July 14, 2025
Climate Mitigation and Social Well-Being in Urban Design
By Neha Chinwalla + Clelie Fielding
As shapers of the built environment, landscape architects and urban designers are primarily concerned with people and places. Today, we are facing a global climate crisis that threatens the health and well-being of people and places. Simultaneously, social connections are unraveling with the rise of technology that tends to pull people apart rather than bring them together, a severe loneliness epidemic, and significant polarization on topics such as politics, culture, economy and race; all of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever before there is an urgent need to address the human impact on the climate, and this tremendous effort will be easier if we work together with improved social connections. As designers and planners continue to create and implement solutions to reducegreenhouse gas emissions, they must also consider how climate design interventions can also support people’s social well-being. This book explores the reciprocal relationship between climate mitigation and social well-being, building a case for why every urban design project must address both. The goal of this book is to provide designers and planners with resources and a framework on reaching carbon reduction goals and supporting social well-being.
About the GFL Intern Book Series
Cities consume significantly more energy and produce a disproportionate share of greenhouse gas emissions, making urban areas critical in mitigating the severity of global climate change. How do we get to the places we need to go? What volume of emissions is generated by essential services like fresh water provision and sewage disposal? How are materials – along with their embodied emissions – disposed of or reused? And how can community health and social wellbeing be prioritized alongside climate mitigation efforts? To address these and other pressing questions, Green Futures Lab interns produced a series of three booklets: Designing the Climate Responsible City, Materials Matter, and Climate Mitigation and Social Well-Being in Urban Design.
Partners + Funders
