¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥

As the legendary legacy publisher transitions into a new life phase, publisher Heather Boyer and senior editor Stacy Eisenstark reflect on the past and the future of creating books for planners.

Editor’s note: For years, has been a close friend and vital collaborator of Planetizen’s — a true member of the Planetizen family. They have also been one of the more powerful champions of literature for decades. Nearly everyone reading this post probably owns, has read or at least knows of one of the dozens of foundational books they have published. Without them and their , would look far different today.

As Island Press transitions into a new chapter as an imprint of ¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥ we wanted to celebrate the immense contribution they have made to urban planning to date. The following post, written by Island Press staff, offers a look into the future of publishing in the urban design realm. Thank you, Island Press, for all you’ve done, and we look forward to seeing what you accomplish next!

For more than three decades, Island Press has served — and shaped — the urban planning field. Its books have defined the cutting edge of thought and practice on transportation, street design, landscape architecture, and more. Recently, the long-independent publisher became an imprint of ¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥ (PUP), an independent nonprofit publisher with close connections to ¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥ University. Following the January 1 merger, Island Press books are being fully integrated into PUP’s production, distribution, and marketing, while editorial goals remain unchanged. Island Press editors are continuing to acquire books in the built environment, health, food, water, and the natural world.

Here, we talk with publisher Heather Boyer and senior editor Stacy Eisenstark about the future of publishing for planners — and of Island Press.

Heather, when you started at Island Press in the 1990s, it was an environmental book publisher that focused mostly on humanity’s relationship with the natural world — conservation, wildlife management, and ecology. But you helped enlarge Island Press’s focus to include human habitats — the cities and towns we call home. Tell me about that journey for you and for Island Press.

Heather: In the 90s, people were starting to talk about the ills of suburban and the loss of agricultural land more broadly. Island Press looked into book publishing for planners and found that not much was available beyond reports that organizations were generating for their members. We saw an exciting opportunity for expansion into this area.

We published some of the first planning books, like in America with Henry L. Diamond of Beveridge & Diamond and Patrick F. Noonan of the Conservation Fund in 1996. Some experts were wary of putting too much in print because it was somewhat controversial to be openly critical of the automotive or fossil fuel industry. And very few conservation organizations were addressing urban issues.

But we saw that there was a need and a demand for planning books, and the list grew and naturally expanded to include landscape architecture, urban design, and green building, which seemed like a win-win: everyone was happy to say they were saving the planet while saving on energy costs by building green. It took some initiative from Nancy Olsen, the senior editor at the time, to see that there was an opportunity to publish directly for planning professionals.

Stacy, your editorial career began in the natural sciences. How did you come to focus on the built environment?

Stacy: Before Island Press, I acquired natural history and environmental studies books for university presses. There were some opportunities to explore urban ecology and design, but a lot of the work focused on nature as a separate entity from cities. In the last decade, there’s been a broader understanding that cities are part of larger environmental ecosystems.

So, it’s exciting to be able to work on books that look at how nature benefits people in cities — for example, how trees can lower the Urban Heat Index. It’s also nice to look beyond nature and cities, which is just one aspect of how we can make cities more resilient and work better for more people.

You acquire books that center racial, economic and social justice. Why is that so central to this work?

Stacy: I’ve always aspired to put that lens on the books I acquire and develop, but it’s especially important with built environment books. Historically, a lot of communities — especially people of color, poor and working-class communities, LGBTQIA+ communities — have been underrepresented in traditional planning processes and, in some cases, specifically excluded or targeted by harmful practices and policies. So, there is a corrective aspect to centering social, economic, and racial justice in these books. There are lessons to learn — both for traditional planning processes and outside of that. And there’s a lot that needs to be remedied.

To say the least. Over the years, Island Press has become a go-to source for books on planning, transportation, and the built environment more generally. It seems that Island Press has both responded to a growing need for these books and helped create the need by nurturing the burgeoning field.

Heather: Some of both. The field has grown and changed since we started publishing in this area, and we’ve had many opportunities to help guide it. One example is the Guides. NACTO does amazing work, but they’re not book publishers. Their original Urban Bikeway Design Guide was printed in a three-ring binder. I brought a box of those to a conference to gauge the level of interest and found significant enthusiasm beyond NACTO’s membership. But NACTO didn’t have a means to distribute or promote the guides more widely, so, we took on the Bikeway Guide as a standard publishing project. That was followed by the Urban Street Design Guide, which has been formally adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, by state DOTs, and by local transportation entities — actually changing how transportation planners work in some cities.

NACTO has since published five other guides with Island Press, including global guides that reach planners around the world. It’s a great example of the work that Island Press can do to expand the reach of a group that’s not set up to be a publisher or a distributor.

It’s hard in publishing to get a clear sense of whether your books are responding to a need or creating it. But we’ve seen incredible growth in the number of people who are interested in the built environment and urban issues. That means that we’re now competing more with commercial publishers. Two years ago Penguin published a major book for general readers about parking. If you had told me 15 years ago that everyone wanted to read a book about parking, I would have replied that you’re crazy. We’ve seen the same thing with zoning, which used to be a very niche issue.

