ABSTRACT
A sustainable city or metropolitan area is one that does not rob the earth of fixed, nonrenewable resources—or if it does, it does so at only a minimal and decreasing rate. The new towns in England did manage to realize Howard's social city, in Hertfordshire. Birmingham, England, has been revitalized by canals that have been opened up on the edge of the city center; by a mixed use scheme involving a convention center, shopping, offices, and residential spaces; and, on the other side of the city center, by a new department store and a new cultural center. As Robert Fishman observed in his paper "The Fifth Migration," people are coming back into the cities because they want urban lifestyles again. It has been happening, especially in the American West, just as it has been happening in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and around the world. And it has been happening in part because of the allure of sustainable urbanism.
