The Environmental Urbanist

Cities have both a unique responsibility and a unique opportunity to address climate change.A unique responsiblity because almost everything we do in a city is carbon intensive. From paving roads and driving to urban planning that puts tract housing far away from work and school, to incentives and disincentives that drive people away from or towards acitve transportation. Every choice we make living in a city is magnified when it comes to preventing a climate disaster.At the same time, it is far easier to affect change at a municipal level than it is as a provincial or federal level. Communities can band together aided by proximity, and influence the relatively small number of councillors needed to make change. Cities are also where the battle for climate change will be fought, and where policies will be decided.Every week we explore another piece of the cities and climate change puzzle, and work towards a solutions that keep us, and our planet, healthy and thriving.