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.
More cities are using beets to beat icy winter roads
Many cities with harsh winters turn to salt to melt ice and make roads safer, but while this helps out drivers, it doesn’t do the environment any favors. Fifteen to 17 million tons of road salt are used on US roadways each winter, contaminating waterways and natural ecosystems while degrading Read More...
New York City bans the use of fuel-burning systems in new construction
Following in the footsteps of green cities like San Francisco, New York City voted last week to pass a bill that will ban fuel-burning systems, like stoves and heaters, from all new construction. A huge source of emissions and indoor air pollution, gas stoves are being replaced with electric models Read More...
Pittsburgh will become a dark sky city in 2022
Anyone who lives in a big city knows that stars are a rare sight due to light pollution, but that may soon change in one American metropolis. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has announced that it will become a dark sky city in 2022, joining others like Tucson and Sedona in Arizona, and Fulda in Germany in Read More...
These 17 “super trees” make cities vastly more livable
Creating more green space in urban areas is a highly effective way to lower temperatures and improve health outcomes during heat waves, but when it comes to tree planting in cities, not all trees are created equal. Research from Rice University finds that 17 “super trees” are most powerful in Read More...
Prefab home design weaves sustainability and affordability together
In a quiet residential neighborhood in Brant County, Ontario, lies a home that outperforms neighboring houses not only in sustainable design, but also in affordability. Boasting Passive House standards — a highly energy-efficient building standard — the new house is an experiment for Habitat Read More...
Barcelona’s bus fleet will soon run on biofuel made from sewage sludge
In recent years, Barcelona has made headlines with a number of successful urban planning initiatives. One of the most famous ones is the superblock — a car-free zone that prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists by diverting traffic to major roads outside the city center. Greener Read More...
Italy’s generous subsidies are driving a wave of green home upgrades
Homes account for 11.5 percent of Italy’s greenhouse gas emissions, but fortunately, the country’s green “superbonus” scheme is encouraging record numbers of residents to make sustainable upgrades to their homes and businesses. Under the program, the Italian government will pay an Read More...
Every Welsh household gets a free tree to help tackle climate emergency
The Welsh government has come up with a £2 million scheme to help tackle the climate emergency that will give a tree to every household in the country. This adds up to approximately 1.3 million newly planted trees. People can choose tree species that are native to their region, but if they Read More...
Paris has an Olympic-sized plan to clean up the Seine
If you stroll through Paris on a warm summer day, you’ll likely see groups of sunbathers and picnickers lounging near the Seine, but you probably won’t see anyone swimming. Waste management and pollution issues have made the river too dirty to swim in, but that may change thanks to a new city Read More...
This new biodegradable plastic is made of a surprising substance
The world’s plastic pollution problem is one that scientists and eco-warriors are scrambling to solve. Humans have latched on to this environmentally unfriendly material since its invention, and now that we’ve fostered a reliance on it, replacing it or getting rid of it completely has proven Read More...