Why Affordable Housing is an Environmental Issue

Improving our cities and suburbs is just as important to environmental sustainability as regulating pollution or conserving undeveloped land, argues Kaid Benfield.

1 minute read

September 25, 2013, 12:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"In order to have any chance at environmental sustainability, we need strong cities and walkable suburbs," writes Benfield.  "They enable living patterns that save energy, reduce automobile dependence and tailpipe emissions, slow the spread of pavement across watersheds, and conserve land, compared to spread-out suburbs.  But, for cities to serve this function, they need to work for people.  And I mean people of all sorts in an increasingly diversifying population, not just creative-class MIllennials with no school-age kids and well-to-do Baby Boomers moving back downtown."

So urban issues that might appear to have no connection to "the environment" - like improving public schools, reducing crime, or protecting affordable housing - are, in fact, important to building sustainability.

"Sustainability isn’t just about numbers, and it isn’t always explicitly about 'the environment,' by which most of us mean issues related to pollution and resource consumption," adds Benfield.  "If our urban solutions don’t work for people – if we don’t make cities wonderful places to live, work, and play – they will never sustain enough favor to work for the planet." 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013 in NRDC Switchboard

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 25, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Western U.S. indicating public lands that would be for sale under a Senate plan in yellow and green.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands

For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

June 19, 2025 - Outdoor Life

Person wearing mask walking through temporary outdoor dining setup lined with bistro lights at dusk in New York City.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?

Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

June 19, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Route 66 motel neon sign.

Albuquerque Route 66 Motels Become Affordable Housing

A $4 million city fund is incentivizing developers to breathe new life into derelict midcentury motels.

30 minutes ago - High Country News

Green public transit bus at stop in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DC Area County Eliminates Bus Fares

Montgomery County joins a growing trend of making transit free.

1 hour ago - The Washington Post

Close-up of full beer glass with purple train-themed design sitting on bar between two frosty tall cans.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?

TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

June 30 - Cities Today

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.