Welcome Welcome to the CityCrafting Solutions blog, co-sponsored by CityCraft Community Partners, The CityCraft Foundation, and Solutions Journal. This new blog represents our desire to build sustainable, equitable and resilient human habitat by featuring a way of practice in restoring communities developed over three generations that we call “CityCrafting.” Rapid urbanization, climate change, income and […]
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Companionship: lessons from fieldwork in Tanzania
In 1994, I was in a remote corner of Tanzania to conduct my dissertation fieldwork in African history. I had read some about the region but not much had been written for decades since few outsiders had been there and locals often had little access to education as the region had only had a secondary […]
Innovations for Urban Resilience
Building resilient cities is increasingly important. Currently, over 50% of people worldwide live in cities, and by 2040 that number is likely to exceed 75-80% worldwide. Cities are complex structures that link business centers to residential areas, weaving together the products and services that fulfill the needs of both; and we need to address resilience […]
The Very Simple Idea of Regenerative Finance
In Oscar Wilde’s Play, Lady Windemere’s Fan, Wilde is credited with creating the quote “The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Okay, let’s admit it. Blogging about finance is boring, unimaginative and frankly occupies too much attention in our global dialogue. Yet, money has been and continues to be, the […]
The Challenge of our Time – Durability & Resilience vs. Efficiency. Why Systems-Scale and Long-Term Thinking Matter.
Four articles* were published within 10 days covering the ecological collapse of the Everglades, Suez Canal blockage, Notre Dame Cathedral rebuilding and farmers who survived the Great Depression. Each reveals the importance of systems-scale, the interconnectivity of all systems, and the resulting impact when we focus on siloed solutions based on the overwhelming commitment of […]
What Story Does a Just Society Tell?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.” Deuteronomy 4: 9 In socially durable communities, each member holds in common […]
Enduring Curiosity
“In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.” (Baba Dioum, 1968.) Curiosity is the greatest gift from our childhood. Each of us is born wide-eyed and full of questions about the world. The impossible feels possible, and […]
Is This Our Moment?
Written May 12, 2020 Edited for length March 15, 2021 Like so many others, I have been thinking a lot about this time in history and what will come from the massive global event that is the Coronavirus pandemic. My thoughts, though, have focused on an extremely broad context and outcome and lead me back […]
What has Covid-19 revealed?
“An organism that is too greedy and takes too much without giving anything in return destroys what it needs for life.” Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees How did we forget that the strength of any system or group is measured by the resilience and strength of its weakest link? Prior to 1960 the US […]
CITYCRAFT: WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY “REGENERATIVE.”
“When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” When we at CityCraft now think about ourselves and our work, we use the term “sustainability” less than we used to do. I have been thinking about that recently, particularly since, for the more […]