“Cities are green” is becoming a common refrain. But Calthorpe argues that a more comprehensive understanding of urbanism at the regional scale provides a better platform to address climate change. In this groundbreaking new work, he shows how such regionally scaled urbanism can be combined with green technology to achieve not only needed reductions in carbon emissions but other critical economies and lifestyle benefits. Rather than just providing another checklist of new energy sources or one dimensional land use alternatives, he combines them into comprehensive national growth scenarios for 2050 and documents their potential impacts. In so doing he powerfully demonstrates that it will take an integrated approach of land use transformation, policy changes, and innovative technology to transition to a low carbon economy. To accomplish this Calthorpe synthesizes thirty years of experience, starting with his ground breaking work in sustainable community design in the 1980s following through to his current leadership in transit-oriented design, regional planning, and land use policy. Peter Calthorpe shows us what is possible using real world examples of innovative design strategies and forward-thinking policies that are already changing the way we live. This provocative and engaging work emerges from Calthorpe’s belief that, just as the last fifty years produced massive changes in our culture, economy and environment, the next fifty will generate changes of an even more profound nature. The book, enhanced by its superb four-color graphics, is a call to action and a road map for moving forward.
Peter Calthorpe is the co-founder of Calthorpe Associates Inc. and the Congress for New Urbanism, focused on advocacy and major projects in urban, new town, and suburban settings in the United States and abroad.
Calthorpe was named one of twenty five "innovators on the cutting edge" by Newsweek magazine for his work redefining the models of urban and suburban growth in America. He has had a long and honored career in urban planning and architecture, to develop an environmental approach to community development and urban design.
His published work includes technical papers, articles for popular magazines, and a number of books, including Sustainable Communities, the Pedestrian Pocket Book, and The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream.
Calthorpe has lectured extensively throughout the United States and the world and has received numerous honors, including two Progressive Architecture Citations, a National AIA Design Award, and two National Endowment for the Arts Grants. He was selected to represent the United States in an exchange with Russia on city and regional planning issues, and was appointed to the President's Council For Sustainable Development.
Introduction Chapter 1. Urbanism and Climate Change Chapter 2. The Fifty Year Experiment Chapter 3. Toward a Green Urban Future Chapter 4. Design for Urbanism Chapter 5. The Urban Footprint Chapter 6. The Urban Network Chapter 7. The California Experiment Chapter 8. Four American Futures Chapter 9. A Sustainable Future
