Can We Talk About Cities and Climate Change?

As the planet becomes increasingly urban, cities will be expected to absorb many of the impacts of climate change. At the same time, there is mounting evidence that compact urbanization is much more environmentally sustainable than car-centric sprawl. In this conversation we will focus on various dilemmas and complex scenarios. We plan to discuss questions like: what are the trade-offs between prioritizing decarbonization versus adaptation and mitigation? How does climate change present urban governance challenges and opportunities? What are the downstream environmental impacts of the overregulation of housing markets in the U.S.? How can we learn from examples elsewhere in the world? How do market-based and state-led approaches to urban sustainability compare? What roles do cultural narratives and imagination play in opening up or foreclosing a sense of possibilities? Join us for a dialogue with renowned urban specialists: Diane Davis, the Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism (GSD), and Edward Glaeser, the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and the Chair of the Department of Economics (FAS). Moderated by Bruno Carvalho, co-Chair of the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative and Interim Director of the Mahindra Humanities Center.