The Suburbs are Literally Killing the Planet

Cities are not associated with being green, but when you measure carbon emissions per household, suburbanites have a much higher carbon footprint than city dwellers. And that’s because American-style suburbia is designed in a way that forces people to live unsustainable lifestyles. ➜ Patreon:   / flurfdesign   ➜ Instagram:   / flurfdesign   ➜ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/flurfdesign.... ➜ TikTok:   / flurfdesign   ➜ References & Timestamps: 0:00 Intro US household carbon footprints (interactive map): coolclimate.org/maps ________________________________________________________________________ 1:07 City design is important Carbon emissions per capita: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/40... Evolution of the Chicago landscape: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/rea... The Characteristics, Causes, and Consequences of Sprawling Development Patterns in the United States: https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowl... The Green Squeeze: America’s Nature Crisis: https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-c... ________________________________________________________________________ 2:22 Home & transportation emissions Emissions by transportation mode: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-envi... Home & transportation energy use by location: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/fil... How can we reduce the climate footprint of the suburbs?: https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-c... McMansion Hell: https://mcmansionhell.com/ Residential Buildings Factsheet: https://css.umich.edu/publications/fa... Transportation Sector Emissions: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/tran... ________________________________________________________________________ 5:13 Suburbs destroy nature Global distribution and density of constructed impervious surfaces: https://doi.org/10.3390/s7091962 Which Countries Have the Most Pavement Per Person?: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2... ________________________________________________________________________ 7:03 Worsening climate change “Entirely foreseeable”: The L.A. fires are the worst-case scenario experts feared: https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildf... How suburban sprawl and climate change are making wildfires more destructive: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-ange... The city and the coming climate: https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139061353 Urbanization exacerbated the rainfall and flooding caused by hurricane Harvey in Houston: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-06... US household water use: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statis... ________________________________________________________________________ 9:28 Lawns suck Judge fines cancer patient, 72, for overgrown lawn: https://nypost.com/2022/01/13/judge-f... Kentucky Bluegrass: https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibra... Lawn Maintenance and Climate Change: https://psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/... Natural Lawn Care Techniques: https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/natu... Second federal court upholds $30K in fines for Dunedin homeowner’s tall grass: https://www.tampabay.com/news/pinella... Village tries to fine Long Island woman who replaced lawn with native plants: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/... ________________________________________________________________________ 12:32 Green cities are more livable cities Due to climate change, Nevada says goodbye to grass: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/due-to-c... Minnesota Will Pay Residents to Grow Bee-Friendly Lawns: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-... The traffic calming effect of delineated bicycle lanes: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.urbmob.2024... ________________________________________________________________________ 16:00 How to fix the suburbs Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climat... Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream: https://us.macmillan.com/books/978086...