52 readings on mobility, work and city
A challenge for 2018
A list of amazing books I read as part of my journey to my first two books. It’s about technology, innovation, urbanism, sociology, transport, economics and politics
What and why?
This article won’t be about amazing 52 Medium posts (or any quality long-read blog posts for the matter). It will be about about plain and real books, most of them with density of: ideas, research and case studies. Because this is the beauty of (good) books: they summarize
It won’t be either the full list of top readings in mobility and the city, like a cross-sectional list of books at the intersection of mobility / transport and city / urbanism. Though I’ll definitely include books addressing one or both of these topics, I will also include a variety of books in the fields of business, personal development, sustainability, technology & science, and so on. It is about inspiration to bo better, differently, and with a grander ambition. It is not an academic dissertation or a research paper.
Because all of this is not a complete list of readings. It is work in progress. If it might be a challenge for me to deliver this list of reviews over 2018, it is above all a journey, for me and hopefully for you. My journey with mobility and city started 10 years when I first worked with an automotive R&D company (ASL Vision), then with a legacy postal company (La Poste) as an innovation project leader. It is time for me to reflect on this journey, to share both what I learned and what I don’t know. But most importantly to prepare what’s coming next: building something new, something bigger to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our days: living in more resilient (or even “regenerative”) cities, improving quality of life for everybody, preventing and fighting climate change, transitioning to a better and more inclusive society. For me this translates into preparing two books (not event one) and powering up a community of like-minded professionals who want common goals. Your challenge, hence your journey, is probably different. But we probably recognize that “standing on the shoulders of gians” is essential, hence reading the best writing of the best explorers simply makes sense. As I start my journey I pledge to not only read more and better, but to share what I learn in it, and to recommend those best readings that make me a better man and a better professional (occasionnaly I might recommend to stay away from not so good readings). It is my way to contribute. Hopefully it will be useful to you. If it is you follow me and subscribe to my newsletter. You can also provide me with advice on what I should read next (through comments).
My reading list
Here is my reading list, pointing to reviews I wrote on Goodreads for each of them. Please keep in mind that I read all these books through my own lens: mobility, cities and work. And that many of these books do not adress exclusively these topics or might even have different focus. Please notice also this is a list and not a ranking. I review these books in the order I read them. Usually ratings I attribute on Goodreads will be good: I dare not recommend bad books! The occasional bad review, as a warning sign, will remain as it should: the exception. A few words about my rating scale:
★★★★★ stellar, must-read and possible life-changing. For everybody, and I won’t stop bothering you with it. Obviously seems to be rare;
★★★★ great read. If you have any interest in the field you should definitely have a look at it;
★★★ OK to read, either for specialisation purposes or because it is still a good introductory book. You might find better ones however;
★★ You can skip it;
★ Well, you guessed it, this must be a really special one! I probably did not bother to read through all of it. You should neither.
You can have a look at what I am currently reading here. And also to a longer list of what I expect or would like to read soon. I would love to hear from your recommendations on what I should read next. Simply suggest books of value to you (and why you would them recommend to me or others) in the comment section. And let’s start the conversation! You could even write a full recommendation/review of a book you like and share it with the community.
This article will be updated once a month at least, so please come back and follow me for the next chapters of the journey.
#4 Resilient Cities — Overcoming Fossil Fuel Dependence ★★★★
I hesitated reading this book about “resilient cities” because reviews for the first edition were mixed (some enthusiastic, other pointing a lack of thoroughness, details and clear argumentation). And also the cover does not look so great. While my early feelings were mixed reading the first chapters, I must say I have no regret having read it.
It happens to be a well-structured book detailing 4 areas of solutions to build resiliency: renewable and distributed energy; sustainable mobility systems; inclusive and healthy cities; biophilic urbanism to bring nature back to the cities. It then emphasises that preparing for future threats is both unavoidable and manageable. It finaly offers some perspectives on how cities could at last regenerate themselves and their environment, to reach finally a “positive footprint” and not a negative one. Though clearly an utopia, it provides encouraging examples.
