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Future Cities

31 commentaries

Half of the world’s population live in cities, and that share is growing rapidly. How can cities expand, maintain services and communities, and be environmentally sustainable?

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  1. Greening Our Cities
    navarro1_Ernst Haas_Getty Images Ernst Haas

    Greening Our Cities

    Sep 24, 2019 Emma Navarro & Nanda Jichkar explain why urban development must be at the center of any global effort to tackle climate change.

  2. Locating Equality
    james158_GettyImages_dollarcoinhousechimney Getty Images

    Locating Equality

    Aug 5, 2019 Harold James sees rising real-estate values in urban hubs as a major force causing wealth disparities to widen.

  3. Don’t Fear the Scooter
    GettyImages-1140832884 Getty Images

    Don’t Fear the Scooter

    Jul 23, 2019 Alon Tal argues that smart policymaking can easily address most complaints about a new feature of urban life.

  4. Build Your Own Talent Magnet
    johnson117_GettyImages_digitalcitycommunication Getty Images

    Build Your Own Talent Magnet

    Jul 1, 2019 Simon Johnson shows why countries should focus on nurturing innovation ecosystems that are not in the largest cities.

  5. Putting Africa’s Secondary Cities First
    mayaki4_GettyImages_africaeuropeglobepenlight Getty Images

    Putting Africa’s Secondary Cities First

    May 21, 2019 Ibrahim Assane Mayaki advises policymakers not to lose sight of intermediary urban areas' crucial role in economic development.

  6. The Monetization of Garbage
    nwaloziri1_EZEQUIEL BECERRAAFPGetty Images_sorting rubbish Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images

    The Monetization of Garbage

    Apr 19, 2019 Stephen Nwaloziri advocates financial incentives as a way to help big cities manage waste more effectively.

Our Pick

Featured

  1. sinn109_ DANIEL ROLANDAFP via Getty Images_financial crisis DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images
    1

    Accounting for Casino Capitalism

    Hans-Werner Sinn draws parallels between recent bank collapses and the late-nineteenth-century “founders’ crash.”
  2. zadek25_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_creditsuisseUBS Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
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    Who Should Be Bailed Out Next?

    Simon Zadek urges rich-country governments to aid debt-distressed poor countries as urgently as they have their failing banks.
  3. callegari1_Getty Images_crowd population Getty Images
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    The Population Boon

    Beniamino Callegari & Per Espen Stoknes correct popular myths about the threat of demographic growth to sustainable development.
  4. songwe8_NIPAH DENNISAFP via Getty Images_ghana NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
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    Where Is the Global South’s Rescue Brigade?

    Vera Songwe decries the unequal responses to liquidity crises in Silicon Valley compared to the developing world.
  5. slaughter96_melitasGetty Images_cooperative melitas/Getty Images
    2

    Beyond Industrial Policy

    Anne-Marie Slaughter & Elizabeth Garlow

    The emerging breed of industrial policies, which emphasize production, fair wages, and localism, could serve as the basis for post-neoliberal economies. But to tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century and ensure a sustainable future, we need a policy framework that recognizes the value of human connection.

     make the case for an economic strategy that prioritizes shared prosperity over competition.
  6. afrasmussen17_TOFIK BABAYEVAFP via Getty Images_armeniaazerbaijanconflict Tofik Babayev/AFP via Getty Images
    1

    The Other Conflict on Europe’s Doorstep

    Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns that Azerbaijan may be preparing to renew its military aggression against neighboring Armenia.
  7. varoufakis101_Justin SullivanGetty Images_svb Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
    7

    Let the Banks Burn

    Yanis Varoufakis

    The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. The good news is that we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far.

     shows why the current private system is unfixable – and why we don’t need to tolerate it anymore.
  8. roach151_ TIMOTHY A. CLARYAFP via Getty Images)_svb collapse TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
    6

    How China Benefits from Another US Banking Crisis

    Stephen S. Roach thinks America’s latest financial trouble will reinforce a narrative of terminal national decline.
  9. op_schell1_Andrea VerdelliGetty Images_xijinping Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images
    16

    Xi Jinping’s Chinese Tragedy

    Orville Schell interviewed by Irena Grudzińska Gross about the country's increasingly worrisome trajectory, both at home and abroad.

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