The Well-Tempered City ─ What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life

In the vein of Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Edward Glaeser’s Triumph of the City, Jonathan F. P. Rose—a visionary in responsible urban development and renewal—champions the role of cities in addressing the environmental, economic and social challenges of the twenty-first century.

Jonathan F. P. Rose—the man "who repairs the fabric of cities"—has successfully helped to plan or re-develop urban communities around the globe, including New York, Newark, Santa Fe, Denver, and Sao Paolo. Cities are the physical representation of our social behaviors—our economic divides, racial tensions, environmental priorities, and even physical health. Yet, today, with so much crumbling infrastructure, climate change, resource depletion, and sprawl, the way we live is out of sync with nature and with ourselves.

The Well-Tempered City is an interdisciplinary exploration of the development of cities from the beginning of civilization to the present, revealing the conditions that gave rise to the happiest communities, and the qualities that define them. Rose addresses serious questions about the problems threatening our urban centers, and offers solutions for "balancing prosperity and well-being with efficiency and equality in ways that continually restore the city’s social and natural capital."

Cities are the birthplaces of civilization, the centers of culture, trade, and progress, cauldrons of opportunity and the likely home of seventy percent of the world’s population by 2050. A celebration of the city and an impassioned argument for its role in addressing the important issues in these volatile times, The Well-Tempered City is a reasoned, hopeful blueprint for fostering a thriving metropolis.

The Well-Tempered City is illustrated with black-and-white photos throughout.