Red Hot Lining – August 2020

 
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In this newsletter, we typically curate thought-leadership articles by practitioners, rather than journalists. But this month, there were two long-form pieces of journalism that outshined everything else we reviewed. 

RED HOT LINING

The New York Times published an in-depth feature on how U.S. red-lining policies that began undermining urban neighborhoods in the 1930s contributed to a current health and climate crisis. The policies discouraged investment, which ultimately led to fewer parks, green spaces and trees that reduce urban heat build-up. “In cities like Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Portland and New York, neighborhoods that are poorer and have more residents of color can be 5 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter parts of the same city,” wrote Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich. Heat is already the nation’s deadliest weather disaster each year, and with the number of hot days on the rise, equitable urban planning and resiliency initiatives are imperative.

In The New York Times, 3,000 words
How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

For 70 years, transportation planners have been using a model that produces problematic results, according to a detailed Vice Magazine story by Aaron Gordon. The so-called Four Step process attempts to approximate how many people will want to use a particular transportation corridor and mode in the future, based on current trends. According to the article, the model has serious technical flaws, but the bigger problem is the lack of agency in breaking from the past and designing for different urban environments in the future. “This is a classic self-fulfilling prophecy dressed up as technocratic objectivity,” says urban economist, Joe Cortright.

In Vice Magazine, 3,500 words
The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Harvard GSD faculty member, Jesse Keenan, suggests the elder leadership demographic of the U.S. architecture industry may not be convinced of the urgent need to address the carbon impact of buildings. But he says new industry recommendations put forward by Project Drawdown offer a workaround. The initiative's new book, The Drawdown Review, urges architects to favor economically scalable interventions, like LED lighting and building automation systems, over expensive, high-tech solutions. "The effort nudges architects and building owners in the right direction by offering a reality check on where to focus the building sector’s efforts," he wrote. 

In Metropolis, 1,400 words
Low Cost, High Impact: The Drawdown Review Suggests That Architects Move Toward Scalable Climate Solutions

I COULD WRITE A BOOK

If you're considering publishing your ideas about a field, industry or maybe even the state of the world, you may have questions about formats. Should you write an op-ed, or a book, or maybe a live talk? This article addresses those questions and several others.  

From New Growth Communications, 700 words 
7 Formats for Thought Leadership Content with 3 Ace Marketing Tactics

Free Download For You (PDF)
21 Green Building Publications That Want Your Articles
Includes descriptions, rankings and tips on submission 

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Please take care of yourself and your neighbors. 

Bart King

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