Adequate Housing: Design For 7 Generations 2025 CSU Flagship Conference

The 2025 Flagship program of the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization took place in the ECOSOC Chamber of UN Headquarters and was opened by CSU President Yasemin Kologlu who welcomed an enthusiastic assembly of...

CSU’s 2025 Gala: Victories under a Quiet, Steady Spotlight

Sixteen years after its founding, the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization occupies an unusual position  among local and global green organizations: established and respected in knowledgeable circles, quietly...

Reflections from 2025 CSU Annual Gala 

Photos by Tom Weis Photography   On October 22nd, the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU) celebrated an extraordinary milestone, our most successful Gala yet, held in the iconic Marquis Ballroom...

CSU Gala, Meet Our 2025 Awardees!

The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization is delighted to recognize these outstanding individuals and organizations at our upcoming Annual Gala on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 from 6 PM to 9 PM at New York Marriott...

Fire in Remote Places

The tragic hotel fire in Türkiye reminds us all to be vigilant when we travel anywhere, even in the U.S.  It is up to us to make sure we ask about fire safety and protection measures at the hotels we book.  We can’t take it...

Help CSU Shape the Future of Urban Sustainability in 2025

Friends of CSU, As 2024 draws to a close, we reflect on a year of incredible accomplishments thanks to your continued support. Earlier this year, we proudly honored Xiye Bastida, Mimi Hoang, Eric Bunge, and Ron McCoy...

Top 10 Takeaways from CSU’s 2024 Decarbonization Programs

During the CSU Fall Conferences: Carbon-Free Cities: Climate Action in the Built Environment and Urban Thinkers Campus: Housing Decarbonization Lab events, we brought together passionate professionals, researchers,...

Join us at the CSU 2024 Fall Conferences!

You are invited to attend two conferences focused on climate action in the built environment: “Carbon-Free Cities,  Climate Action in the Built Environment” and “Urban Thinkers Campus, Housing...

Dispatches

Cloudburst Solutions for Communities – What Works Where, How, and Why?

The Waterfront Alliance hosted the 2024 Waterfront Conference: Designing for Tomorrow, The Multisector Approach on Tuesday, 21 May, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan. The plenaries, general sessions,...

Reflections from the 2024 Gala

Photos by Tom Weis. Just a month ago, the pulsating energy of our annual gala electrified Ideal Glass in the heart of NYC. Nearly 200 professionals converged within its walls, their voices intertwining with the clinking...

CSU Gala, Meet our 2024 Awardees!

The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization is delighted to recognize these outstanding individuals and organizations at our upcoming Annual Gala on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, from 6 PM to 9 PM at Ideal Glass Studios...

Dispatches

Paris’ Urban Farm Proposes a Hyperlocal Future

In January 2016, when international juries sat down in front of seventy-four proposals to reinvent the city of Paris, they chose plans that looked like they were made in architects’ dreams. A facade of algae cascading...

Dispatches

REFLECTIONS ON UIA23, July 3-6 COPENHAGEN

In its inaugural scholarship program, CSU funded three New York students to attend Leave no-one behind: sustainable futures, the 2023 World Congress of Architects. Student scholars Amhara Hernandez (CUNY Hunter College), Kaitlin Reese (Columbia University), and Mohammad Ahzam Quraishi (Columbia University) share their experience of the International Union of Architects (UIA) Congress, a global event that drew some of the biggest names in the profession and academia to discuss how architecture can contribute to a sustainable future, and leave no one behind.

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,...

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

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,...