urbanism

Can cities shift their systems and structures to become sustainable? This is the first of two  sneak peeks into the newest State of the World publication, Can a City Be Sustainable?

Vancouver is a leader in ecodesign. Photo by Larry Beasley.  

  Last month, I gave a parking management presentation to a community group in Silver Lake, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles. They told me they had the worst parking problems in the city. If I had a penny for every time a community group told me that their parking problems are the worst ever, I would be wealthy.

After two years at home, sitting in a darkened room trying to make sense of research notes, wrestling slippery arguments into a book, I took the show on the road, spending half of April travelling around the US. It felt great to be out in the open, breathing in crisp spring air, talking to strangers. (Thankfully, my ability to converse with real live people had not been lost during my exile.)