Any prospect for the green initiatives to produce desired results requires more than just aggressive reduction targets, according to The Economist. It comes down to scope and suitability, the two factors that vary greatly from city to city.
"[F]or climate-change plans to work, the actions you take have to be local, tailored to the particular needs of each city," explains Missy Stults in the article. "One particular strength of urban, as opposed to national or even state climate-change policy, particularly in a country as vast as America, is that cities are different; what works in one may not in another."
"Portland's plan, for instance, calls for 90% of its citizens to be able to walk or bicycle 'to meet all basic, daily non-work needs' by 2030: a laudable and achievable goal there, but far more difficult in sprawling cities such as Los Angeles or Houston. New York's PlaNYC pays more attention to wetlands and coastal issues than CCAP does, because New York has more coastline and waterways than Chicago."
Read the full story: Greening the concrete jungle
A C40-Ready Framework for Local Climate Action in Santa Monica
Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole outlines the city's actions and policies to realize its ambitious C40 goals.
Lawsuit Puts Climate Change Preparation Onus On Cities
A class-action lawsuit filed by Farmers Insurance Co. against the city of Chicago raises questions on municipal responsibility to prepare against 'foreseeable risk.'
World Bank: Carbon Pricing Key to Tackling Climate Change and Poverty
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim explains why climate change is a poverty issue - and why we must tackle it today to ensure that carbon emissions do not continue rising after 2016. Establishing a world price on carbon will be difficult to achieve.
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.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
One of Denver’s busiest corridors to gain BRT
The project will span 18 miles and contain 74 bus rapid transit stations.
275,000 bus trips are at stake on Seattle's ballot
If passed, the Seattle Transit Measure would trigger a 0.3% sales tax and raise an average of $138 million per year to maintain and expand Seattle’s bus services.
Texas may pay Israeli company billions to ease water woes
Texas awarded IDE Technologies the contract for its Harbor Island project, which is slated to become the Western Hemisphere's largest desalination plant.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority