By Matthew D. Batista

I. Background

SEE Development. Faced with a changing climate, the need for smarter development is clear. Unfortunately, cities in the U.S. and across the planet have developed without social, environmental, and economic foresight. This result is some combination of inefficient design, extensive energy demand and carbon emissions, tremendous waste, negative health outcomes, etc. The solution to this problem is SEED, which stands for social sustainability, economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and design. Adoption of these principles as a systematic approach to development is expanding across the globe. The United Nations, for instance, issued its most recent Environmental, Social, and Economic Sustainability Framework in January of 2015. Failing to take all these concerns into account is inherently unsustainable and leaves cities and populations across the globe vulnerable.

Dubai. Thinking about sustainable development, you would be forgiven if Dubai was not the first city to come to mind. Like many cities in the region, Dubai’s primary economic catalyst has been oil. Continue reading “Dubai’s Sustainable City May Provide a Blueprint for Cities of the Future” →