• Mapping 50-year resilience in a vulnerable region

    Just Imagine SWLA is a long-term resilience plan for Calcasieu and Cameron parishes in Louisiana. The Community Foundation Southwest Louisiana and Urban Design Associates won a 2024 CNU Charter Award in The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town category.
    Southwest Louisiana, comprising Calcasieu and Cameron parishes, is larger than Rhode Island or Delaware. The region is extremely low and vulnerable to sea-level rise and storm surge. The largest city, Lake Charles, is 30 miles inland and only 15 feet above sea level. Four federally designated...Read more

  • Dabbawalla: Low-carbon urban delivery

    The traditional, low-tech system of delivering lunches in India's largest city is an inspirational model to sustainably reduce carbon emissions.
    Every visit to Bombay (Mumbai) renews my fascination with the service that delivers home-cooked lunches to office workers. The service is provided by Dabbawalla, which literally translates to “one who carries a box,” a tiffin, a modular stainless steel lunch container. For the past 134 years, they...Read more

  • From COP28 to green cities: A call to action

    Sustainable urban design, policy advocacy, and citizen engagement are increasingly important to transform global climate goals into local realities after the UN Climate Change Conference.
    The COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, held from 30 November to 13 December 2023, marked a significant milestone in global efforts to address climate change. With over 85,000 participants, including more than 150 Heads of State and Government, the conference concluded with a...Read more

  • Group forms to promote international New Urbanism, eyes Ukraine

    Team 11, named after a UN sustainable development goal, wants CNU members to have a more significant impact worldwide to address climate change and other issues. The group is looking to sponsor a pilot project in Ukraine.
    A group has formed to advance an international exchange of ideas that melds the Charter of the New Urbanism with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable). Called Team 11 in reference to the UN’s goal, the name is also a...Read more