Urban Climate Policy & Action

Catalog description

Urban climate injustice is one of the world’s most environmentally pressing problems as 50% of the global population resides in cities and is growing. The risks of climate change are not equally distributed due to historical factors like colonization and racial capitalism that concentrate in centers of rapid urbanization. Urban climate policy becomes an integrated set of tools to think about systems-centered adaptation and resilience building in cities alongside the rectification of historic injustices. This course will bring together students interested in urban toxicity, water systems, public health, food systems, sustainability, design, and urban energy markets to understand how cities can weather a changing climate as they build capacity to mitigate carbon emissions and improve lives for their most vulnerable citizens. While the course will center Philadelphia as a case study as the instructors work locally on the energy transition, the content will span urban contexts globally to think through opportunities for policy transfer.