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This policy brief outlines strategies for developing resilient urban transportation infrastructure to mitigate risks from natural hazards and climate change, emphasizing sustainable systems, urban densification, and the creation of complete communities.

This policy brief outlines strategies for enhancing resilience in the built environment to combat climate change, focusing on robust design, the mitigation of urban heat island effects, and the adoption of sustainable architectural and planning protocols.

This briefing by RMI analyzes China's 'energy quota' for buildings—the Standard for Energy Consumption of Civil Buildings (GB/T51161-2016)—and identifies three primary lessons for U.S. cities and companies: the importance of meter-based peer assessment, the challenges of aligning operational targets with design codes, and the benefits of localizing performance targets to account for regional market dynamics.

This report summarizes a national workshop held on March 23, 2017, in Tallinn, Estonia, as part of the HERON project. The event brought together 14 experts to discuss energy efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction scenarios for the buildings and transport sectors in Estonia leading up to 2030.

This case study describes the 'Door to Downtown' (d2d) mobility services pilot in Boulder, Colorado, which provided discounted rideshare and taxi trips to downtown to test the price elasticity of demand for mobility as a service (MaaS) relative to personal vehicle ownership.

This case study describes the efforts of the City of Menlo Park and the nonprofit Menlo Spark to achieve a zero-carbon future by 2025. It details a comprehensive approach to the built environment, including updated zoning and general plans that mandate renewable energy for all energy uses, sustainable building standards, and strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled in a car-centric suburb.

This research paper by the World Resources Institute analyzes international practices for Low Emission Zones (LEZ) and Congestion Charging (CC), focusing on case studies from London, Singapore, and Stockholm to provide recommendations for Chinese cities facing severe air pollution and traffic congestion.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines strategies for increasing the climate resilience of the urban built environment, with a specific focus on the Canadian Prairies. It discusses the risks posed by climate variability, the impact of the urban heat island effect, and the application of design protocols and urban planning paradigms to mitigate these risks.

This briefing by the International Institute for Sustainable Development outlines strategies for building climate-resilient urban transportation infrastructure, with a particular focus on Alberta's cities. It emphasizes the need for robustness, redundancy, and resourcefulness to mitigate the risks posed by rising temperatures and extreme weather events.

This guide summarizes a comparative research project conducted by the Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) between 2013 and 2014. The study examines the political dynamics of climate-related decision-making in three Latin American mega-cities: Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Mexico City, focusing on the gap between the adoption of climate policies and their actual implementation.

A case study on Bogor City's integration of low-carbon strategies into local development plans through the Urban Low Emission Development Strategies (Urban-LEDS) project since 2013.

This report examines how the Green Climate Fund (GCF) can better support urban areas in achieving a paradigm shift toward low-emission and climate-resilient development. It identifies significant barriers facing cities—particularly in the developing world—including limited technical capacity, restricted access to international finance, and high fiduciary requirements. The authors propose three primary access modalities for GCF funding: utilizing unconventional implementing entities, accrediting cities as implementing entities themselves, and employing an Enhanced Direct Access (EDA) approach, potentially through a National City Facility.

This research paper presents a prioritization methodology for demand-side water efficiency measures in cities, applying an adapted version of the Economics of Low Carbon development strategies for Cities (ELCC) framework to the domestic sector of Bologna, Italy.

The Community Energy Resource Guide, published by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) in December 2015, provides a comprehensive roadmap for U.S. communities to develop energy action plans. It outlines a collaborative planning process, methods for analyzing energy landscapes, and specific tactics across the buildings, electricity, transportation, and industry sectors to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

This report analyzes how smart land use policy can help California achieve its 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions to at least 40% below 1990 levels. Using the RapidFire model and data from the E3 California Pathways study, the authors demonstrate that compact, transit-oriented development can close the emissions gap left by technological advances alone, while providing significant economic, public health, and environmental co-benefits.

This case study describes a project to assess the carbon and water footprints of the capital cities of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru to support urban planning and climate compatible development.

This case study describes the first phase of the 'Carbon and water footprinting in three Andean Cities' project, which assessed the carbon and water footprints of La Paz, Quito, and Lima to support municipal climate change mitigation and adaptation. The project provided the first greenhouse gas inventories for La Paz and Lima and the first city-level customized analysis for Quito, leading to the development of action plans and small-scale pilot projects to reduce environmental footprints.

This report describes an experimental project titled ‘Public, Private, People Partnerships for Climate Change’ (4PCCD) conducted in the Chamanculo C neighbourhood of Maputo, Mozambique. The project aimed to develop participatory planning methods to create partnerships across different sectors to address climate change while integrating the direct concerns of local residents. The findings suggest that local communities possess a grounded understanding of climate issues and can formulate practical options to resolve trade-offs between development, mitigation, and adaptation priorities when given a voice in the planning process.

This executive summary analyzes the role of smart land use policy in helping California achieve its 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions by at least 40% below 1990 levels. Using the RapidFire model and E3 California Pathways study, the report demonstrates that compact, transit-oriented development can close the emissions gap left by energy technology alone and provide significant economic, public health, and environmental co-benefits.

This briefing from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute details the relationship between public transit and the growth of the knowledge economy, using Austin, Texas, as a primary case study to argue for the necessity of a new federal surface transportation authorization bill.