Written by noted urban planner Pedro Ortiz, The Art of Shaping the Metropolis presents an innovative, agile solution for managing urban growth that enhances economic activity, environmental stability, and quality of life. It provides a practical tool kit for planning professionals, public officials and metropolitan management decision makers that can be used practically anywhere in the world, exploring the basic principles of his philosophy, beginning with the notion that we must accept growth rather than continue to ignore it.

Ortiz developed the Madrid Regional Plan in 1996, which created a revolutionary method of metropolitan planning – the Metro-Matrix Method – which successfully addressed Madrid’s explosive urban growth issues, and the details of this plan are outlined clearly in this new book.

The Art of Shaping the Metropolis details new rubrics to identify the process of growth and its evolution, new tools to monitor and gauge them, and new methods to synthesize them into a professional praxis that will be sustainable for the long term. Ortiz demonstrates how metropolises can be organized for a future that preserves the historic nucleus of the city and the environment, while providing for the necessary sustainable expansion of transportation, housing, and industrial facilities.

Pedro B. Ortiz is an acclaimed World Bank Senior Urban Planner and creator of the Madrid Regional Plan, the ORT (Ordenacion Reticular del Territorio); he is presently working on a number of similar projects internationally. Ortiz is the Vice President and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Urban Development Association, where he advises planners and government officials around the world on development issues. He is also a visiting professor at the Politenico di Milano. He lives in Washington, DC. For more information visit www.ShapingTheMetropolis.com