Perhaps there would not be a mainstream book on parking without the NACTO guides, and without Island Press.

Stacy: That shows the power of a book, right? Because there were all these resources that professionals were relying on — papers and reports and specialized articles — that maybe seemed like enough. But a book has the potential to reach a broader audience. ¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥ allow you to make deeper connections across different fields. While our books may have a primary audience of planners, they are also useful for architects, advocates, and others who aren’t professional planners or in city agencies. And ideally, books can have a longer shelf life than articles or reports, so, 10 years later, a book can be read by a new generation of readers.

Thinking back, is there an Island Press title or topic that saw unexpected success? 

Heather: The most recent example is Killed by a Traffic Engineer by Wes Marshall — a thoroughly researched and accessibly written book that struck a chord with readers beyond its intended audience. The author had a strong following but zero social media presence. Jan Gehl’s Cities for People is another strong seller that came out as the author’s platform was growing rapidly in the US (he was already known in Europe). His book published at a time when people were open to lessons from Europe. Most books with unexpected sales have either fortunate timing, a foundation grant, or a high-profile author.

One notable exception was Wenche Dramstad, James D. Olson, and Richard Forman’s Landscape Ecology Principles in Landscape Architecture and Land-Use Planning which is the smallest book with the longest title at Island Press. Originally used for Forman’s course at Harvard, it was a very accessible 98-page book — much shorter and more visual than any book we had published at the time. I can’t tell you how many conversations we had about whether the numbers would work. But we took a chance, and it was incredibly popular — selling 15,000 copies in its lifetime. That one was a surprise, and it helped us understand the need for books that translate the science into understandable terms for students who need an introduction or for people outside of academia.

What changes have you seen in the planning field since you’ve been at Island Press? And what has Island Press contributed to the field?

Heather: The field has grown and changed in size and in people’s understanding of what planners do. I don’t remember when I first heard the term NIMBY, but everybody knows what that means now. There have been many encouraging changes at all levels of government promoting urban design and transit investments that offer travel alternatives to cars.

Unfortunately, some things haven’t changed: a large sector of the population is fixated on the next new technology, and now it’s autonomous vehicles. We are also seeing advances from previous administrations being dialed back. The positive message here is the growing level of interest in urban planning and design. But, at a policy level we’re moving backwards.

Island Press has done a lot to highlight solutions, as well as problems. Killed by a Traffic Engineer showed that many of our assumptions about traffic engineering are not actually based in science or conceived with the primary goal of safety. ¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥ like Tactical Urbanism by Mike Lydon, and Mikael Colville-Andersen’s forthcoming Analog City, show that there are many low-tech solutions that could be implemented right now.

Stacy: Most readers, myself included, don’t always notice who published a book. But people recognize Island Press books, especially in the fields of planning and transportation. That makes it a lot easier to talk to potential authors. They come to Island Press because they know our mission, what our reach is, and the impact we’ve had on policy and strategies. It’s a unique opportunity as an editor to be able to step into that space and contribute.

These are difficult times for small independent publishers, including Island Press. Island Press recently became an imprint of ¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥. Tell us about the impetus for this merger.

Heather: The market for nonfiction books is really challenging, as is sustainable support for nonprofit organizations. To be able to continue the mission of Island Press we needed the resources and support structure of a larger, like-minded publisher.

Thinking about 2026 and beyond, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities in the planning field?

Heather: A big challenge is finding resources to do the work. Given the lack of support at the federal level, anyone interested in sustainability, in working with vulnerable populations in cities, needs to be supported and funded locally or privately. And there is the challenge of . The narrative has been changing on and mixed-income communities, but it continues to be a struggle.

Stacy: There are some emerging issues that were not previously seen as urgent priorities for cities. Wildfire, for example, is affecting cities beyond the wildland-urban interface: smoke is traveling long distances to densely populated cities that have little experience with wildfire. Climate change is causing more extreme weather and natural disasters in areas that previously hadn’t experienced them.

How can planners — and Island Press/¿ìÉ«Ö±²¥ — meet this moment?

Stacy: Planners can step up and work collaboratively with communities at the local, state, and — at some point — federal level. It’s important to think about community needs in preparing for, adapting to, and recovering from natural disasters. Planners can also help make cities more viable for people at all stages of life. There’s a sense that cities are for young, single people with more life flexibility. I think there are opportunities to think through how cities can be affordable and accessible to people at every life stage.

Heather: Island Press can continue to show what is possible at the local level, where most change happens in cities. For example, we will be publishing two books on , which is a bright spot. It was attacked by the Trump administration but proved to be very successful when implemented. We can continue to highlight these success stories. We can continue to present research and evidence. And we can continue to show that these changes are important, not just for the climate, but for people in cities today.

* This article was originally published on .