Human Settlement in the Service Economy Era : An Evolutionary Perspective

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This book addresses an urgent need to rethink the future of human settlement in the context of significant economic, social and environmental changes, arguing that we must look beyond our current paradigm of ‘sustainability’ to envision a continuously evolving framework for human settlements. The book tackles the role of the service economy in human settlement evolution, filling a major gap in the literature.  While service-driven business models are already regularly evaluated and utilized, the social challenges of the service economy – and its positive impacts in exacerbating economic and environmental crises – are poorly understood from the point of view of human settlement evolution. The chapters in this book, based on a new theoretical approach centered around post-industrial and post-anthropocentric perspectives, highlight the need for the innovative design and development of human settlements. The book proposes a framework of six strategies for evolving human settlements that integrates economic, social, and environmental dimensions and explains the logic of the evolutionary path. A set of case studies illustrates practical applications of post-industrial settlements building through the prism of a suggested innovative holistic approach. With its innovative approach and blend of theory and real-world considerations, this book will be a highly valuable read for an interdisciplinary audience of scholars from economics, business, sociology, urban planning, geography, sustainability studies and more.