In this commentary from the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, Worldchanging's Alex Steffen looks beyond the quick fixes and geoengineering and notes that making cities more sustainable will help fight climate change.
"Cities offer us powerful leverage on our most stubborn, wasteful practices. Long commutes in our cars, big power bills from our energy-hogging buildings, shopping trips to buy stuff that'll spend a few short months in our homes and long centuries in our landfills.
These are unsustainable behaviors. And they're so difficult to change because they're spun into the very fabric of our cities and sprawling suburbs. Reweave that fabric, and we find change much easier."
Read the full story: Reinventing cities critical to climate
Is the Urban Form Sustainable?
One author offers a framework for resilience that rethinks common assumptions about the inevitability of cities as we know them.
Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023
The world is changing, and planning with it.
U.S. Mayors List Infrastructure as 2023’s Top Concern
The National League of Cities (NLC) has published an analysis of mayoral speeches from various U.S. cities, along with Census data and resident sentiments, in the latest edition of the annual “State of the Cities” report.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
HUD modernizes 50-year-old manufactured housing framework
The Next Generation Manufactured Housing Action Plan establishes new energy-efficiency standards for manufactured homes, and new guidelines for anchoring them.
Data reveals that NYC’s bet on congestion pricing has paid off
After almost two years of the program, reports show positive impacts on traffic and air quality and no disruptions to parking.
How Chicago, New York and Seattle are funding transit projects amid tough times
Notes from the American Public Transportation Association's TransForm conference in Chicago.
Transport for London tackles hate crime spike with free bystander training
Recorded hate crime offences on the London's transport network have increased by 36 per cent.
Denver is solving homelessness. Why aren't the rest of us?
Since 2023, Denver's street homeless population has decreased by 64%, proving that effective tools exist to support those in need of housing.
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.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority