{"product_id":"concrete-jungle-niles-eldredge-9780520270152","title":"Concrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future","description":"If they are to survive, cities need healthy chunks of the world's ecosystems to persist; yet cities, like parasites, grow and prosper by local destruction of these very ecosystems. In this absorbing and wide-ranging book, Eldredge and Horenstein use New York City as a microcosm to explore both the positive and the negative sides of the relationship between cities, the environment, and the future of global biodiversity. They illuminate the mass of contradictions that cities present in embodying the best and the worst of human existence. The authors demonstrate that, though cities have voracious appetites for resources such as food and water, they also represent the last hope for conserving healthy remnants of the world's ecosystems and species. With their concentration of human beings, cities bring together centers of learning, research, government, finance, and media--institutions that increasingly play active roles in solving environmental problems. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Some of the topics covered in \u003ci\u003eConcrete Jungle\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e --The geological history of the New York region, including remnant glacial features visible today \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e --The early days of urbanization on Manhattan Island, focusing on the history of Central Park, Collect Pond, and Manhattan Square \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e --The history of early railway lines and the development of New York's iconic subway system \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e --The problem of producing enough safe drinking water for an ever-expanding population \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e --Prominent civic institutions, including universities, museums, and zoos\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Niles Eldredge, Sidney Horenstein\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0520270150\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780520270152\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of California Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/23\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.34lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.61h x 6.13w x 0.97d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2015","brand":"Niles Eldredge","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43919950053631,"sku":"9780520270152","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_2a5c26f2-86c3-4a53-9c18-917c44ef5de1.jpg?v=1680812806","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/concrete-jungle-niles-eldredge-9780520270152","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}