Toward a Green Urban Future

Abstract

Somewhere in the mid-1980s, mankind crossed a critical line: for the first time in human history, our collective material demands exceeded the capacity of the planet to support us with its regenerative biological income.¹ We are now consuming the earth’s capital reserve at an ever increasing rate. We see this in the degradation of ecologies and biodiversity throughout the planet; we see it in climate change, increased species extinctions, collapsing fisheries, erosion from deforestation, and many other environmental costs. To understand the roots of these environmental challenges, the Global Footprint Network translates our collective energy, food, and material demands into land areas and then compares them to the quantity of productive land available on the planet. The results are surprising.

Confronting climate change is a little like the war on drugs; you can go after the supplier—coal-fired power plants—or you can pursue the addicts—inefficient buildings and suburban sprawl. Both will be necessary.