
Dispatches
Embracing a Sustainable Future: The Unseen Value of Natural Capital
Drawing from Dr. Partha Dasgupta’s transformative talk at UIA23, we’re brought to face the stark reality of our relationships with nature, our economies, and our overall well-being. Our biosphere,...

Dispatches
Sustainability Fact from Kaitlin Reese
Did you know that 1 square meter of stable wall can be constructed in under 2 minutes, saving time and money on efficiency? And that this can be accomplished without the environmental impact of extracting any new materials...

Burning River: Developing the Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture
On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland, Ohio. The cause was extreme pollution, some toxic layer catching fire on the river’s surface. Amid the civil rights movement and environmental awakening,...
Archive

Women and Sustainable Urbanization
New Urban Agenda underlines the importance of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls for readdressing the way cities and human settlements are planned, designed, financed, developed, governed and managed.

Profiles
CSU Zoom Interview with Dr. Don Okpala, PhD
APC: Dr.Okpala, you are one of the most prominent thinkers in Africa. Please tell us an anecdote about your life. DO: The saying goes that “a traveller, who boasts of never ever having lost his /her way, is probably one...

Resilience Walking Tour of Hunters Point South: UN 2023 Water Conference
Organized by: Waterfront Alliance in collaboration with United Nations of Rivers, Deltas & Estuaries, The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization and Columbia's Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space

How to Translate Sustainability Goals for Cities into Action?
How to translate sustainability goals for cities into action? An interview of J. Robert Hillier by Gernot Riether J. Robert Hillier (Bob) is one of the leading and most highly respected architects in the United States....

Water, Heritage and Youth: UN 2023 Water Conference
Water Heritage and Youth: Official Side Event of The UN 2023 Water Conference Tuesday, March 21, 2023 United Nations of Rivers with CBIPS and The CSU At Columbia | Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space ...

A City-Basin Approach to Water Security in Africa: UN 2023 Water Conference
Organized by: United Cities and Local Governments - Africa (UCLG-Africa), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU)

Water and Socio-Ecological Justice: UN 2023 Water Conference
Organized by: United Nations of Rivers, Deltas & Estuaries in Collaboration with Nine Organizations Including the AIANY's Planning and Urban Design Committee, The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization and Columbia's Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space

Women, Water, Culture and Education: UN 2023 Water Conference
Organized by: International Network of Liberal Women in collaboration with ten organizations including The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization and Columbia's Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space

Insights
The Growing Twenties
A century ago, the Roaring Twenties marked a moment of economic, social, and cultural renewal. Today, climate crisis and eco-anxiety call for a new renewal.

Letter from the President
Eight Billion and Counting
“More people have been born, survived to reproduction, struggled, built, destroyed, loved, hated, and died in the last 100 years than in all of human history before it.”

Insights
Why Private Sector Engagement and Leadership at the United Nations Matters
The United Nations is a noble institution that has been a source of great inspiration for me as a business leader.

Insights
Our Health Depends of the Health of Other Species
Do you recall the last time you saw a sparrow chirping on the window, parakeets visiting balconies, or birds playing in the park?

Dispatches
Special Post-WUF 11 Report: Habitat Professionals Forum: Roadmap to Recovery
CSU is pleased to share the recently released HPF Roadmap for Recovery, developed in response to worldwide sustainable urban and territorial challenges.

Insights
Going Greener in Vancouver and at the University of British Columbia
Thanks to a decade-long effort by the city, Vancouver is considered one of the most liveable cities in the world.

World Urban Forum
Optimism in Katowice
Perhaps the most dramatic aspect of the World Urban Forum was the concentration of optimism in this time of global warming, COVID, and adjacent violence.

Profiles
Aliye Çelik’s Mission
One hallmark of pioneers in any field may be a habit of focusing on the profession itself rather than the status of being a pioneer.

Dispatches
Local and Regional Government Forum
Report from the annual High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Insights
The Habitat Professional Forum’s Roadmap to Recovery
A roadmap to recovery from the post-pandemic shocks to our global economic social systems.

Insights
Transforming the Cross Bronx Expressway
This necessary project is an opportunity to develop professional capacities in and with the Bronx communities.

Letters
Letter from the Romanian Borders
Romania has a 600km border line with Ukraine and three points from which refugees have arrived.

