An enormous orange compendium, The Endless City approaches architecture itself in scale, scope and design. All of the little details are right, from its visually comfortable grid to the stunning panoramic long-exposure photos of cities and urban sprawl. The result of a joint project between The London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society, the book contains so much data, information and statistics that some facts even needed to spill some over onto the cover. Despite the imposing cover, the information and opinions within prove not only to educate but also to inspire.

Before discussing any book on urban planning, it's worth first addressing the elephant in the room, and her name is Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs stands as a triumph of urban planning literature. By criticizing the architecture establishment and deriding the work of Robert Moses in reshaping New York, Jacobs entrenched herself into the urban planning cannon. Jacobs' work is small, accessible, and heartfelt. Anyone who has ever walked through an empty park, or pondered why portions of cities that governments push toward growth often fall into disarray would be well served examining her work. The Death and Life of Great American Cities reads as a cautionary tale for anyone hoping to adopt Le Corbusier's towers and parks as a mode for urban planning (as though walking past any project in America wouldn't be enough). Jacobs speaks lovingly about the diversity of the city streets, the need for a heterogeneous population and a "neighborhood" actively engaged in monitoring or policing its own behavior and growth. Walking down the quirky and vibrant streets of lower Manhattan, I can't help but feel that any other thesis would be tragically misguided. Consequently, I remained concerned until reading this book that urban planners might still hold some megalomaniacal tendencies. I was proven wrong only part way into the introduction and I still had a lot more to learn.

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