Melbourne’s urban forest of the future
The City of Melbourne’s urban forests are facing multiple challenges to their survival from climate change, population growth and urban heating. Over the next 20 years the city will experience a changing…
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A focused intelligence section from the Mark and Focus archive, connecting recurring analysis across policy, infrastructure, resilience, technology, and urban systems change.
Demand management reducing energy-water nexus pressures
Nearly half of all water withdrawn in the U.S. is used to cool thermoelectric power plants, ensuring they operate safely and efficiently: On average a kilowatt-hour of electricity requires 25 gallons of…
The Nordic Eco-label successful 25 years on
The Nordic Eco-label is over 27 years old, making it one of the world’s oldest eco-labels. Shaped like a swan the Nordic Ecolabel is found on products throughout the Nordic region: Denmark,…
Reducing the costs of land degradation from agriculture
Over the past two centuries, humans have converted or modified 70% of the world’s grasslands, 50% of the savannah, 45% of temperate forests and 27% of tropical forests for farming and grazing…
Water scarcity a catalyst for cooperation
Demand for water is projected to outstrip supply by 2030 as a result of numerous mega-trends including climate change, rapid economic and population growth and urbanization. As such there is potential for…
Mixing education with food security
Urban farming is the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities. Examples of food products grown include crops such as grains, root crops, vegetables, mushrooms and fruit.…
Hamburg’s resilience plan
Cities around the world are being impacted by more frequent and severe weather-events. With global urban populations increasing rapidly, and cities encroaching into natural watersheds, more people and infrastructure will be in…
Berlin becoming a climate-friendly city
This year, Berlin launched the BerlinStrategy | Urban Development Concept Berlin 2030. The BerlinStrategy revolves around three key themes in achieving a sustainable future: Economic strength: Berlin will be an established leader…
Rotterdam on the path to becoming a resilient city
A resilient city according to resilientcity.org is one that “has developed capacities to help absorb future shocks and stresses to its social, economic, and technical systems and infrastructures so as to still…
Chicago’s buildings leading the way in energy efficiency
Since the birth of the skyscraper, Chicago has played a leading role as an innovative hub for architecture and construction. This innovative streak continues with Chicago’s buildings leading the way in energy…