This innovative book investigates the concept of collapse in terms of our built environment
exploring the future transition of modern cities towards scenarios very different from the
current promises of progress and development. This is not a book about the end of the world and
hopeless apocalyptic scenarios. It is about understanding change in how and where we live.
Collapse is inevitable but in the built environment collapse could imply a manageable
situation an opportunity for change or a devastating reality. Collapsing gracefully means that
there might be better ways to coexist with collapse if we learn more about it and commit to
rebuild our civilisations in ways that avoid its worst effects. This book uses a wide range of
practical examples to study critical changes in the built environment to contextualise and
visualise what collapse looks like to see if it is possible to buffer its effects in places
already collapsing and to propose ways to develop greater resilience. The book challenges all
agents and institutions in modern cities their designers and planners as well as their
residents and users to think differently about built environment so as to ease our coexistence
with collapse and not contribute to its causes. .