Profiles
Three Fulbrighters Founded CSU
In 2010, three Fulbright scholars and architects came together and co-founded CSU.

Letter from the President
Getting To Zero
There are indeed several steps to be taken if we are going to reach the goals set for 2050 and, with greater effort, perhaps earlier.

Insights
Could the Coming ‘Metaverse’ Help Accelerate Sustainable Urban Development?
The first thing to note about ‘Metaverse’ is that it has yet to be created or even well-understood.

Dispatches
The Diversity of Community Solutions from Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas
Rio de Janeiro’s Sustainable Favela Network recently launched an update to its Sustainable Favela Network Map.

Insights
Perspectives on Research for Sustainable Urbanization
“Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable –to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” World Commission on Environment...

Insights
Rethinking Cities to Achieve Sustainability for all
Sustainable development needs to rethink cities to achieve sustainability and inclusivity for all.

Insights
Why Women Are Important To Save The Planet
To prevent climate change, women need all their rights to serve as effective educators, professionals, and architects.

Insights
For Now: Getting Good Intentions Off The Ground Through Meanwhile Intervention
Based on our various project learnings over the years, here are five steps to getting your good intentions off the ground.

Insights
Cluj Where? In The Middle Of Transylvania!
The Cluj Education Cluster offers the cradle to test potential projects that will ensure access to data, solution simulation, and testing.

Insights
The Safari Green Building Index
In its 2021 Annual Convention, the Architectural Association of Kenya, AAK, launched the region’s first sustainable building rating tool.

Letter from the President
Are We There Yet?
This question, that at first innocent question that all parents know will eventually turn into an exasperating experience might well be applied to our current circumstances.

Insights
Bitcoin and Beyond: Can Blockchain Technology Help Build Sustainable Cities?
Here is a key Covid-era takeaway: “Everything that can be represented digitally will be digitized, and our lives will become increasingly digital.”

Profiles
Universal Lessons from an African Urbanist
Alioune Badiane was not yet 66 years old when he left us on 31 July 2020 in Dakar, swept away by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Insights
News from Mexico: “Cities in Fire”
The effects of climate change have relentlessly come to the forefront of the challenges we all face, without exception.

Insights
Balancing the Needs of a Megacity
“Egypt is building a 45 billion USD New Administrative Capital (NAC) to house 6 million citizens to the east of Cairo!” “16 billion USD shall be invested in Transport projects in FY21-22, half of which in public transport,...

Insights
Rainbow Resilience: Best Practices for Planning and Design
Innovations in planning, design, and construction offer a compelling vision of a world of resilient communities: Ecological planning was set forth by Ian McHarg’s Design with Nature in 1969. It represents a visible...

Letter from the President
Doomscrolling, Doomsurfing, Post-Pandemic Urbanism and Silver Linings
This decade, the new “roaring 20s’”, is witnessing the acceleration of street repurposing and street re-design.

Insights
Streetscapes in Pandemic Mode: A Shock of Opportunity
The eerie silence that fell over the streets of New York last March scared some people into thinking we might see the end of urban life as we knew it.

Insights
Outside is Outlawed: Lebanon’s All-Or-Nothing Approach to Public Space
While cities around the world are working to provide their citizens with more public space to safely practice social distancing, Beirut approaches COVID with a harmful all-or-nothing approach. Not only is Beirut...

Insights
Africa and Agenda 2030: Creating Growth and Opportunities During Rapid Change
When the choice is between pragmatism and failure, pragmatism always wins the day.

Dispatches
New Perspectives on the Future
The Center for Buildings, Infrastructure, and Public Space (CBIPS) at Columbia University’s Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science seeks to identify how best to design, construct, and manage buildings,...

Letter from the President
Can Our Cities Survive? Redux
Imagine, in the midst of World War II, if the planning and design professions were pursuing remedies to the frightful conditions of ever-industrializing cities around the world.

Dispatches
Accelerating the SDGs in Cities: 60+ Ideas for Action
In designing the program, the organizers sought to inspire action.

Insights
Computer-Aided Resilience Planning for Pandemics
Computer-aided resilience planning, drawing upon a range of cutting-edge and emerging technologies, can be an important tool for professionals and policy-makers.