Cities as a Climate Change Solution

An article by Linda Poon, Laura Millan Lombraña, and Sam Dodge states a compelling premise. "Cities Are Our Best Bet for Surviving Climate Change" reads the headline.

Cities currently consume two-thirds of the global energy supply and generate three-quarters of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Luckily for human civilization, they’re also extraordinarily motivated to minimize their cost to the climate—and quickly. Because cities are uniquely vulnerable to climate change, they’re also likely to be remade the fastest by the human need to survive and eventually thrive on a warmer planet.

The article proposes a four-step process for cities to adapt to the needs of a changing climate: 1) reconfigure, 2) extend, 3) streamline, and 4) protect. In laying out this four-step process, the article describes planning outcomes like 15-minute cities, street trees, green roofs, public transit, bike infrastructure, energy efficient codes, and more.