About the Author

Mark Francis, a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, is professor of landscape architecture at the University of California, Davis, and Senior Design Consultant with MIG in Berkeley and Davis. Trained in landscape architecture and urban design at Berkeley and Harvard, he is author of more than sixty articles and book chapters translated into a dozen languages. His books include Community Open Spaces (Island Press, 1984), The Meaning of Gardens (MIT, 1990), Public Space (Cambridge, 1992), and The California Landscape Garden Ecology, Culture and Design (California, 1999). His work has focused on the use and meaning of the built and natural landscape. Much of this research has utilized a case study approach to study parks, gardens, public spaces, streets, nearby nature, and urban public life.