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."
Read the full story: What makes cities green also makes them great
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.
Voters choose public transit, approve $31 billion in funding
Approved projects include $101,000 for reduced-cost transit in a Michigan town and $14 billion for regional transit in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Study reveals best places in the U.S. for cycling, walking
New research from Streetlight Data examines bicycle and pedestrian miles per capita in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population.
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.
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