The rise of urban food forests

As Beijing grapples with pollution caused in large part by the increase in cars on the roads, a tech-based solution has appeared in the form of forward-thinking bicycles. The Chinese bike-sharing system, spearheaded by several startups, allows commuters to find a bike using GPS, pay for it using an app, and drop it off upon arriving to their destination, wherever that may be. A mix of private investment and government support has allowed this market to thrive.

Copenhagen is a highly livable city, thanks to policies that focus on making streets safe and convenient to walk. The bigger the city, the worse it is to design urban spaces only with cars in mind, says planner and architect Jan Gehl. His top advice is to gather data about people and their movements, making pedestrians as visible in city planning as automobile traffic.

Bozeman, Montana, a city grappling with how to plan for growth in a smart and strategic way, is looking to learn from Fort Collins, Colorado. The two cities are similar in terms of the features that make them appealing: once low-cost, small college towns with beautiful scenery and lots of space. Now, Fort Collins’ population has soared, and critics say development could have been smarter. Bozeman is learning lessons about planning and inclusivity, hoping not to make the same mistakes.

The focus on sound comes at a time when open kitchens and industrial hard-surface designs entice diners’ eyes, but might strain their ears.

Pennsylvania law is preventing a Philadelphia neighborhood from converting an empty lot into a solar farm, but community members are working to fight against this by citing neighboring states that are seeing positive impact from similar projects. One such project is in Massachusetts where shared solar energy systems is helping to offset "80 percent of the power needs of a nearby assisted living facility, an affordable housing development, a family-owned hardware store and a non-profit serving those with disabilities."

A grass blend formulated specifically for northern Utah’s environment uses at least 30 percent less water than typical turf.

The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture has helped the town of Ajo in Arizona distribute affordable and nutrient-dense food to the community after the coronavirus pandemic created a significant financial strain on many families. Additional support has come from the town's participation in the Environmental Protection Agency's program Local Food, Local Places which "provides technical support and expertise to help towns leverage food systems to boost economic development."

At the Fujitsu factory in Japan, a significant decline in demand for semiconductor computer chips meant the company had large empty factory space sitting unused. A new business approach allowed them to dually address both the need to evolve their business model with a global decline of viable agricultural space needed to grow the world's food. Now, the factory houses indoor vegetable gardens, soil free and less resource-heavy than traditional farmland.

As building developers in Kenya design new structures that are more environmentally friendly and sustainable, they can look to the Garden City Mall in Nairobi as a successful example. This mixed-use development with shopping, residential, and office spaces uses solar energy, which helps cut energy costs by over 30 million shillings each year. The mall also was the first in the region to receive an international green building certification.

Las escuelas agrícolas agroecológicas implementadas por ACUA y tres asociaciones de mujeres (AMC, AMP, AMH) constituyen un programa integral que combina formación técnica en agricultura orgánica con empoderamiento femenino y desarrollo de autonomía económica, utilizando una metodología "campesino a campesino." Más de 685 mujeres rurales en cuatro distritos de El Salvador ahora puedan generar ingresos propios, alimentar a sus familias de manera saludable y fortalecer su liderazgo comunitario mientras cultivan en tierras propias o alquiladas sin uso de químicos.