A recent editorial argues that creating cities that consume less energy and emit less pollution will also help us create attractive and healthy places to live.
"Evidence around the world shows higher-density, walkable cities with excellent public transit have lower automobile dependence, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, urban planning represents a major opportunity for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions."
"For example, Peter Newman and Jeffrey Kenworthy show that per capita transportation energy use in sprawling automobile-dependent Houston is over 70 gigajoules (GJ) per year, while transit-oriented Hong Kong comes in at less than 10 GJ. European cities like Paris, Copenhagen, London, Vienna, Munich, and Amsterdam come in around 20 GJ."
"Green cities provide great mobility options, reduced public health costs from fewer traffic collisions and more active lifestyles, increased social capital from greater social interaction, more efficient infrastructure provision, protection of agricultural land from sprawl, and greater emphasis on beauty and livability -- qualities everyone can embrace.
That the climate crisis compels change is not a bad thing."
