a highly readableand valuable contribution to the literature.

BOOK NOTES

Business Strategy and the EnvironmentBus. Strat. Env. 12, 341 (2003)Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/bse.360

3. BUILDING THE ECOLOGICAL CITY by RodneyWhite, 2002. Woodhead, xv + 238 pp, £95.00 (hbk).ISBN 1-85573-531-8

This is an unusual and challenging book, at least in rela-tion to the normal content of this journal, but that shouldnot be a deterrent to prospective readers, even if the priceis somewhat excessive. Rodney White offers an analysisof urban systems and concentrates upon examining whathe refers to as ‘urban metabolism’. This initial under-standing is then used in order to ask what has gonewrong, and how the health of the urban ecosystem canbe restored. The range of material covered in the book isimpressive, as is the quality of the analysis. It is a bookthat combines insightful academic analysis with practicalstrategies for improving the environment of cities, and itdeserves a wide readership. Pity about the price.

4. EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTIONedited by Maurie Cohen and Joseph Murphy, 2001.Pergamon, xii + 249 pp, €73.50 (hbk). ISBN 0-08-043920-9

Unlike many collections based on papers presented atseminars or conferences, this book offers a highly read-able and diverse set of essays organized around thetheme of sustainable consumption and lifestyles. Thebreadth of the papers is excellent, with a range of disci-plines, geographic areas and perspectives represented.However, as ever, the success or failure of any collectedwork rests with the editors, and in this case they havedone a good job. The whole is more than the sum of theparts and this book is to be recommended as an additionto the standard reading lists.

Peter RobertsUniversity of Liverpool, UK