mehaffy is the author of "cities alive: jane jacobs, christopher alexander and the roots of the new urban renaissance". the book explores the ambitious ideas behind the united nations’ “new urban agenda” to which mehaffy contributed as a consultant to un-habitat. he is also coauthor, with nikos salingaros, of the 2014 book "design for a living planet", a critique of conventional architectural practice and, as they argue, its wider context of a failing technology. mehaffy is the editor of "a city is not a tree", the 2015 book version of architect christopher alexander's landmark 1965 essay by that title, including new commentaries by mehaffy and other prominent colleagues in urban planning, architecture and other fields. he is the author of "urban form and greenhouse gas emissions: findings, strategies, and design decision support technologies", his ph.d. dissertation, published as a book by delft university of technology. mehaffy is a contributing author to over twenty books, including "the oxford conference: a re-evaluation of education in architecture", and "new urbanism and beyond: designing cities for the future".