A gardening supply shortage during the pandemic showed our ill-preparedness to grow our own food. Permanent backyard veggie gardens can help us survive the next crisis, and provide everyday benefits.
Some new habits we’ve seen emerging during the pandemic could help us solve tricky problems like traffic congestion, which have challenged our cities for a long time.
Looking south from New York City’s Central Park.
Ajay Suresh/Wikipedia
Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of many great North American city parks, understood that ready access to nature made cities healthier places to live.
A cyclist rides in The Mall, London, May 10 2020.
EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER
Recent extreme events in Australia, with torrential rain and floods following devastating bushfires, have focused the World Urban Forum’s attention on the urgency of climate action.
The lure of suburbia clearly remains strong. To deal with sprawl, planners need to increase urban density in a way that resonates with the leafy green qualities of suburbia that residents value.
Julian Bolleter
Residents of the ‘leafy suburbs’ will continue to fear what they might lose to increasing urban density without an explicit planning approach that enhances green space in affected neighbourhoods.
Endless growth is not a sustainable option for fast-growing Australian cities like Melbourne.
Nils Versemann/Shutterstock
The demands on land and resources from our fast-growing cities are unsustainable, as are the wastes they produce. Yet still our leaders act as if unlimited growth is possible.
Ecological economics focuses on sustainability and development, rather than the traditional economic concerts of efficiency and growth.
thodonal88/Shutterstock
Ecological economics focuses on sustainability and development rather than efficiency and growth. Cities, as home to 70-80% of economic activity, are at the heart of the challenge of being sustainable.
The costs of keeping a roof over our heads create a dependence on market growth that puts low-consumption, sustainable living out of reach for many of us.
Glenn Hunt/AAP
The cost of land and, in turn, housing forces people to buy into the rules of market capitalism, making it very hard to ‘downshift’ from consumer lifestyles. But what if we rethink public housing?
Urban greening is just one aspect of the transformation required to ensure our future cities are sustainable, liveable places.
Matt Leane/Shutterstock
Future Earth Australia is working to create a long-term national plan of transformation for our cities. As part of this, everyone in Australia is invited to have their say in a survey.
E-scooters ready for action in Santiago, Chile.
Jeremiah Johnson
Hot weather kills more Americans yearly on average than floods, tornadoes or hurricanes. Three scholars explain how cities can prepare and help residents stay cool.
Landcorp’s WGV residential development in Fremantle is demonstrating the benefits of making the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Josh Byrne & Associates
The debate about the transition away from fossil fuels has focused on costs, but right here in Australia we have examples of the benefits of sustainable new energy sources for our cities.
Ferrara, Italy bears some resemblance to da Vinci’s design.
hectorlo/Flickr.
Trees clean urban air, store carbon, slow floodwaters and can be used to design safer streets. Scholars are starting to calculate what these services are worth – a fitting topic for Arbor Day.
The main concern when talking about the liveability of a city like Melbourne should be sustaining the health and well-being of residents.
Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock
Rather than mourn the end of a seven-year reign as ‘world’s most liveable city’, Melbourne could raise its sights to become more liveable, healthy and sustainable for all who live in the city.
Traffic flows into Manhattan from Brooklyn over the Williamsburg Bridge.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Urban farming can make it easier for city residents to obtain healthy, affordable food. But to raise big yields from small pieces of land, farmers need training and support.
This narrow street, lined with parked cars but devoid of people, is both unwelcoming and unsafe for cyclists.
Anne Lusk
Minorities are driving the bicycling boom, but bike infrastructure investments often neglect their needs. A new study explores what riders in low-income and minority neighborhoods want.