Posts tagged with 'housing'
The past year registered record-shattering global temperatures. People around the world are already witnessing epic heat waves, wildfires and drought at 1.1 degrees C (2 degrees F) of global warming, compared to pre-industrial averages. With current policies putting the world on ...
Climate change is already having a significant impact on Africa’s ecosystems, economy and society. This year alone, 1.8 million Africans were displaced during a prolonged drought, the Democratic Republic of Congo experienced catastrophic flooding, and Cyclone Freddy left a trail of destruction in Malawi and Mozambique. ...
Cities occupy just 3 percent of the Earth’s land, but account for most of the global energy consumption and carbon emissions. Many cities are also more vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters due to their population densities and interconnected infrastructure. ...
India is projected to overtake China as the most populous country in the world this year. The shifting demographics are bound to create heightened demand for education, health care, jobs and civic amenities, putting existing systems under stress. Current urban ...
Since COP27 wound down late last year (November 6-18), much of the post event commentary has centered on the fact that as observed by The Conversation, the gathering “failed to go beyond the 2021 Glasgow climate pact’s promise to phase down ...
More than 20 million students in the United States ride school buses every year. This equals approximately 7 billion trips per year, making school buses one of the most widely used forms of public transport in the United States. But those trips aren’t always ...
Aileen Monsale, a resident of Iloilo City, Philippines, lost her home in 2008 after devastating floods hit the low-lying city following Typhoon Fengshen – which many called a “storm of the century.” Like thousands of people in Iloilo City, her ...
The latest UN climate conference, COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, was a significant one for cities in many respects. Delegates established a new fund to help vulnerable countries deal with loss and damages from climate impacts, and some of ...
History shows that when disasters and crises strike, cities often bounce back stronger and more resilient than before. The great Chicago fire famously gave rise to skyscrapers. Infectious disease outbreaks led to public health policies and modern sanitation. The devastation of World War II catalyzed unprecedented ...
Like many European cities in the 20th century, Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque Country in Spain, experienced rapid population growth, followed by increased motorization and urban sprawl. What makes Vitoria-Gasteiz stand out is the coordinated action its leaders and community ...
The coronavirus pandemic hit public transport hard. Global ridership tanked initially by as much as 80%, and transit was still at around just 20% of pre-pandemic ridership at the end of 2020. There is serious concern that people will increasingly opt for private vehicles, should public ...
Owusu lives with his wife and four children in the Tantra Hills neighborhood of Accra, Ghana, where he shares his residence with five other tenants and their families. The house has a toilet and electricity, but the costs for both ...
When the world shut down last March, the urban housing conversation took on a radically different hue. Suddenly, housing was a public health concern – which, of course, it always had been. Where you live, and under what conditions, appeared ...
Incidents of building collapse are worryingly common in large African cities. One study counted 54 building collapse deaths and 122 injuries in Kampala, Uganda, between 2004 and 2008. Another identified 112 cases in Lagos, Nigeria, from 1978 to 2008. Cities in Ghana and Kenya, ...
Remote sensing has revolutionized how we measure and understand the Earth. We can now track deforestation across the globe, predict end-of-season crop yields and identify wildfires in near real-time. But exploration into its possibilities for urban areas has only just begun. ...
