🌐 Low-Stress Cities Are On The Rise

Fifteen years ago, I was gearing up to film Season Two of The Lazy Environmentalist, my reality television show, for Sundance Channel. 

My job as the host: convince professionals at the top of their game, ranging from fashion and interior designers to pest exterminators and auto mechanics, that eco-friendly solutions could fit and, perhaps, enhance their jobs.

My theory of change at the time: if sustainable solutions were convenient, cost-effective, and good enough for the pros, viewers would adopt them too.

I created The Lazy Environmentalist because, in a country where consumer spending makes up 67.9% of the total economy, I believed that greening consumerism was an excellent way to achieve sustainability.

I still believe in the idea, but a decade and a half later, my view is that it takes too long. Conscious consumerism is not expanding fast enough to meet the moment and help solve the climate challenge.

Scientists say civilization must be at net zero by 2050. This requires climate solutions that scale across streets, buildings, neighborhoods, cities, and infrastructure so that sustainable living becomes the default option for everyone—whether they’re conscious of it or not.

As our global population increasingly urbanizes (projected to go from 55% of humanity today to 70% by 2050), cities are taking center stage in this effort.

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Hence, Supercool.

We believe civilization has entered a unique moment in which climate solutions are scaling across systems and infrastructure to usher in the low-carbon future.

The Supercool theory of change: the faster we—future-forward business and policy leaders—identify proven, real-world, scaled-up climate solutions, the faster we can adopt, deploy, and spread what works to all corners of the globe.

By “works,” I mean climate solutions that improve modern life, propelling us toward an advanced civilization that operates in balance with nature—a lofty objective that is also completely obtainable.

We’ve seen this dynamic at play throughout our 2024 coverage since launching this past July. 

It’s helped us form a picture of how cities create the best versions of themselves by taking action to reduce carbon emissions. Because lowering carbon levels also lowers stress levels.

As Geoffrey Donovan, a Research Economist with two decades of experience at the US Forest Service, told me in Episode 13, the relationship is bi-directional. 

Cities that prioritize low-stress, more enjoyable quality of living for their residents will cut carbon emissions in the process. Similarly, cities that want to be viewed as climate leaders will take actions that also de-stress urban life for residents.

Many of the key strategies are the same regardless of the target outcome.

The decarbonization/de-stress connection is Supercool because it’s yet more evidence that solving climate change is not about sacrifice, but, rather, improving modern life.

So far, the Supercool playbook for low-stress, low-carbon cities centers on three principles.

1. Adding Nature

2. Urban Walkability

3. Enhancing Bike Life

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1. Adding Nature

The conversation with Geoffrey Donovan was enlightening. His two decades of research have shifted how policymakers and urban planners think about trees in our cities.

Every fourth grader knows (hopefully, with fingers crossed) that trees absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide as they grow, making them key allies in combating climate change. Yet, according to Geoffrey, it’s the trees closest to you, those on your street and spread across your neighborhood, that have a far more significant impact on your life.

Research increasingly shows that plentiful, mature, and diverse city trees:

1. Make you safer

Donovan and other researchers have found that in cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Portland, you’re less likely to get shot or be the victim of any violent crime when trees are nearby. In New Haven, Connecticut, controlling for all other factors, found that a 10% increase in tree canopy was associated with a 15% decrease in violent crime.

2. Make you happier

In London, research shows that people living neighborhoods with tree-lined streets are prescribed fewer antidepressants.

3. Make you and your children healthier

Studies in New Zealand and Madrid, Spain, show that proximity to trees and urban green spaces are directly related to a decline in asthma and childhood leukemia.

4. Make you richer

Donovan’s work in Portland, Oregon, found that neighborhood trees add $7,000, on average, to the price of a house, increasing the total value of Portland’s housing stock by over $1 billion.

5. Help you make friends and improve voter turnout

Donovan’s work researching the connection between city trees and social cohesion reveals startling insights. Urban trees lead people to feel more connected to their neighbors, resulting in stronger social ties and civic engagement.

