Updating the American Dream
Innovative architect and urban thinker Peter Calthorpe has directly and indirectly been a huge influence on the field of sustainable communities, particularly with respect to the very important subjects of smart regional thinking and transit-oriented development. His 1993 book The Next American Metropolis motivated yours truly to enter the field and should be required reading for everyone interested in the environment and cities. His latest is Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change.
In this two-minute video, Peter summarizes as well as anyone why we must aspire to more sustainable communities. It was produced by the video communications platform genConnect. Enjoy:
This post originally appeared on the NRDC's Switchboard blog.
Kaid Benfield is the director of the Sustainable Communities program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law, co-founder of the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system, and co-founder of Smart Growth America coalition, and author of several books on cities, smart growth and sprawl.
Watch for Kaid’s forthcoming book,
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