This spring, the intertwined issues of racism in our society and its underlying systems, the poor distribution of healthcare and the lack of coherence in planning for and responding to a pandemic, the vulnerability and injustice of our economy and the consequences of the digital divide were exposed with extraordinary clarity. It is best address…
Read More
By Richard Florida and Jonathan F.P. Rose Courtesy of the Houston Chronicle There is little doubt that the Greater Houston area will rebound and rebuild after Harvey. This has long been one of the world’s fastest-growing and most vibrant regions, with a population fast approaching 7 million and projected to pass 11 million by 2050.…
Read More
By Jonathan F. P. Rose and Peter Calthorpe Truly great urban places have the potential to be the most environmentally benign form of human settlement and are at the heart of a sustainable future. Cities affect our lives in profound, self-reinforcing ways: they can be a source of economic innovation, a pathway for poverty reduction,…
Read More
The range of human nature falls along a bell curve of behavior, with saints at one extreme, and fascists on the other. Most of us fall in the middle. Although it is unlikely that we will all become saintly altruists, leaders can shift the center of gravity of our collective intention in one direction or…
Read More
On April 15th, 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25 year old African American man, was arrested by the Baltimore Police, hand and leg cuffed, and thrown into the police van. In the process, Freddie suffered a spinal cord injury, from which he died. Six police officers were indicted in his death. The death of another young…
Read More
September 29, 2014 America’s Housing Challenges America faces significant housing challenges. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies’ 2014 report notes that more than a third of American households and more than 50% of American renters pay more than a third of their income for housing costs (1) And in high cost communities, even middle…
Read More
Handling tomorrow’s mega-trends means rethinking today’s infrastructure. Jonathan F.P. Rose Flickr user MTAPhotos In the 21st century, cities face many forces far beyond their control: mega-trends such as dramatic shifts in population, the financial vulnerability of a globally connected economy, resources scarcity, rising income inequality, and an increase in the droughts, floods, heat waves, cold…
Read More
Community Resilience Centers – our team’s HUD Rebuild by Design proposal
Earlier this year, UNICEF released a report comparing the wellbeing of children in 29 of the world’s most advanced nations. The report compiles data on material wellbeing, health, safety, education, behavioral factors, and living environments, in addition to subjective “life satisfaction” surveys from children themselves. The United States landed near the bottom on almost all…
Read More
Prepare for the multiple threats of the 21st century. One of the key failings of the Federal Government’s Homeland Security mandates is that, after 9/11, they prepared New York City for the last threat, a terrorist attack, not the next threat, climate change. Although we must prepare for sea level rise, that is not the…
Read More
