From the view of sustainability, what is it that we wish to sustain – the idea, the process, the product, the resources? Is it realistic to ask that a building be sustained forever? Is that akin to asking for immortality? Should buildings die, or reincarnate?

What is community resilience, and what does it mean for a community to be or become resilient? How does a community ‘get there’? What communities throughout the globe exemplify resilience, and what behaviors should other communities adapt to mimic them?

Too often plans isolate “sustainability” as a separate category and focus almost exclusively on the natural environment as the bottom line. In practice, planners need to stop “isolating” sustainability as a separate planning issue and ensure consideration of three interlocked components: environmental protection, economic vitality, and social equity…

A profound example of a sustainable place is the old City of Jerusalem — not because it is beautiful or intriguing, but because of the challenges it survives. Circumstances today, in 2023, are no exception…

Sustainable, resilient communities require many places not intended for ongoing human occupancy. These include ceremonial places like monuments and cemeteries as well as basic storage facilities like parking ramps and warehouses. These places are empty, not intended for human occupancy. How should, empty places be evaluated from the viewpoint of sustainability and resilience?…

Most theories of problem solving oversimplify effective methodologies by isolating three tasks — (1) analyze the situation, (2) propose solutions, (3) evaluate the outcomes and pick the best. While each step in this process is essential, they are not independent. …