Cities and urban areas are increasingly finding themselves on the frontlines of the global climate crisis – both as emitters of damaging greenhouse gases and in terms of their vulnerabilities to the effects of climate change. Our planet’s urban areas are also the coordinates where climate change and environmental injustice most glaringly intersect. According to UN Habitat, cities alone consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the urban poor are among the populations most vulnerable to climate change with hundreds of millions exposed to extreme heat, rising sea levels, and worsening health conditions caused by air pollution and substandard living accommodations.
As the world’s cities continue to grow with more than two-thirds of the global population expected to live in urban centers by 2050, their role in both combatting the climate crisis and confronting social inequities has never been more significant.
So, what are the key issues that city officials, urban planners, and architects must address in order to tackle the climate burden faced by cities in the 21st century? What role does innovation play in ensuring that cities are a victorious battleground in the fight against climate change? And what are the social justice elements that city officials must consider in order to design and build a more equitable urban future? These questions and more will occupy the gravitational center of the Reimagining the City for the 21st Century virtual event, composed of three parts.
This event is an opportunity for community members of all ages to debate and discuss the points that were brought-up at the Part I high-level panel (video recording will be made available to all those who register), with a key focus on the roles educational institutions play in fostering innovations; how curricula should be changed in order to address the needs of 21st Century cities; and how education can tackle environmental justice issues that cities face.
Zoom call-in link will be shared 1 day prior to the event, via email used for Eventbrite registration.
