Encouraging compact land use by allowing density, building near transit, and eliminating parking minimums can have a powerful effect on the emissions a city generates.
Liberal cities around the country have mayors who love to talk about climate change, but while there are proven strategies to curb emissions in cities, many of these same mayors are afraid to upset the status quo. Transportation is the main source of emissions in the United States, so "[m]ayors can play a big role in reducing per capita energy consumption by facilitating more efficient modes of travel and more compact land use," argues Angie Schmitt.
Eliminating parking requirements is one strategy that's been implemented in Mexico City. Parking requirements make building more expensive and serve as built-in support for private vehicles over public transit. While a few U.S. cities have taken steps to reduce some requirements, none has gone as far as the Mexican capital.
Other strategies Schmitt champions in her article include creating space for sustainable transit in the form of bus and bike lanes, allowing housing near transit, and narrowing streets and slowing vehicle traffic to make the public realm safer for walkers and bikers.
Read the full story: You’re No “Climate Mayor” If You’re Not Doing These Four Things
In a twist, Baltimore residents ask for less parking
A grocery store developer is asking to build more off-street parking than the city's new regulations allow, as well as 6 curbside spots that would replace an existing bus lane.
EPA Plans “Largest Deregulatory Action” in History
The agency plans to repeal a key 2009 rule that underpins the government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
LA’s Trees Absorb More Carbon Than Expected, But Can’t Do It Alone
A USC study finds that Los Angeles’ urban trees absorb more carbon than expected, but while they provide crucial environmental benefits, they cannot replace the urgent need for systemic emissions reductions.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority