Posts tagged with 'livable cities'
Greening the Jukskei River: Scaling Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Johannesburg, South Africa
Greening the Jukskei River: Scaling Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Johannesburg, South Africa
Alexandra Township is a 20-square-block enclave in the heart of Johannesburg, South Africa’s northern suburbs. Established in 1902, the township was built to house 750,000 residents. Today, it is home to more than 1.2 million. Despite efforts to increase waste ...
The Importance of Differential Vulnerability in Resilience Planning
The Importance of Differential Vulnerability in Resilience Planning
India is the seventh most climate-vulnerable country in the world, with nine of its states among the top 50 most vulnerable regions globally. The country’s cities are at the forefront of the climate crisis with more than 80% of the urban population living in ...
Grassroots Action Against Polluted Skies: How Jakarta's Urban Villages Tackle Air Pollution 
Grassroots Action Against Polluted Skies: How Jakarta’s Urban Villages Tackle Air Pollution 
On a Sunday afternoon in September 2023, a group of about 30 individuals, including a group of mostly female neighbors from nine kampungs (a common term for “urban villages” or “informal settlements” across multiple languages and nations in Southeast Asia) ...
How 'Complete Streets' Are Creating Safer, More Sustainable Cities in Brazil
How ‘Complete Streets’ Are Creating Safer, More Sustainable Cities in Brazil
Urban development in many cities around the world prioritizes making space for cars over pedestrians, cyclists or public transportation. In Brazil, this design led to an average of more than 30,000 annual road crash fatalities nationwide by the turn of the century, ...
How Data and Integrated Planning Approaches Can Help Cities Fight Air Pollution 
How Data and Integrated Planning Approaches Can Help Cities Fight Air Pollution 
In Bogotá, Colombia, over 3,000 people die prematurely each year due to exposure to air pollution—namely from PM2.5, a fine particulate matter produced by vehicle exhaust, burning and industrial outputs. Bogotá is not alone: According to 2021 data, of 174 ...
The Future of Extreme Heat in Cities: What We Know — and What We Don’t
The Future of Extreme Heat in Cities: What We Know — and What We Don’t
The past year registered record-shattering global temperatures. People around the world are already witnessing epic heat waves, wildfires and drought at 1.1 degrees C (2 degrees F) of global warming, compared to pre-industrial averages. With current policies putting the world on ...
Enabling a 'Deep Dive' Approach to Creating Urban Transformation
Enabling a ‘Deep Dive’ Approach to Creating Urban Transformation
Today’s city leaders face a level of complexity and rapid pace of change that can be overwhelming. Particularly in developing countries, urbanization is unfolding quickly and often haphazardly. One in three urban residents worldwide lack adequate access to at least ...
Trees for Cities: Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in India
Trees for Cities: Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in India
Whether one seeks an escape from Delhi’s scorching summer heat or a winter afternoon basking in the sun, Sanjay Van National Park, one of the city’s few surviving urban forests, comes to mind. Mangalavanam in Kochi or Shalimar Bagh in ...
South African Cities Show Commitment to Accelerate Water Resilience at 2023 UN Water Conference
South African Cities Show Commitment to Accelerate Water Resilience at 2023 UN Water Conference
South Africa’s cities are economic engines, drawing workers across the country and the continent. Of the country’s 58.8 million population, 68% live in urban areas. Between 2000 and 2014, urban area in South Africa expanded by 1,464 km2. Population projections ...
Curitiba Is Evolving But Remains a Model for Urban Sustainability
Curitiba Is Evolving But Remains a Model for Urban Sustainability
I recently had the pleasure of re-visiting Curitiba, Brazil, thanks to an invitation from the Smart Cities Expo. I made my first pilgrimage in 2000, when Bogotá was implementing its bus rapid transit system, Transmilenio, and returned twice after that. ...
What Are We Learning About Urban Wellbeing During COVID-19?
What Are We Learning About Urban Wellbeing During COVID-19?
In recent years, many cities have launched new efforts to build healthier urban environments – happier, safer and cleaner places to work and play. Then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. But in many ways, it laid bare the ...
Using Cycling as an Indicator for Urban Quality of Life
Using Cycling as an Indicator for Urban Quality of Life
Metropolitan areas around the world struggle with the same problem: More people means more traffic. If the majority of residents and workers use private vehicles, this leads to more congestion and emissions, more road crashes, lower air quality and therefore ...
The Top Urban Stories From a Year of Pandemic
The Top Urban Stories From a Year of Pandemic
As 2021 closes, most cities around the world continue to grapple with the uncertainty of a pandemic now in its second year. Amid dips and rises in cases, the emergence of new variants, and the ongoing challenge of vaccinating the ...
Invest in Walking and Cycling For Sustainable, Safe Cities. Here’s How.
Invest in Walking and Cycling For Sustainable, Safe Cities. Here’s How.
Traditional, car-centric transport planning has not only increased greenhouse gas emissions, but has also detrimentally impacted air quality, road injuries and fatalities, and traffic congestion. As the world faces the climate crisis and continues to face a growing global road ...
How Germany Is Working to Translate the Benefits of Active Mobility into Meaningful Action
How Germany Is Working to Translate the Benefits of Active Mobility into Meaningful Action
Electric vehicles may own the headlines, but our feet remain the most environmentally friendly means of travel, closely followed by bicycles, skateboards, scooters, tricycles and other active, non-motorized modes. Not only does zero-emission active mobility help protect the climate and ...
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