Infrastructure investment can transform prospects for regions and cities. It can reduce digital divides, connect people, firms and places, and put us on track for a carbon-neutral future.
Category: Housing
Shrinking without sinking: Lessons from Estonia
Estonia is shrinking. The country’s population has contracted by 15% since 1991, to 1.3 million in 2020, and projections expect this trend to continue. What’s more, the trend is uneven. Among Estonians who remain, many leave remote and rural areas for bigger cities.
Are our buildings costing the earth? Protecting our pockets and the planet
Rents and repayments alone are not the only expense attached to our buildings. Many are leaking energy, leaving a hole in our pockets as well as climate ambitions. And it’s high time to fix them.
Old tool for the new school: the return of social housing in cities
After decades of favouring market-based solutions, cities are increasingly deploying social housing as a means to address the worldwide urban housing crisis.
Can office conversion help solve the housing crisis in cities?
The rise of remote working during the COVID-19 crisis significantly reduced activity in cities’ business districts, renewing policy makers’ interest in turning underused office buildings into much needed residential housing in cities. This creates a unique window of opportunity to shape more sustainable and inclusive urban development.
Where SimCity Gets Zoning Right, and Where Not
Many readers will be familiar with the game SimCity. You play an omnipotent mayor, laying roads, planning infrastructure, and zoning land to grow your city and attract “Sims”, the inhabitants of your marvel creation. With good planning, your city prospers, Sims are happy, and you earn “Simoleons” (SimCity’s currency) to develop your city further. That is, of course, barring the occasional zombie apocalypse.