You should read this book if you want a 360-view of cities and their environment, through the lens of better than sustainability, resilience. If you are proficient in one specific field (energy, mobility, urbanism), you may find useful insights on other fields and how to connect them. Examples are very useful, though as often authors focus on the shiny side of their use cases, and it would be worth to dig a bit to better understand challenges and shortcomings of each project and initiative.
Read my full review on Goodreads.
#3 Happy city ★★★★★
This one is a hit, and there are some good reasons for this. Charles Montgomery wrote this book, then started a whole movement and business to support cities that take seriously on the challenge of making their citizens happier.
One of Montgomery main points is that a “happy city” is also a sustainable and resilient city, and a city that delivers economic growth. Though he will not provide theoretical proof of his hypothesis, he nonetheless provides loads of inspiring examples which call to action.
This is a must-read for everybody involved/interested in cities in general, and mobility in particular (since mobility plays a great role in his vision of a happy city).
I can’t resist sharing an excerpt that made me laugh, our american friends being so safety-driven a mere Velib ride takes disproportionate proportions.
“It was absolutely thrilling. I felt free, like Robert Judge the winter rider. But the elements that made this ride thrilling also happened to render it a travel mode unavailable to most other people. You have to be strong and agile to ride a bicycle in city traffic. You need excellent balance and vision. It was absolutely thrilling. I felt free, like Robert Judge the winter rider. But the elements that made this ride thrilling also happened to render it a travel mode unavailable to most other people. You have to be strong and agile to ride a bicycle in city traffic. You need excellent balance and vision. […] I personally like rollercoasters, and I loved the challenge of riding in the Paris traffic. But what is thrilling to me — a slightly reckless, forty-something male — would be terrifying for my mother, or my brother or a child.
Montgomery, Charles. Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design. Penguin Books Ltd.
#2 Re-work ★★★★
Re-work has been written by two award-winning entrepeneurs who launched a series of popular products for collaborative project management, teamwork and anything a startup, entrepreneurs or small teams might need to work effectively.
Why choose this book fitting perfectly in self-development and productivity categories? Well, to achieve a meaningful piece of work it is worth questioning our own habits of working both individually and in team. And this book provides good and minimalist advices for freelances, writers, entrepreneurs and small team managers. Doing more, managing less, having less meetings, do a good product, not a perfect one. And so on. From a theoretical perspective this will not give you much. But its practical advices are all summarised in the table of contents, which means you could just jump to whatever advice looks interesting or useful and read 2–3 insightful pages with examples and ways to apply it. It is more of a motivating tool than anything else.
Read the full review here with some excerpts I picked up.
Bonus track: below a few of the insightful illustrations from the book. One of the lesson I take out of this book is that it is worth teaching and writing (one of their best advice), and it is even better to teach and write everlasting content!
#1 The perfect dictatorship — China in the 21st century ★★★★
This book has been eye-opening on China I visited so many years ago (in 2001). A dictatorship it was, a dictatorship it is still. And a great country yet, with an amazing culture and people.
My selection of this book has more to do with the understanding of the relationship between political order and civil society.
How to foster change if we don’t understand howthe State works, how it behaves and why? And where it comes from? Since the state emerges, at a given point in time, from society and a political context. Then most states’ purpose is some form of stability and self-perpetuation. They usually achieve this through different means, like stability for the sake of stability, even through dictatorship (what Ringen calls a “trivial state”), stability as a “welfare state” (which does not perclude the possibility of going through a period of “enlighten dictatorship” — South Korea being an example), or as a “power state”. This last hypothesis might well apply to China, and it is frightening: an ideology of power (a “Great China”) supported by a sophisticated and ruthless dictatorship that prevails on individuals and smash them when necessary.
Read the full review here with an excerpt I chose as particularly striking.
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