Sustainable Urban Development
With cities expected to host about 70 percent of the world's population, sustainable urban development is key to making communities worldwide more resilient against the growing threat of climate change. Find out about the latest urban practices from across the world aiming to make our cities more sustainable and inclusive in these good-news stories from The Optimist Daily.
Why big cities actually have the potential to save the environment
People tend to picture cities, particularly in the developing world, as urban wastelands belching out pollution, breeding sickness, promoting endless consumption and driving population increases. But cities also have a huge potential for getting us out of the very environmental mess they’ve Read More...
Local police department installs ‘chat benches’ to help elderly tackle loneliness
Loneliness and social isolation are growing public-health concerns for people of all ages, but the elderly are usually the ones who suffer the most from these conditions. As a means of tackling loneliness and isolation in an English town, local police forces have begun designating specific Read More...
What the city of Utrecht did to become a paradise for cyclists
When you think of the world’s most bike-friendly cities, Amsterdam and Copenhagen probably come to mind first. But another contender has edged into the top tier: Utrecht, the fourth-largest and fastest-growing city in the Netherlands, where average daily bike trips number 125,000. A new short Read More...
Satisfying the Ache for Home
Whole Community Approaches to Accommodation by Amelia Buckley Homelessness has been on the rise in many major cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco, where homelessness rose in the last year by 12 and 17 percent respectively. But even for those who have a home, it’s often not that Read More...
Meet the ‘night minister’ who helps those who need it most in San Francisco
For decades, the Tenderloin has been known as San Francisco’s primary harbor of destitution. More than 4,000 people sleep unsheltered around the area, far more than anywhere else in the city. It’s common to encounter open-air narcotic exchanges, human feces on the sidewalk, and desperate Read More...
How cities are finally dealing with the emissions that come with consumption
Climate optimists argue that it is possible to reduce our production emissions without substantially changing our lifestyles. (Electric cars are just as good!) But what if those lifestyles — in which consumption is perpetually rising — are driving increases in production emissions elsewhere? Read More...
Oregon is now leading the nation when it comes to affordable housing
When it comes to affordable housing, no state is tackling the issue as aggressively as Oregon. This past week, the Beaver State passed a law that will effectively enact a state-wide ban on single-family zoning, which has come under scrutiny as housing costs have soared and housing shortages have Read More...
Mini urban forests are about to make Paris even more beautiful
Earth is home to approximately 3 trillion trees, but most of them are far from urban centers where they’re most needed to cool down pavement and air temperatures. Paris has a plan to change that. The city just announced that it will be planting a series of urban forests as a way to combat Read More...
Scientists have discovered a way to harness the heat from subway tunnels
If you’ve ever walked over a grating in the city that sits above a metro line, you’ve probably felt a warm gust of air. That’s because subway tunnels are full of trains, electronics and people packed in like sardines, which turns them into pretty hot places. In theory, all that heat could Read More...
Fashion capital Milan is on a quest to plant 3 million trees by 2030
There will soon be more trees than people in the city of Milan. Mayor Giuseppe “Beppe” Sala has embarked on an ambitious plan to plant 3 million trees in the Italian city—population 1.3 million—better known for industry than natural wonders. For the last year and a half, the city of Read More...