June 2, 2008

Book Review - Green Plans

Green Plans: Blueprint for a Sustainable Earth
Huey D. Johnson
Revised and Updated
GE 195 .J64 2008

This book is a survey of plans to "go green" collected from nations around the world. Johnson asserts that formal planning for sustainable development and living has been very uneven. He looks to the Netherlands as a long-time leader in the green planning process, and at the same time laments the lack of progress toward green planning in the United States and the abandonment of the effort in Canada. In the first part of his survey, Johnson frames the concept of green planning by defining sustainability as a problem that is seeking a solution. He focuses on several elements of the problem and argues that green planning is the solution. In the second part, he provides case studies of several nations as well as the European Union to demonstrate what a green plan might look like and some of the goals it may set out to achieve. This book will be of interest to those interested in the environment, sustainability, strategic planning, and international comparative politics.