Thinking “Incrementally”: Addressing the Global Housing Deficit by Engaging the Poor
Thinking “Incrementally”: Addressing the Global Housing Deficit by Engaging the Poor
Surprising many in the architectural community, this year’s prestigious Pritzker Prize went to Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena. Though the award—often regarded as the Nobel Prize of architecture—prompts images of iconic skyscrapers or cultural centers, Aravena initially achieved fame for his firm’s ...
Tools for Developing Building Efficiency Goals and Tracking Performance
Tools for Developing Building Efficiency Goals and Tracking Performance
Gaurav Sharma is a property developer in Thane, a satellite city of Mumbai. His family firm prides itself on supplying high-quality, environmentally-friendly residential housing to India’s growing urban middle and upper-middle class. By setting ambitious efficiency goals for this new ...
Natural Infrastructure Could Help Solve Brazilian Cities’ Water Crises
Natural Infrastructure Could Help Solve Brazilian Cities’ Water Crises
Leia este post em Português. Serious water crises have plagued Brazil’s major cities in recent years. Severe pollution in Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay is jeopardizing sailing and other water sports at the upcoming Olympic Games. A historic drought from 2013 to 2015 in São Paulo ...
In Cities’ War Against Climate Change, Heating and Cooling, Transport Are Key Battlegrounds
In Cities’ War Against Climate Change, Heating and Cooling, Transport Are Key Battlegrounds
“If you want to win the climate change battle, it will be fought in the cities of the world,” WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer told participants at a forum on the role of urban areas in the global shift to clean ...
Making Climate Resilience a Core Part of City Development
Making Climate Resilience a Core Part of City Development
As home to more than half the world’s population, cities are some of the places most vulnerable to the impacts of a warmer world. Yet in many ways, they’re still not equipped to deal with the challenges climate change presents. ...
Solving the Fresh Water Crisis
Solving the Fresh Water Crisis
This article was originally posted on the Pacific Standard. For the past five years, the World Economic Forum has listed water crises among the world’s top global risks, alongside others like “major systemic financial failure” and cyberattacks. Unfortunately, the ranking has proven ...
4 Lessons on Scaling Up Sustainable Transport in US and Chinese Cities
4 Lessons on Scaling Up Sustainable Transport in US and Chinese Cities
The world’s two-largest emitters have a lot to learn from each other—especially on transport. Transportation is already a major source of CO2 emissions in both China and the United States—at 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively. The percentage of people traveling by car ...
23 Chinese Cities Commit to Peak Carbon Emissions by 2030
23 Chinese Cities Commit to Peak Carbon Emissions by 2030
More than half the world’s people live in cities, and cities are responsible for more than 70 percent of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions on Earth. These dramatic statistics mean cities have a critical role to play in addressing climate change. This ...
From Bogota to Belgrade, Cities Commit to Energy-Efficient Buildings
From Bogota to Belgrade, Cities Commit to Energy-Efficient Buildings
Around the world, urban leaders including university presidents, renowned architects, city mayors and financial managers are recognizing the need to manage explosive energy demand growth from rapid urbanization. But changing business-as-usual development is not an easy task. Today, 12 new ...
Creating “Super-Blocks” in Barcelona
Creating “Super-Blocks” in Barcelona
Barcelona is re-designing its streets; city planners released a new plan that takes city spaces back from cars, for the people. Re-orienting the city to the human scale, Barcelona’s leaders have decided to create more space for walking and cycling, ...