Cities use art to combat extreme urban heat

As urban areas struggle to cope with scorching temperatures, the Boston-area Metropolitan Area Planning Council is helping local leaders partner with community groups and artists to develop creative cooling infrastructure. 

By Kat Friedrich • Aug. 23, 2021

Equity concerns drive changes to federal community hazard mitigation program

After lower-resourced areas and Midwest, Mountain West and Gulf states lost out in the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program's first year, FEMA aims to boost disadvantaged rural communities' access to grants.

By Maria Rachal • Aug. 20, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them.

By Smart Cities Dive staff

Cities to test commercial EV fleets, smart traffic, curbside management using federal funds

Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Santa Monica, California, are among the cities set to explore commercial electric trucks, smart loading zones in high-traffic areas, and other innovations with Energy Department funding.

By Jason Plautz • Aug. 17, 2021

As heat island effects worsen due to climate change, cities try to adapt

Cities are adding cooling measures like trees and lighter pavement to reduce urban heat island effects as record temperatures sweep the nation.

By Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 17, 2021

Curbing climate change requires an end to driving in cities

New U.N. climate report underscores the need to invest in infrastructure that encourages active mobility, get people back on public transit, and have cities reclaim roadways, writes Lime CEO Wayne Ting.

By Wayne Ting • Aug. 13, 2021

New initiative urges contractors to work with owners to reduce building emissions

The effort aims to create policies that lower emissions from the built environment, establish practices that shrink contractors' carbon footprint, and encourage clients to pursue more climate-friendly buildings.

By Joe Bousquin • Aug. 5, 2021

Despite limited participation, advocates see potential for Northeast transportation cap-and-invest plan

Only four of the over a dozen original participants of the Transportation and Climate Initiative signed on to a final program to cut transportation emissions. Backers say there's still a bright future.

By Jason Plautz • July 29, 2021

'We have got to do something': Cities behind on climate goals as extreme weather worsens

Funding, staffing shortfalls and a lack of buy-in from city workers are impeding progress, a Bloomberg Associates report states.

By Danielle McLean • July 27, 2021

Resilience roles go mainstream, as cities seek more climate adaptation resources

"Chief resilience officer" was a novel title a decade ago but is now a fixture in many major local governments looking to coordinate preparedness and response in the face of increasingly common, and costly, extreme weather.

By Maria Rachal • Updated Aug. 10, 2021

Washington, DC-area utility outlines plan to meet city climate goals

The clean energy approach would include focuses on electric vehicles, building decarbonization and a variety of grid modernization technologies. The nation's capital is aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2032.

By Robert Walton • July 22, 2021

Billions more needed to address climate infrastructure needs of US cities: report

Cities need at least $10.6 billion to fund more than 300 sustainable infrastructure projects, according to a CDP survey of 97 U.S. cities. 

By Jason Plautz • July 20, 2021

Challenge to Berkeley gas regulation dismissed, a win for cities in carbon emissions fight

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit last week that challenged the city's restrictions on natural gas in new low-rise residential buildings, a major boost for local governments looking to follow suit.

By Chris Teale • July 16, 2021

Chicago creates new waste strategy to tackle low recycling rate

Unlike other major cities like New York and Los Angeles, Chicago has not set a zero waste target. The city's chief sustainability officer says the focus now is more so on "interim steps," from reducing food waste to recycling textiles.

By Maria Rachal • July 16, 2021

Too few companies advocate for climate-friendly policies despite lofty goals: report

Only around 40% of the country's top 100 firms lobby for green legislation, according to sustainability nonprofit Ceres. We have "run out of time to waste," a spokesperson said.

By Chris Teale • July 13, 2021

Cities along Great Lakes will need $2B to address coastal damage: survey

Despite 95% of city officials reporting they’re highly or moderately concerned about coastal damage, just 11% say they have a “high level of capacity” to respond, a Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative survey finds.

By Jason Plautz • July 13, 2021

Local leaders from 12 cities to attend vacant property leadership institute

Amid expectations the number of vacant proprieties will rise due to the pandemic, local leaders from across four states will attend an intensive training to learn how to best transform and maintain them.

By Katie Pyzyk • July 12, 2021

WRI names Rosario, Argentina, as 'Prize for Cities' winner

The city's sustainable food initiative, a program that addresses inequalities and the effects of climate change by providing low-income residents with access to underused land to grow food, led to its win.

By Chris Teale • June 29, 2021

Most major US cities have become more segregated in recent decades: report

University of California at Berkeley researchers find that 80% of metro regions have become more segregated from 1990 to 2019. Some leaders are looking to reparations to address segregation and other effects of systemic racism.

By Cailin Crowe • June 28, 2021

San Diego, Houston detail paths for cities to purchase renewable energy

Meeting clean energy goals can require different tools like community choice aggregation and renewable energy certificates, EPA and city officials say. 

By Jason Plautz • June 22, 2021

New bill would tax polluters, redirect funds to impacted communities

The Save Our Future Act would invest millions in emissions reduction programs and help areas reliant on fossil fuels transition away from them through direct payments, career training, business development and other programs.

By Chris Teale • June 18, 2021

Pittsburgh summer program aims to retain young professionals

Competition for talent has become even more pronounced during the pandemic as remote work proliferated, giving employees greater flexibility in where they live.

By Katie Pyzyk • June 16, 2021

Philadelphia's eviction diversion program is a 'lifeline' for tenants

The "nation's largest poor city" has adopted one of the most aggressive eviction diversion efforts in the U.S., in an effort one city council member said she hopes will remain post-pandemic.

By Amanda Loudin • June 16, 2021

Low-carbon concrete bill advances in New York

The bill takes aim at the emissions-heavy built environment by developing state guidelines for using greener concrete products and climate performance standards for state construction projects.

By Jason Plautz • June 14, 2021

Dallas adopts its first urban forest master plan

The plan follows an earlier heat island management study that found the nation's ninth-most-populous city was heating up more rapidly than every other city in the U.S. outside of Phoenix.

By Maria Rachal • June 11, 2021

EPA, USDA select 13 sites to help build community-led food systems

The Local Foods, Local Places program aims to rejuvenate economically blighted areas, with revitalization plans including the creation of community gardens and converting a transit bus into a mobile farmers market. 

By Katie Pyzyk • June 8, 2021