Sponge Cities: The Flood-Proof Architecture Of The Future?
September 21st, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on how – as climate change puts more of the world at risk of flooding, landscape architects are looking beyond disaster response, to future-facing “sponge tactics”. The concept is epic, but a street-by-street approach is galvanizing local groups: Two years ago, floods devastated large swaths of Pakistan. Architect […]
Read more »Why Cities Are Getting More Rainy
September 10th, 2024
Via Washington Post, a report on a new study has found most cities receive significantly more rain than nearby rural regions, an effect that has become more pronounced over the past two decades: Cities are hot. The fact that urban areas tend to be warmer than their surrounding region — a phenomenon called the heat island […]
Read more »New Solution for Flood-Prone Cities: Concrete Made From Shellfish Waste
August 29th, 2024
Via Grist, a report on a new type of concrete that uses discarded shells to trap water. It’s now combating floods and food waste in urban gardens and along cycling paths. This time of year, bushels of rhubarb, potatoes, and lettuce can be harvested in abundance at The People’s Pantry, a community garden that doubles […]
Read more »Resilient Urban Forests: How Tipuana Trees Could Revolutionize City Planning
August 29th, 2024
Via Energy & Environment Leader, a look at how cities could utilize a specific tree species to revolutionize urban planning in an era of climate change: As cities across the globe grapple with climate challenges, innovative approaches to urban planning are becoming increasingly crucial. With projections indicating that 68% of the world’s population will reside […]
Read more »Faced With Heavier Rains, Cities Scramble to Control Polluted Runoff
August 16th, 2024
Via Yale’s e360, a look at how – to manage contaminated stormwater – Philadelphia went all in on “green” infrastructure, like rain gardens and permeable pavement. But an increase in extreme rain events is spurring other U.S. cities to double down on traditional sewer upgrades that can handle the overflow. In 2011, Philadelphia’s city-owned water […]
Read more »Turning Cities Into ‘Sponges’ Could Help Fight Flooding
August 14th, 2024
Via CNN.com, a report on the growing ‘sponge city’ movement: Most architects look to control nature; Kongjian Yu wants it to take over. Intense storms are on the rise and cities across the world are finding it difficult to cope with deluges of floodwater. But instead of using high-tech, concrete-based engineering solutions to defend against […]
Read more »'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.
It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.