Peter Calthorpe: Urban Planet: Ecology, Community, and Growth Through the Next Century
Aug 6, 2020
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Peter Calthorpe, urban designer, planner, and architect, discusses the power and potential of cities in addressing long-term challenges such as climate change. He explores urban development and transportation solutions in Vietnam, the impact of urban living on the spread of COVID-19, transforming rooftops into mini parks and gardens, and efforts to change urban development in China while addressing the housing crisis.
Smart urban design, mixed-use developments, and walkability are essential for sustainable cities.
Rethinking urban form and promoting transit-oriented development can alleviate the housing crisis.
Prioritizing transit, promoting bus rapid transit systems, and creating auto-free streets can address transportation challenges.
Deep dives
The Importance of Cities and Urban Design
Cities are crucial for civilization and play a major role in shaping our lives, behaviors, and relationships. They are the most potent tool we have to confront long-term challenges and drive innovation, economic growth, and sustainability. With the majority of the global population residing in cities and urban areas, it is essential to prioritize smart urban design, mixed-use developments, and walkability.
The Need for Compact, Infill Housing
The housing crisis, especially in places like California, requires a shift towards more compact, infill housing. By rethinking urban form and promoting transit-oriented development, we can build smaller, more affordable housing units in walkable neighborhoods. This approach not only saves valuable land space but also reduces infrastructure costs, energy consumption, and carbon emissions.
Rethinking Transportation and Mobility
Addressing transportation challenges and reducing congestion is critical in building sustainable cities. By prioritizing transit, promoting bus rapid transit systems, and creating auto-free streets for bikes and pedestrians, we can enhance mobility, reduce vehicle miles traveled, and improve air quality.
Transforming Underutilized Land
There is great potential in repurposing underutilized commercial land and transforming it into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods. By focusing on areas like the El Camino Grand Boulevard in California or ribbons of underutilized commercial land around the San Francisco Bay Area, we can create opportunities for affordable housing, open green spaces, and enhance the economic well-being of communities.
Universal Principles for Better Cities
To create better cities, we must prioritize principles such as understanding and preserving natural ecologies, embracing mixed-use developments, promoting walkability, enhancing public spaces, and investing in sustainable transportation systems. These principles should be adapted and implemented with precision based on the unique needs and characteristics of each city.
Throughout Peter Calthorpe's decade-spanning career in urban design, planning, and architecture, he has developed and practiced the key principles of New Urbanism: that the most successful places are diverse in uses and users, are scaled to the pedestrian and human interaction, and are environmentally sustainable.
Calthorpe developed the concept of Transit Oriented Development, a strategy that is now the foundation of many regional policies and city plans around the world. His work internationally has demonstrated that community design with a focus on environmental sustainability and human scale can be adapted throughout the globe. Most recently Calthorpe launched the urban-planning software UrbanFootprint which models the diverse impacts of urban planning scenarios for designers and planners working for cities, businesses, public agencies and nonprofits.
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