Cities are where we spend the most time and money, earn the most, innovate, connect, consume, entertain, learn, engage and produce the most.

They’re crucial in determining life outcomes, resources, opportunities, health, education, and economic prospects.

They’re the physical expression of our lives, our care for ourselves, how we’re going to solve the pressing issues of our time. And we’re about to build a lot of new cities.

More than half of the world’s population live in one now. Another 2.5 billion people, 68% of the world, are projected to live in urban areas by 2050. The implications of this shift are massive.

It’s critical for us all to be familiar with how to build them.

The best-practices for city planning and urban design solve multiple interdependent crises all at the same time: climate, housing, transportation, and standards of living.

Sprawl, meaning isolated blocks of single-use zoning of any kind, is a failed model.

The housing crisis of 2008 wasn’t just a Wall Street melt down. It was the collapse of investments into the wrong kind of housing in the wrong locations. McMansions and commuting are inefficient, segregating, cultural deserts, that place a heavy financial burden on families.

The good news in the USA, is there is so much underused land. Shopping strips, strip malls, barren urban and rural wasteland, that can all be converted into thriving communities with enormous economic potential.

Best practices include city planning and urban design that artfully integrates with natural landscapes, zoned for mixed-use (housing, small businesses, parks, schools), mapped with multiple routes into city centers, prioritized for walking, with dedicated bike lanes, and walk-streets, tree-lined sidewalks, for easy walkable access to small businesses, retail, groceries, restaurants, housing, dedicated roads / lanes for state-of-the-art BRT (bus rapid transport), large van-sized luxury vehicles equipped with charging stations, etc. As automated driving technology advances, BRT is a perfect use-case. And limiting automobiles.

For a crash course in city planning, here are 7 principles presented by Peter Calthorpe in his terrific Ted Talk.