• The urban dimensions of climate change: Lessons for a New Urbanism

    Reining in sprawl is still the most important first step in transitioning to a more benign kind of settlement, and more responsible planning. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is only one of many benefits—but it is a significant one.
    There is an intriguing paradox within the inventories of greenhouse gas emissions per capita—the emissions that each of us generates through our daily activities of moving, interacting, and consuming resources. Those who live in an average settlement in the United States consume and emit on average...Read more

  • Compact living and climate innovation

    A city's density of habitation is a powerful tool to make a city more efficient. Here's how the most innovative cities are using it to fight climate change.
    Density of population and buildings defines cities in general, but for Urban Climate Innovation Labs—cities that are finding especially creative ways to solve the world’s climate problems—it can be a crucial advantage. A city’s density of habitation, especially its quantity of high-occupancy...Read more

  • New Urbanism in the Wildland Urban Interface

    How urbanism could help to solve problems like the Paradise disaster.
    New urbanists have had tremendous influence on urban planning in recent decades—see 25 Greats Ideas of the New Urbanism . Often their work turns out to be prescient, but ignored. Such is the case with disasters like the Paradise, California, fire in November. The damage done to a city of 26,000 was...Read more

  • Pattern retrofit for resilience: An introduction

    Pattern retrofit is a necessary step to reforming dysfunctional metropolises impacted by global capital. This is part 1 of a series.
    Have you heard of the McRefugees? These are individuals in Hong Kong, whose housing options have become so costly that they are sleeping in 24-hour McDonald’s. The number of McRefugees in Hong Kong has expanded several fold in the past year. This parabolic change is a clue that something at a scale...Read more