Green Infrastructure

A Sustainable Future for LA: Updating the OurCounty Plan
Los Angeles County is updating its Sustainability Plan to refine its vision for climate action, environmental justice, and community well-being, with residents encouraged to participate by taking the OurCounty 2025 Update Community Survey.

Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.

New Interactive Tool Helps Cities Assess and Strengthen Urban Tree Canopies
A new national tree canopy assessment tool, available at TreesAtWork.org, provides high-resolution data to help cities track tree cover changes, prioritize planting efforts, and enhance urban resilience.

How US Communities Are Building Resilience Against Flooding
Flooding causes over $400 billion in damage in the United States every year.

How Cities Are Adopting Green Solutions to Combat Flooding
Cities are increasingly adopting nature-based solutions like floodable parks and green roofs to combat flooding, offering cost-effective, multifunctional benefits while requiring careful planning and integration with traditional infrastructure.

Cities Prioritize Urban Reforestation to Combat Heat and Revitalize Communities
Cities like Phoenix, Chicago, and Boise are prioritizing urban reforestation as critical green infrastructure to combat extreme heat, address environmental inequities, and foster community revitalization.

Exposition Park’s $351.5 Million Transformation
This revitalization will create vital green spaces, improve accessibility, and enhance connections with community, making Exposition Park a central hub for recreation and culture in Los Angeles.

Study: Urban Trees Lose Cooling Benefits in Extreme Heat
A robust tree canopy can help reduce the urban heat island effect and lower air temperatures, but the impact is reduced as temperatures rise.

Advancing Sustainability and Resilience Through Parks
The Urban Land Institute offers fact sheets describing five innovative ways that parks can reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate threats while advancing health, equity, and quality of life in urban areas.

Study: D.C.’s Poorest Neighborhoods Are Most Vulnerable to Stormwater
Lack of gray and green infrastructure in the city’s densest communities, particularly in historically Black Southeast D.C., has led to higher amounts of flooding in those neighborhoods.

Opinion: Cities Need Green Infrastructure to Weather Future Storms
How ‘sponge cities’ can protect residents and conserve water.

Building ‘Sponge Cities’
How China embarked on an ambitious national plan to capture stormwater.

How Nonprofits Are Shaping Sustainable Cities
Learn about nonprofits' pivotal role in urban sustainability, from policy advocacy to launching eco-initiatives that are transforming cityscapes for the better.

How Capturing Rainwater Can Make Cities Safer, More Resilient
Green infrastructure can help prevent flooding and replenish groundwater supplies, preventing subsidence that makes land sink.

The Future of Federal Funding for Green City Initiatives
Explore the trajectory of federal investment in green city projects, focusing on sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, and eco-friendly policies.

Flood Resilience Through Green Infrastructure
Cities like New York and Los Angeles are moving to build green infrastructure as the need for spongier urban spaces becomes more apparent.

FEMA Climate Resilience Loans Target Small Communities
A new loan program reduces the bureaucratic hurdles to implementing small-scale climate adaptation projects.

NYC Planning Commission Approves ‘City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality’
The first of three elements of the City of Yes rezoning proposal aims to remove barriers to building green infrastructure.

Can New York City Go Green Without Renewable Rikers?
New York City’s bold proposal to close the jail on Rikers Island and replace it with green infrastructure is in jeopardy. Will this compromise the city’s ambitious climate goals?

Report: Cities’ Climate Plans Fail to Include Workforce Development
While a few cities have detailed goals and investment strategies for building their green workforce, most U.S. cities fail to address the need for the training and education of a new generation of workers.
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service