Shaping Tomorrow: Sustainable Urban Development and Economic Policy

Selected theme: Sustainable Urban Development and Economic Policy. Explore how cities can grow cleaner, fairer, and more prosperous when urban design, climate action, and smart economics pull in the same direction—together with your ideas and lived experiences.

Balancing Density and Livability

Well-designed density lowers emissions per capita and boosts productivity, but it needs daylight, parks, and mixed-use blocks. Share how your neighborhood balances height, human scale, and everyday comfort for all residents.

Affordable Housing as Economic Infrastructure

Housing near jobs and transit is not a perk; it is core economic infrastructure. Stable, affordable homes cut commute costs, widen talent pools, and let families invest in education, health, and small businesses.

Case Study: Medellín’s Metrocable and Opportunity

Medellín’s hillside cable cars stitched isolated communities into the city’s economic life. Access to jobs and schools rose, violence fell, and public space flourished. What mobility link could unlock opportunity where you live?

Climate-Resilient Infrastructure and Fiscal Choices

Congestion pricing and carbon fees make hidden costs visible, shifting behavior and funding cleaner alternatives. Would you support road charges if every dollar improved buses, sidewalks, and safe bike networks in your city?

Climate-Resilient Infrastructure and Fiscal Choices

Municipal green bonds can finance energy retrofits, stormwater parks, and electric bus depots. Paired with concessional capital, they lower borrowing costs while measuring real environmental benefits citizens can track and trust.

Transit-Oriented Development and Productivity

When essentials are a short walk or ride away, residents spend locally and often. Corner grocers, clinics, and studios thrive, creating resilient, neighborhood-scale economies. What would make your area truly fifteen-minute livable?

Transit-Oriented Development and Productivity

Transit boosts nearby land values. Capturing a slice through taxes or fees can fund stations and affordability, ensuring benefits do not skip lower-income households. How would you design a fair, transparent approach?

Rigid single-use zoning can freeze opportunity. Flexible, transit-served districts let startups, makerspaces, and housing share blocks, enabling serendipity and inclusive hiring pipelines. Where could your city pilot a mixed-use innovation zone?

Innovation Districts and Workforce Skills

Urban Mining and Construction Waste

Demolition is resource harvest. Deconstruction, material passports, and marketplaces turn beams and bricks into feedstock for new builds, cutting costs and carbon. What barriers stop reuse in your construction market today?

Invisible Infrastructure: Water Reuse and Heat Networks

Recycled water cools data centers; waste heat warms homes. District systems are quiet climate heroes, thriving with clear tariffs and metering. Could your neighborhood support a shared loop to lower monthly bills?

Behavioral Nudges that Actually Work

Clear labels, default options, and deposit-refund systems change habits faster than lectures. Pair nudges with convenient bins and fair pricing to scale impact. Tell us which nudge would shift your daily routine.

Governance, Data, and Participatory Budgeting

Publishing anonymized mobility, energy, and safety data invites problem-solvers to help. Hackathons and dashboards reveal bottlenecks quickly. What dataset would empower your community to propose credible, costed street improvements this year?

Governance, Data, and Participatory Budgeting

Let neighbors allocate a slice of the capital budget and report progress publicly. Small wins compound, building faith in institutions. Would you propose trees, lights, or benches if your vote truly counted?

Equity, Health, and Public Space

Tree canopies cut deadly heat, especially in historically redlined neighborhoods. Planting plans should follow heat maps and resident input. Share the hottest corner of your city and where shade would matter most.

Equity, Health, and Public Space

Car-free afternoons draw families, street vendors, and performers, boosting nearby shops. Simple cones, volunteers, and clear rules can pilot a program quickly. Would your block host a monthly play street this summer?

Equity, Health, and Public Space

Residents mapped broken crossings and missing ramps, then walked the route with councilmembers. Within weeks, funds moved to fix the corridor. Join our list and tell us what your next walk could change.