This book of 15 edited chapters has been formulated by the authors from a large, academic consortium which, as part of the EPSRC funded programme on Sustainable Urban Environments, SUE I, undertook the Vivacity2020 research project. It is the findings from the project which form the backbone of this attractive publication. The book aims to present a multidisciplinary perspective on city living in a 24 hour city. It is divided into six sections (urban design process; environmental sustainability and city centre living; diversity and mixed use; supporting urban design decision-making; and, Vivacity 2020 artists in residence), each of which has its own overview, which is particularly useful for the novice reader. In contrast to many academic books, this is a surprisingly attractive resource which is very nicely designed and extensively illustrated, most often in full colour. This makes it accessible, legible and well balanced � it also maintains a good flow throughout. Moreover, the book is well-referenced and indexed, although a full list of references at the back would have been a helpful addition. In general, the editing has been executed very effectively, with only one or two chapters seemingly adopting a different style. This is impressive considering that such a wide range of themes is explored; most of these are only to be expected in a book about sustainable cities, but the deeply interesting discussion of �the sensory city� makes Chapter Five a noteworthy addition to the usual coverage. In this book, the academic contributors from various universities (Lancaster, Salford, University College London, Sheffield and London Metropolitan) have given us a genuinely robust resource on the social aspects of city planning, which is a worthy addition to the literature. It will be a good �reader� text book for researchers and students and also provides excellent signposting for the more advanced reader and professionals. It could of course be criticised for a lack of connection to the related literature on environmental sustainability, but this would be churlish because such a breadth of good results are reported here. However, it is important that the clear focus on UK planning undermines the potential international value of the research - this is a shortcoming. Chapter 13 presents the works of artists in residence - this is quite curious and seems disconnected to the other chapters in language and style. The book also claims to offer practical solutions, but this is not entirely the case. Finally, while it draws heavily on three case study areas - Manchester, Sheffield and Clerkenwell (London) and offers sensible and carefully considered exploration of the issues, one is left with a feeling that there is a lack of finality, a lack of concrete design guidance for the practitioner eager to revolutionise the way cities work. This is illustrated best by the five overarching implications in the Conclusions chapter which are all perfectly reasonable but not at all earth-shattering. In sum, this is a consolidatory, rather than a revolutionary text.

Dr Jacqueline Glass

Loughborough University

17 October 2009.