Peter Calthorpe's New Book.

“I take it as a given that climate change is an imminent threat and potentially catastrophic,” Peter Calthorpe declares in the first sentence of the first chapter of this short and direct book. “The science is now clear that we are day by day contributing to our own demise.”

To avoid a dismal fate, Calthorpe argues, we will have to realize something that many Americans have yet to understand: “Urbanism is the most cost-effective solution to climate change.” Compact, walkable development, backed up by simple conservation technologies, “can have a major impact in reducing carbon emissions and energy demand.”

Calthorpe’s book, 126 pages plus footnotes and other auxiliary matter, is a densely packed, yet concise overview of the troubling situation we all find ourselves in. It captures the essentials of the climate crisis and advances a thoroughly documented argument about how global warming might be held at bay — all while making readers aware of what’s good about urban life. Read it and you’ll understand the big picture.