When we feel safer, happier, richer, and more connected, we naturally feel less stressed. Carbon-absorbing trees play a starring role in de-stressing city life.

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2. Urban Walkability

It may seem self-evident that places that are more walkable are less stressful. However, there is also data to back this up. A study in England evaluating 430,000 residents across 22 cities, including London, found that the more walkable a city neighborhood is, the lower its residents' stress and blood pressure levels are.

How do cities become great places to walk? 

Paris might have an answer. Under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the city has become a global trailblazer for the 15-minute city—a vision where everything you need, from work and schools to parks and groceries, is within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.

The transformation has been bold: car-free zones around schools, elementary school playgrounds "greened" and turned into public parks on weekends, hundreds of miles of protected bike lanes, and old industrial spaces reimagined as housing.

But here’s the rub: proximity alone doesn’t guarantee people will walk. According to Jeff Speck, the key difference is the walk has to be as good as a drive.

He would know; he wrote the book on walkability. Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time. This is the best-selling city-planning title of the 21st century and a classic on making cities pedestrian-friendly.

Jeff’s “General Theory of Walkability” explains exactly what is required: walking must be useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting.

In Episode 17, I spoke with Jeff about it and his work over three decades to reshape city streets in places like Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Tampa, Florida.  Cities implementing his playbook take measures to slow things down, specifically cars, redesigning streets to create more convenient room for pedestrians and public transportation.

Additionally, there’s a link between urban walkability and economic prosperity. In the U.S., the largest 35 metro areas account for 50% of GDP. Break that down further, and just over 1% of neighborhoods in those 35 metros are responsible for 20% of the entire U.S. GDP.

Those urban neighborhoods have one thing in common: they are walkable.

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3. Enhancing Bike Life  

Building great bicycling infrastructure is something 70% of Americans support, according to City Thread, an organization that accelerates urban mobility projects.

A comprehensive approach to safe cycling infrastructure does more than enable zero-emission commuting and errand running; it enhances population health, reduces stress, boosts economic activity, and attracts job-creating companies.

However, turning that support into new bike lane construction can drag on for years, if not decades, as the wheels of city government grind slowly to a halt.

Enter The Final Mile Project—a transformative initiative designed to break through social and political barriers and accelerate the construction of complete bike networks in mere months. Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Providence were the first five cities to participate.

The results? 335 miles of bike lanes built at record speed, taking just 24 months.

According to an independent review by the Urban Institute, that’s 3X faster than comparable cities. 

In Episode 10, I spoke with Kyle Wagenschutz, who co-led The Final Mile Project. Today, Kyle and his team are implementing their playbook for building cycling infrastructure in record time in cities across America.

Three approaches stood out to me from our conversation.

1. Build A Broader Coalition of Support

From Kyle: "Our audience has to be people who choose to drive a car and are never going to make another choice because those are the majority of people living in American cities."

2. Move Fast

From Kyle: "Orange traffic cones are free advertising that cities put up every single day. And they're not usually a positive communication method to folks."

3. Think Big

From Kyle: "Acting at scale leads to this sustained change over time. If we’re just going to build one mile of trail, people are not going to show up for the next one."

Final Thoughts

Designing cities for greater livability is an ideal path for cutting carbon emissions. “Taking down the temperature,” literally and figuratively, is the way cities and humanity win in the 21st century.

It’s a Supercool megatrend we’ll explore further in 2025. It will also be an area of focus for the inaugural Supercool Summit coming in 2025—details to follow soon.

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Ask Our Upcoming Podcast Guests A Question

• Ritu Narayan, Founder & CEO of Zum

• Britta Von Oesen, Partner & Managing Director at CohnReznick Capital

• Amit Gupta, Founder & CEO of Aeroseal

• Al Subbloie, Founder & CEO of Budderfly

• Doron Brenmiller, Co-founder & Chief Business Officer at Brenmiller Energy

Send questions for guests to [email protected] (or hit “reply” to this email), and I’ll incorporate them into our episodes.

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