Humanity has entered a new age, the era ofurbanization, in which more than half the world’s population lives incities. For both people and planet, this is a pivotal point as citieswork to accommodate growth, while also guaranteeing the health andwell-being of their residents. Because cities are by their very naturedense, they allow for more efficient use of natural resources which canhelp avert problems like global warming. But if they are poorlydesigned and managed, all their potential for efficiency can bereversed and they can become engines of environmental degradation,destroying the quality of life for those who make cities their home.The premise underlying this blog is not radical or revolutionary.The idea is this: cities do not have to be chaotic, contaminated, andclogged with cars. With the appropriate planning and design, cities canaccommodate the current influx of new people while also improving thequality of life for their residents. By focusing on the intersection oftransportation, design, environmental science, and urban planning, thisblog examines the myriad ways that cities can adapt and ensure that thecurrent wave of urbanization is good for humanity and the environment. We encourage you, the reader, to become involved and share yourknowledge, making comments when you have a valuable idea or insight. Wefirmly believe that it is those who walk along city streets and breathethe urban air that often have the most interesting ideas for makingcities clean and livable.ContributorsLee SchipperDr.Schipper is currently a visiting scholar at University of CaliforniaBerkeley’s Transportation Center, and a ‘Fellow Emeritus’ with EMBARQ,the WRI Center for Sustainable Transport. He has worked as a guestresearcher at the OECD Development Centre, Paris, and was a transportadvisor to the Shell Foundation. From 1995 until 2001, Dr. Schipper wasa senior scientist at the International Energy Agency {IEA}, Paris. Hewas on leave from his post as a staff senior scientist at the LawrenceBerkeley Laboratory {LBL}, CA, from which he retired in 2001.Dr. Schipper is a member of the Global Business Network and a seniorassociate of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. He has been a fellowat the Industry and Energy Department of the World Bank, and a visitingresearcher with Group Planning, Shell International Petroleum Company,London, in the mid 1980s. Dr. Schipper spent six months at the SwedishHeating Society in Stockholm {1982-3} and one year {1977-8} as aFulbright scholar at the Beijer Institute, Stockholm. He is a member ofthe National Academy of Sciences’ “Sustainable Transport” committee andserved on the Swedish TRB Environment committee for four years. Dr.Schipper obtained his bachelor’s degree in music from Berkeley in 1968and his doctorate in astrophysics in 1985. He still leads a jazzquintet, and recorded “The Phunky Physicist” in Sweden in 1973.Dr. Schipper’s PostsSarah MorosSinceJune of 2007 Sarah has worked for Centro de Transporte Sustentable inMexico City where she works closely with Adriana Lobo, the Center’sDirector, on fundraising and strategic activities. She is interested inhow the law affects urban planning, equitable distribution of urbanresources and quality of life for urban citizens. She is particularlyfascinated by transit-oriented development and place-making. Sarahgraduated received a bachelors degree in Latin American Studies fromYale University in 2006.Sarah considers herself a world citizen, and in the last few yearsshe has combined work and play while traveling throughout Latin Americalearning about local issues and cultures. Among the highlights of hertravel and work include 9 months spent traveling in Mexico establishingfair trade relationships with rural artisans for Mercado Global,monitoring the 2006 Nicaraguan presidential elections with formerPresident Jimmy Carter and The Ca
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