In this article, Mr. Capps outlines the Lithuanian model for building renovations as an incredibly effective way to combat energy use and, by extension, carbon emissions. Lithuania, as a former Soviet state, has a multitude of old, Soviet buildings in need of renovation - 66% of the country's housing, in fact, has Soviet roots. To effectively combat this, Lithuania has developed a grant-loan fusion for building upgrades, seeing government funds incentivize building owners to undertake costly renovations. Furthermore, Lithuania has a government policy stating that only a simple majority of homeowners is needed to agree on renovating a shared building (in most other countries in the European Union, full consent is needed, making renovations very difficult). The effects of the renovations are noticeable; take for example an apartment building on Cosmonauts Street in Marijampolė, whose renovation lowered yearly energy use by 80%, from 140 kilowatt hours per square meter to 28. In the wake of Russia's increasing hostility and the European repudiation of Russia's gas supply, this kind of approach is a necessity in modern Europe. 

David Zipper in this article compares the development over the past few decades of Japan's transportation system with America's transportation system to see why and how Japan was able to drastically reduce their automotive fatalities whilst the United States has actually seen an increase in automotive-related fatalities since 2015. Zipper outlines the Japanese investment in bullet trains, which started with the world's first bullet train, the Shinkansen, constructed in 1964 and continues to the present: exempli gratia, the 15 trains per hour from Tokyo to Osaka, the two largest population hubs of Japan. Zipper then details Japan's unique approach to street parking rules, which state that there is no street parking. And furthermore, to own a car one must have proof of a parking spot in a garage or parking facility, thus keeping the streets free from obstructive automobiles. And lastly, Zipper talks about the kei car, a type of tiny car very prevalent on Japanese streets, as having a positive effect on traffic safety. Due to all of these policy initiatives, Japan was able to lower their car fatality rate to 2.24 deaths per 100,000 residents, down six-fold from the 1960s and a stark contrast to the United States' 12.7 deaths per 100,000. 

In this brief, Harasym studies the effect of the rise of bike-sharing on the use of bicycles in Oakland, California. Additionally, Harasym used both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the growth of (and the problems facing) bike use and bike infrastructure in Oakland. Starting with an overview of data on bicycle injuries (including severity of injury) of different census block groups, Harasym then looks at the larger scale number of injuries (grouped by severity) from 2015-2019. His graph shows the steady reduction of bicycle-related injuries from 2015-2019, suggesting that bike infrastructure (or automotive behavior towards cyclers) has improved in favor of the bicycler. Harasym then goes out into the field and observes the behavior of bicyclers and car drivers at a particularly dangerous intersection (one that has no bicycle infrastructure whatsoever) and also interviews three cyclers about their experiences. Harasym makes note of the growth of the bikeshare industry coupled with California's legislative efforts to tackle climate change as major reasons of the increase in the use of bicycles in recent years. However, Harasym's brief does not include pandemic or post-pandemic data, which I believe to be a major detractor in his brief since COVID likely dramatically altered the prevalence of bicycles as a mode of transportation. As such, his brief, despite being made in the summer of 2022, is a little outdated in terms of usefulness to the city of Oakland. 

Affordable housing has now become very sparse because of the lacking supply of raw materials. The amount of materials does not meet the increased demand for homes, and because of an increase of 150% in lumber prices during COVID-19, affordable housing becomes a harder option. The White House has tried to fulfill the demand for housing with the American Rescue Plan, which has allotted $12.9 billion in funding for housing and a fourth of that number for affordable housing development. However, this amount is not anywhere close enough to counteract the insufficient supply of goods. More funds should and can be put forth for affordable housing. For example, Connecticut received $1.5 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan but only put 1% of that budget towards housing. 

Kendig Keasts and the City of Florence update their previous plan to develop downtown Florence and they reflect on its effectiveness. They start by highlighting many of their successes, including the recruitment of FMU's Nurse facility and Hyatt Place for downtown locations as well as expansion and implementation of better streetscapes, sinage, and urban design. They emphasize how their success came out of collaboration between public, private, and philanthropic interests, and how their success makes them a regional center of how to develop a downtown. Florence continues hoping to obtain another major employer downtown, build a permanent farmer's market location, complete a bike-path system, and remove structures that do not contribute economically or aesthetically. Downtown Florence surpassed many of their goals, and they finish the proposal with a strong push forward.

This article addresses how urban parks help urban environments. Children especially benefit from green spaces since it’s a place to meet people, form social experiences, and stay physically active. The researchers studied accessibility for children (7-16 years old) in Montreal Island, Quebec, Canada since they cannot drive and guardians may restrict their transportation in other ways. They took information about travelers (i.e. age, gender, income level, household type, and main occupation) as well as information about transportation (i.e. ownership of driver's license and mode of travel). The study found that there is much higher accessibility when there are more parks in the area. Kids without parks and facilities cannot use them, and, since socioeconomic factors are a factor in the dispersal of parks, people from a family of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to have accessible parks and green spaces.

Following the idea that no one says "they love wearing helmets" and the panic after Sweeden required helmets for 15 YOs and younger, students Terese Alstin and Anna Haupt created the Hövding. The pair explored their original idea of making protective gear that wasn't bulky. Their solution? A neck-based system with airbags that inflate during a crash. The airbags claim to have better impact protection and are multi-impact, something no traditional helmet can claim. 

But what about the drawbacks. The biggest problem is the looks. Frankly, it looks stupid. One of the big proponents of the Hövding was it looked better than a helmet. The actual product however looked more like a neck brace. There's also the safety concern. This protective device placed explosives all around the user's head. One short circuit or a false fire for a crash and the rider certainly is going down.

In the end, this technology didn't catch on. It was clunky and no one trusted the tech to do its job.

Kendig Keasts and the City of Florence write a proposal on key ideas moving forward in revitalizing Downtown Florence. They start by stressing the need to look long-term and take advantage of opportunities present to them in existing infrastructure, economic cores, or major industries. They wanted to link the Medical Hub of McLeod to Downtown, and establish a node of professional services given the high amount of Lawyers, Doctors, and Bankers in the region. They also wanted to develop a Cultural campus in a City Beautiful era fashion, and mixed use recreational development in an underdeveloped section of downtown. They had plans to create a transit hub involving biking and walking paths with the possibility of an Amtrak station. Topping it off, they wanted to restore some historical buildings in a historical district, provide some low-income housing availability, and create a financial district perfect for incubating local businesses. By combining private investments from the Bruce & Lee Foundation and others with public interest, they created a plan to make downtown a open and welcoming environment, not just an in-between but a destination.

In 2017, the California Assembly Bill was passed, (also known as Bloom bill, named after So-cal's Senator Richard Bloom), allowing over 8 million Californians to add rental units, or "backyard homes" on to their properties. This law resulted from the cityLAB’s research. To have this bill formed, Dana Cuff, an urban planner, and cityLAB analyzed the legal reasons for preventing backyard homes from being established and the current laws that hindered sustainable living solutions. Then for about six months in 2015 cityLAB designed a temporary Backyard Home prototype, called the BIHOME, made up of 400 square feet houses as two-car garages to observe and gather research for appropriate reasoning on why the Bloom bill should be implemented. After a long 10 years of continuous study and observance of the backyard homes, in 2003, a bill passed causing the creation of a small number of houses, with about 120 per year. However, in 2017, the first year the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) bill was established, about 1,300 ADU permits were issued to residents. These new backyard homes led to the creation of detached houses, garage transformations, adding to existing homes, and partly converting homes, which are new options to build affordable homes with lower costs for land and construction than single-family houses.