• Connecting to a hidden natural asset

    A CNU Legacy Project explores the potential of an underutilized creek corridor that runs through more than dozen neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky.
    The South Fork of Beargrass Creek meanders through 13 or 14 diverse neighborhoods in Louisville, Kentucky, yet few nearby residents take much notice of the waterway. The creek has long been channelized, hidden, and used as part of the city’s stormwater system. During storm events, overflows often...Read more

  • 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