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.
How a team of goats saved the Ronald Reagan library from wildfires
Back in April, a squadron of 500 goats was released on the lands that surround Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles. Why? To munch their way through around 13 acres of scrubland around the library that could’ve provided tinder-like fuel to a wildfire--one that would arrive some 7 Read More...
Toronto’s garbage trucks will run on biofuel made from the city’s food scraps
Garbage trucks in Toronto are becoming cleaner - that is, environmentally speaking - as the city has recently launched an initiative to power the vehicles using biogas produced from the very trash they collect. Starting in March 2020, the city’s fleet of garbage trucks will collect all of the Read More...
Italian architect wants to build smart city in Mexico with 7.5 million plants
Italian architect Stefano Boeri has unveiled plans to create a forested smart city in Cancun, Mexico, that is designed to be a "pioneer" of more eco-efficient developments. Smart Forest City Cancun is intended to be built on a 557 hectare site near the Mexican city. According to the architect, Read More...
California wildfires prove there’s never been a better time for microgrids
Motivating people to switch to new technologies can be nearly impossible if old technologies work just fine. It’s much easier if people can see for themselves that those new technologies are a far better solution. This is certainly the case in California right now. For years the Optimist has Read More...
10 US cities will transform streets into vibrant murals under new initiative
You can reclaim the streets from cars and give them back to the people, but if those streets still look like plain-old asphalt roads, then people won’t feel as inclined to spend time there. In a bid to make cities more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced this week Read More...
Salvaging wood from Baltimore’s abandoned homes creates jobs and cuts waste
Baltimore, like many post-industrial cities, confronts novel challenges. Once the sixth-largest city in the United States, Baltimore’s population has contracted by more than a third, resulting from a complex suite of factors, including job loss, economic decline, and discriminatory policies or Read More...
London’s air pollution fell by roughly a third after new emissions rules
In 2017, the city of London announced a “toxicity charge” on older vehicles that spewed emissions. Two years later, the city launched the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which requires drivers to meet specific emission standards or pay a daily fine. The rules are rather strict on Read More...
How green urban planning can help protect the public from poor mental health
There is no single solution to the worldwide epidemic of poor mental health; addressing its root causes—like poverty-triggered stress and social isolation—and choosing effective treatment for sufferers remains paramount. One way to potentially partly buffer against the effects of poor mental Read More...
Colorful Chicago building proves affordable housing and beauty can go together
Affordable housing, beautiful aesthetics, and sustainability are three things that rarely unite under one building, but in Chicago, architects have managed to bring all three together in harmony. Created by John Ronan Architects, the colorful building contains a public library at ground level and Read More...
You may soon be driving on roads made of recycled plastic
Although plastic can take up to 1,000 years to degrade making it a severe threat to our ecosystems, plastic's resilient nature makes it perfect for repurposing it into roadways. That's why the City of Los Angeles and Technisoil are collaborating to recycle plastic into material to pave roads in the Read More...