The heart of the city : creating vibrant downtowns for a new century In The Heart of the City distinguished urban planner Alexander Garvin shares lessons on how to plan for a mix of housing businesses and attractions; enhance the public realm; improve mobility; and successfully manage downtown services. Garvin opens the book with diagnoses of downtowns across the United States including the people businesses institutions and public agencies implementing changes. In a review of prescriptions and treatments for any downtown Garvin shares brief accounts of both successes and failures of what individuals with very different objectives have done to change their downtowns. The final chapters look at what is possible for downtowns in the future closing with suggested national state and local legislation to create standard downtown business improvement districts to better manage downtowns. Publisher description