Book Review: Mertens, E. Resilient City Landscape Architecture for Climate Change; Birkhäuser: Basel, Switzerland, 2022; ISBN: 978-3035622348

Abstract

Today, a majority of the global populace resides in urban areas and requires healthy surroundings to prosper and fulfill their potential. Landscape architects, who are skilled at designing, constructing, and maintaining outdoor spaces, play a vital role in this context. Their expertise is particularly crucial when it comes to addressing the ever more demanding and significant planning and designing challenges that cities face, particularly during the era of climate change. Elke Mertens, a professor of landscape architecture at Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, recently authored a book titled “Resilient City Landscape Architecture for Climate Change”. The book examines eleven cities across North and South America and showcases landscape architecture projects that these cities have undertaken to prepare for climate change and mitigate its impacts. The author visited each city in 2018 and 2019, documenting various landscape architecture projects and other climate initiatives. She also interviewed multiple landscape architects, city officials, and research institutions to gain a deeper understanding of the efforts being made to address climate change in these cities.