Charles Marohn’s Strong Towns Trilogy—comprising Confessions of a Recovering Engineer (2021), Strong Towns (2019), and The Housing Trap (2024)—offers a radical rethinking of American urban development rooted in financial resilience, citizen empowerment, and incremental change. Together, these works challenge the dominant suburban growth model, which Marohn characterises as fiscally unsustainable and structurally fragile. Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity introduces the core thesis: that post-war development patterns, dominated by auto-oriented sprawl, produce long-term liabilities that outstrip the revenue they generate. Marohn argues for a return to historically grounded urbanism—dense, walkable, mixed-use neighbourhoods built incrementally and with community involvement. He critiques the top-down, engineering-driven planning model and advocates instead for local experimentation, transparency, and feedback loops. In Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, Marohn, a trained civil engineer, takes direct aim at the traffic engineering profession. He exposes how conventional road design prioritises vehicle throughput at the expense of human life, safety, and urban vitality. Drawing from real-world case studies, he reveals how decisions that seem “technical” often have devastating social consequences, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. The book serves both as a confession and a call to engineers to reconsider their ethical obligations and centre community well-being in their work. The Housing Trap, the trilogy’s final instalment, addresses the structural failures of housing policy. Marohn explores how zoning laws, land-use regulations, and financial incentives have led to a housing system that traps individuals and communities in cycles of instability. Rather than relying on large-scale interventions, he recommends small-scale, locally adaptable solutions, including accessory dwelling units, missing-middle housing, and incremental densification. Throughout the trilogy, Marohn’s tone is direct but empathetic. He combines technical expertise with personal experience and anecdotal narratives, making his work accessible to both professionals and concerned citizens. Central to his philosophy is the notion that “the people closest to the problems are closest to the solutions.” The Strong Towns approach encourages municipalities to prioritise modest investments that build long-term stability rather than short-term growth. These three books are not only critiques but blueprints for change. Together, they provide a holistic framework for making cities more resilient, affordable, and responsive to their residents. For anyone seeking to understand why many cities feel financially strained and physically disconnected—and how to fix that—the Strong Towns trilogy offers both insight and inspiration.
Marohn, C. L. (2019) Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. Hoboken: Wiley.
