The Greening of Human Settlements

The author posits that a new industrial revolution is emerging, driven by the need to use nature more productively. By applying 'natural capitalism'—which values nature and people—and integrative design, developers can create high-performance, low-impact human settlements that are more profitable and desirable than traditional developments. Examples such as Village Homes in California and the city of Curitiba, Brazil, demonstrate that reducing resource depletion and pollution can lead to superior financial and social outcomes, including lower crime and higher market value.

• The transition to 'natural capitalism' involves reducing resource depletion and pollution to nearly zero, which the author claims can be 'extraordinarily profitable at today’s prices and using today’s technologies'.
• Integrative design in real estate typically results in better environmental and human performance while simultaneously providing 'superior market and financial performance'.
• In Curitiba, Brazil, integrative design allowed the city to become 'one of the world’s great cities' despite having 'scant resources' while its population grew to 2.6 million over 20 years.
• The Village Homes development in Davis, California, used natural drainage swales instead of concrete works, saving $800 per house; this contributed to a microclimate that lowered costs and a layout that resulted in crime rates 90 per cent lower than in adjacent car-centric developments.
• Modern state-of-the-art housing can eliminate the need for underground infrastructure by using building-integrated photovoltaics for power, rooftop collection for potable water, and Swedish separating toilets to treat human waste as nutrients.

APA

Lovins, A. B. (n.d.). The Greening of Human Settlements. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_D00-35-Greening-Human-Settlements-.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory B. The Greening of Human Settlements. RMI, n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_D00-35-Greening-Human-Settlements-.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory B. |title=The Greening of Human Settlements |publisher=RMI |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_D00-35-Greening-Human-Settlements-.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lovinsndgreening, author = {Lovins, Amory B.}, title = {{The Greening of Human Settlements}}, institution = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_D00-35-Greening-Human-Settlements-.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }