In a wide-ranging editorial, Mark Allen argues for strategies that may help communities cope with climate disasters as they grow more frequent.
"We must work with some urgency to preserve the agricultural land close to our major cities from encroaching development, while partnering with farmers to better manage the landscapes they steward," Mark Allen writes for the Green Left Weekly. Allen sees the desire to build new infrastructure, instead of improving on what already exists, as a major problem for the environment. "The main emphasis has to be on making what we already have work better for us, while embracing new ideas and discriminating in favour of public housing," Allen argues.
Allen also expresses concerns about population growth. He sees foreign aid (from Australia, where he is based) to boost education and health as a strategy to deal with the issue, because fertility rates tend to drop when countries become richer and healthier.
"Our approach to population policy should be dictated by compassion, understanding that properly directed foreign aid is the most socially equitable and ecologically sustainable first step," Allen argues.
FULL STORY: Urban and regional planning for the climate emergency
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
City of Santa Clarita
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service