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The Guardian - US

World

by Julia Louise Pereira

Cities need to be redesigned for the climate crisis. Can they make us happy, too?

United States

In September 2021, Philadelphia was hit with record flooding and tornadoes.

Kassidy's family lived in a low-income apartment and had to shelter in their bathroom.

Extreme weather events are becoming more common and as cities aren't built to deal with it.

It's tempting to designed a city by drawing lines on a map, but cities should be designed to serve the people who live there.

For example, Kassidy says they have parks and trees, but they need infrastructure that lets them handle floods.

Professor Harriet Bulkeley studies urban sustainability and she says:

This is important because, historically, cities were planned without the most vulnerable communities having an explicit voice.

But we can't just pour money into neighborhoods. In New York, city officials tried to mitigate flooding in a park after Hurricane Sandy. But residents are worried that the investment will make housing prices go up.

That's why Bulkeley suggests that developers who invest in expensive condos also be required to invest in affordable climate-resistant housing.

Another holistic solution it to take advantage of nature, and spread these investments throughout the city.

Another solution can be something called

For example, a community in a food desert could use an unused parking lot for community food growing.

Building resilient cities doesn't have to be a completely utilitarian process.

Building cities that combat climate change should ultimately make us happy.

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