Assignment 19: Annotated Bibliography 2

For this assignment, I turned the graphic organizer from my last post into a formatted annotated bibliography. Because Blogger does not allow me to format it exactly how I need it, click here to access a Google Doc where the format is correct.

Kunstler, J. H. (1993). The geography of nowhere: The rise and decline of America's man-made landscape. New York: Simon & Schuster.

This book gives relatively detailed accounts of the history of the American landscape. Each chapter is structured like a case study for a single topic. It emphasizes that “the two elements of the suburban pattern that cause the greatest problems are the extreme separation of uses and the vast distances between things” (Kunstler 117). Mostly, the work focuses on the effect of suburban sprawl on the American landscape, and the negative repercussions that the population has faced since the end of World War 2, especially the production of “two separate classes of citizens: those who can fully use their everyday environment, and those who cannot” (Kunstler 115) . While this is not a scientific article or journal, the book is still highly credible, as pages 277-284 include detailed footnotes and a bibliography of a wide number of sources. Additionally, the author, James Howard Kunstler, has a reputation as an American journalist, writing for the Rolling Stone and New York Times, as well as a blogger. I can use this book as it provides personal testimony to the effects of suburban sprawl, and the necessity of redevelopment in the American landscape. It is well researched, so even if I do not cite it directly, I have the bibliography at the end at my disposal to retrieve even more sources on planning. It can also be used as a comparison of what planning focused on 25 years ago and what it is doing today. They are both very similar, as the novel emphasizes the need for walkable communities and the introduction of a mix of uses to revitalize the then dying American landscape.

Yasamin, 2/3