2020–2021
Examining Social Justice in Urban Contexts
The built environment is defined by human-made decisions that have long-lasting impacts on our society. Today, we are in the midst of a critical conversation about how structural racial injustices, discriminatory policies, and uneven access to resources have shaped our society and our built environment for decades. Challenges like the current global health crisis reveal and amplify conditions that have always been present. These injustices and policies are manifested in both subtle and explicit ways across many areas—from housing, education, economy, and safety to public transportation, public space, health, and the environment. Governments, civic institutions, private organizations, professionals, and citizens continuously define, respond, and contest these conditions. Exploring and identifying long-term policies, immediate actions, and comprehensive plans have the potential to shape a more equitable and sustainable future.
2019–2020
Shrinking Our Agricultural Footprint
According to the World Resources Institute, agriculture currently uses almost half of the world’s vegetated land, and agriculture and related land-use change generate one-quarter of the earth’s annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If we consider that the world population is expected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, the need to think about how to increase food production in a sustainable and inclusive way while managing and reducing our agricultural footprint is a key global issue. But food is not the only outcome of agriculture. For example, biofuels, plastics, starch, and fibers can all be non-food products with an agricultural origin. Spatially, while people continue to concentrate in cities, the agricultural footprint required to serve their needs extends beyond the city limits into the hinterlands. This footprint has a direct impact on multiple systems, from the economy and transportation infrastructures to climate change, natural habitats, and wildlife biodiversity. The reduction of our agricultural footprint through policies, actions, and plans has the potential to redefine a more sustainable short- and long-term future.
