You know that energy has an important role in urban sustainability. So how much do you know about smart grid? Do you think it is doing anything to make our cities more sustainable? I know about creating the business case for sustainability. It turns out that the smart grid industry have written extensive reports on […]
Overcoming the Barriers to Urban Green Space
What if cities could afford to make green urban oasis? Imagine looking down from an airplane onto a forest of green and not seeing the buildings that make up the city. The economics presented in this article can help you reach that goal. Urban green spaces have been decimated due to urban growth of cities. […]
Valuing Urban Sustainability and Reputation (Info-graphic)
If you want to find out more about the value of urban sustainability and reputation you can read more in the full article here.
Real Cities That Help Envision 5 Types of Future Cities
What will our future cities look like? Terms like smart city or resilient city or eco-city seem to be sometimes used interchangeably. What they really mean is how they help us deal with emerging problems. If you search for images of future cities you will find a range of utopian and dystopian sci-fi fantasies. One academic, Daffara, took these […]
What will future cities look like? Part 3: Adapting Existing Cities
Our existing cities, or “legacy cities”, have been adapted over history to support human civilization. Look at London or Paris, they have adapted many times over to become the cities they are today. Of course Paris has a special story involving Haussmann and Emperor Napoleon III, overcrowding, disease, crime and not a small amount of civil […]
Part 2: Emerging Risks
A number of people, including the insurance industry, think humanity is facing huge risks in the coming years. A recent report by Lloyds explores what might plausibly happen, based on past events, if there were to be a systemic shock to global food crop production (LLoyd’s, 2015). As population increases there will be increasing pressure to […]
What will our future cities look like?
Humanity is hurtling towards the future; both utopian and dystopian visions for our cities are possible. One moment there is an international treaty proposed for control of greenhouse gasses, the next all hope is dashed as the talks end yet again without a solution. Wonderful projects with green visions are announced, and then international financial […]
The Economic Value of Sustainability: Green Premium and Brown Discount
Imagine a typical day at the office. You are creating a financial asset portfolio, and more than just screening out the bottom decile of unsustainable assets you want to deliberately select those that are best in class sustainable. Would you assume that this fund, of let’s say – all green rated commercial buildings, will meet […]
Principles of Investing in Prosperous New Cities
City builders and investors enjoy a marriage made in heaven and the celebrant is booked solid. New city plans are often announced in the news and that represents a glorious chance to get onboard at the ground floor and see admirable gains. Yet it’s not that easy to build a city, and getting it wrong […]
