Be Smart

The recent high profile bankruptcies of retailers Circuit City and Steve & Barry's meant the closure of 567 US big box consumer electronic and media stores and 175 mall based clothing stores, respectively. Further, sub-prime mortgages fueled a housing bubble, whose aftermath leaves real estate developments half sold, or worse half built. In the wake of these events, Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA, and June Williamson have recently published the timely, and on-point book, "Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs" published by John Wiley & Sons. Dunham-Jones directs the architecture program at Georgia Tech and studies urban development and architectural theory. Williamson teaches at the City College of New York, and consults on urban and town planning.