Closing Sub-Saharan Africa’s Electricity Access Gap: Why Cities Must Be Part of the Solution
Closing Sub-Saharan Africa’s Electricity Access Gap: Why Cities Must Be Part of the Solution
There’s both good and bad news from the latest report tracking progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, a global goal to achieve universal access to energy by 2030. The good news: The number of people without electricity access globally has dropped, ...
We’re Grossly Underestimating the World’s Water Access Crisis
We’re Grossly Underestimating the World’s Water Access Crisis
In Cape Town, South Africa, and Chennai, India, “Day Zero” events where cities run out of water have drawn global media attention. But while these catastrophes seem like rare, temporary crises caused by droughts or mismanagement, life without ample water ...
The $6,000 Electric Vehicle: The Power of the Used Car Market to Bring Electric Vehicles to Everyone
The $6,000 Electric Vehicle: The Power of the Used Car Market to Bring Electric Vehicles to Everyone
Transportation is the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel demand worldwide. That makes zero-emission vehicles a prerequisite for a sustainable future. But while our glittering electric future is often defined by the sci-fi innovations of companies like Tesla and Rivian, the ...
5 National Transport Policies to Build Thriving Cities
5 National Transport Policies to Build Thriving Cities
Over the past 50 years, transport planners have tended to focus on reducing congestion to improve people’s mobility within cities. But increasing road capacity, vehicle speeds and parking spaces have not solved urban traffic. Building more roads and parking just ...
India Has the Worst Road Safety Record in the World. A New Law Aims to Change That
India Has the Worst Road Safety Record in the World. A New Law Aims to Change That
India’s parliament approved the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill on July 31, 2019, the result of a five-year effort to improve national legislation on road safety. After the president’s approval, India’s streets may finally become safer places for both pedestrians and ...
17 Countries, Home to One-Quarter of the World’s Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress
17 Countries, Home to One-Quarter of the World’s Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress
Once-unthinkable water crises are becoming commonplace. Reservoirs in Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city, are nearly dry right now. Last year, residents of Cape Town, South Africa narrowly avoided their own “Day Zero” water shut-off. And the year before that, Rome rationed water to conserve scarce ...
Raahgiri Is a Positive, Public Movement for Change
Raahgiri Is a Positive, Public Movement for Change
A couple of Sundays back, Haryana observed the first state-level Raahgiri in India. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar personally came to the city of Hisar to participate in its official celebration with full state machinery. This was totally unthinkable when ...
4 Emerging Concepts That Could Transform Cities
4 Emerging Concepts That Could Transform Cities
Big ideas can forever alter the fate of cities when they are written into cement, steel and stone. When St. Petersburg, Russia, was created in 1703 by Peter the Great, he envisioned the new capital as an emblem of a modern ...
Planes, Trains and (Big) Automobiles: How Heavy Transport Can Reduce Emissions and Save Money
Planes, Trains and (Big) Automobiles: How Heavy Transport Can Reduce Emissions and Save Money
The world is vastly underestimating the benefits of acting on climate change. Recent research from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate finds that bold climate action could deliver at least $26 trillion in economic benefits through 2030. This ground-breaking research, ...
How the SALURBAL Project Is Shining a Spotlight on Urban Health Inequality in Latin America
How the SALURBAL Project Is Shining a Spotlight on Urban Health Inequality in Latin America
The narrative about global inequality and poverty often focuses on rural areas in the global south, with a heavy emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. But the reality is that poverty is becoming more concentrated in cities across the ...