Jan 28, 2020
For this Big Picture, presented by Jacobs, we hear from cities and regions preparing to receive an impending generation of climate migrants. The contributors envision what new, more resilient, and equitable districts might look like on higher ground, as we learn that not every risk can be mitigated. Creative Writing
Jan 28, 2020
70% of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities by 2050. They already consume two-thirds of the world’s energy and are responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. With climate change already affecting urban areas worldwide, cities are now potential disaster victims and must find solutions to tackle tomorrow’s challenges. Sustainability isn’t…
Jan 28, 2020
“Open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?
We know where we’re going;
We know where we’re from.
We’re leaving Babylon, y’all!
We’re going to our Father’s land.” Exodus – Bob Marley Beyond the Book of Exodus reference in Marley’s song, the term exodus has a broader context in…
Jan 24, 2020
Climate-fueled natural disasters, whether flooding from extreme rainfall, prolonged drought, monster storms, or suffocating heatwaves, impact the world’s cities and the international system alike. Climate’s impacts upon cities and the international system are closely interwoven and any serious conversation about urban climate resilience should include its international and transboundary dimensions. Environmental security provides a frame…
Jan 24, 2020
With the increasing severity and frequency of flood events across Canada, it is clear that a small number of homes and neighbourhoods will face risks that are untenable. Repeated reconstruction of chronically flood-prone homes makes little sense, given the high public and human costs involved. In such circumstances, property buy-outs and relocation to safer ground…
Jan 24, 2020
People around the world tend to lump New Orleans and Miami into a general category of hospice urbanism. But, these two cities could not be more different. If I were to invest in one over the other, I would invest in the people of New Orleans over the assets of Miami. It is the history,…
Jan 24, 2020
Making cities safer is our challenge. In the past, cities destroyed by fire or in war were rebuilt, often to a higher standard of construction and with the most modern infrastructure. Catastrophes come without warning, and catch people unprepared. The trends of climate change, and its effects, call for action. But tragic events that could…
Jan 24, 2020
In the decades ahead, climate change will cause unprecedented redistribution of human population at global, national and local scales. A World Bank report recently estimated that climate change will displace 143 million people from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America by 2050. Given upward trends in greenhouse gas emissions, polar ice melt, and increasing…
Jan 24, 2020
The global climate is changing. To see this reality, we need look no further than the fires raging in Australia or the fall 2019 fires that burned in California and Alaska, the 2019 extreme flooding on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers [1] (and in numerous inland communities), the Tropical Storms and Hurricanes that are increasing…
Jan 24, 2020
Many of our greatest cities are already losing the battle against climate-driven flooding. In response, cities are turning to a managed retreat by using precious public funds to buyout waterfront properties in an attempt to relocate communities to safer land. Turning the tide will take a careful, coordinated and informed response. Relocating people and property…
Jan 23, 2020
We know this for a fact: the climate crisis is going to fundamentally change our world. From receding coastlines to desertification, a warming planet is already irrevocably altering our landscapes and physical geography, and destabilizing social and economic structures around the world as a result. One of the most under-analysed aspects of the climate crisis…
Jan 21, 2020
