Water democracy has implications for health, safety, and life opportunities. Nowhere is this more apparent than among the large informal settlements in Indian cities. This is where the work of Panchali Saikia makes a massive impact. She tells us about the barriers to resilient...
We may be modern individuals living in civilized cities, but we are still creatures of nature at heart. So, how does greenery play a part in our mental well-being? Why do we seem to decompress when in contact with vegetation? Why should we integrate...
If the question is ‘how do we build enough to house our growing populations?’, some espouse modern methods of construction as the answer. Although MMC promises cleaner construction and improved comfort for residents, uptake is still relatively understated. We caught up with Trina Chakravarti...
Narjis Zehra is a go-getter, a visionary, a people person, and definitely a Young Leader to keep an eye on. Despite being only 23 years old, coming from a place where people are fighting over the very thing needed for survival, she knows the...
Traditional construction practices are emission-heavy. Switching to modern methods of construction (MMC) can help mitigate our impact on climate change, but what does that look like exactly? We turned to CityChanger Trina Chakravarti, Project Director for Building Better and MMC advocate, to find out.
The...
What makes someone choose policymaking as a career path? In the case of polyglot Miquel Vidal-Bover, it comes from seeing a city’s pressing issues first-hand and knowing where his skills can be best applied.
Young Leader Miquel Vidal-Bover has an impressive resume. He has already...
The humble bicycle may just be the cure we need for our suffocating planet, sickly air and illnesses stirred by static lifestyles. Divided into four arguments, this article hopes to illuminate why cycling cities are so desperately needed.
1. Cycling Saves: The Planet
Transport accounts for...
Commuters are one of the key target groups when it comes to encouraging more active modes of transport – so what can be done by employers and large companies to encourage their employees to ditch their cars and choose to walk, cycle or e-scoot...
Growing up in an established cycling culture, Klaus Bondam never thought of cycling as something political - that is until he got elected to Copenhagen’s City Council. We sat down with him to hear more about his achievements in politics and why he quit...
Hemp has become something of a miracle ingredient over recent years with hemp-based products popping up across the market. And the construction industry has followed suit. With environmental, pollution-mitigating, and health benefits, what’s not to love?! We’ve given you a run-down of all you...
Inefficient building envelopes are huge carbon emitters. Retrofitting promises results but the time left to attain climate targets is narrowing. This calls for urgent, scaled-up action. With an abundance of social housing, city authorities can make significant inroads. Edinburgh is one such city that...
Big cities can learn a lot from smaller communities. Dunleer, a town in the northeast of the Republic of Ireland, has managed what many larger places have struggled to do: excite people about retrofitting. It’s proven effective in increasing rates of renovation, so we...
How do we unlock urban agriculture’s potential? By improving policies, spreading knowledge, and implementing a supportive network. This is the work of European Forum on Urban Agriculture, an EU project determined to help urban agriculture reach its potential. So, what can cities take from...
This article was written for CityChangers.org by Dr. Michael Shank, adjunct faculty at New York University and George Mason University. In it, he argues that cities stuck in the business-as-usual rut can hand the reins to a politically- and eco-minded youth – a generation...
Tamar Guberman is a young Urban and Environmental Planner from Israel. Having grown up in Tel Aviv, Tamar quickly realised “there is no other city like her in my country”. It is a safe haven for secular minds, a place for the young, for...
Youth homelessness is often an overlooked topic. There are public institutions helping young adults and minors in need, right? Well, sadly, that’s not always the case. We spoke with the Co-Founder of Point Source Youth, an organisation dedicated to preventing forced youth homelessness through...
When drivers don’t observe – or know! – traffic laws, people can get hurt. A quirky idea expanding through Africa is making streets safer by educating motor users about courteous driving. It’s called the Kids’ Court, and as the name suggests, it’s putting the...
This article was written by and for the C40 Knowledge Hub, which delivers cutting-edge insights and practical resources from leading climate cities for others working in city government. It was originally published here in September 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by the C40 Knowledge Hub.
Collaborating...