This class is about the infrastructure systems that make up the built environment of cities, and that can make cities more or less sustainable and equitable. As humans face concurrent crises of climate change and inequality, most of the earth’s population lives in cities and relies on environmental infrastructure for basic needs like water, sanitation, housing, and mobility. What makes a system sustainable and resilient to climate change? What makes infrastructure equitable? How infrastructure is designed, built, paid for, and governed all has an impact on the outcomes.
In the United States, the federal government is for the first time in generations investing hundreds of billions of dollars in climate and infrastructure, and some states are pursuing innovative policy and investment frameworks. Yet it is at the local and regional level where most land use and infrastructure investment decisions get made. How are cities responding to advance sustainable and resilient infrastructure, and what lessons can be learned from past efforts?