Redesigning Cities for Automatic Sustainability

Imagine stepping out of your house on a weekday morning as you begin your daily commute. The easiest way to get to work is by biking, thanks to designated lanes and plenty of bike racks outside your office. You’ve brought a reusable cup with you to take advantage of the discount offered by the cafe near your office. For lunch, you’ll grab something from one of the plant-based restaurants in the food court.

Now think of the city you actually live in—it’s likely to be a stark contrast to the depiction above, where bikes have to share the road with cars and there are few incentives for sustainable consumption of food and drink. Both cities shape people, but in entirely different ways. The first makes sustainability nearly automatic; the second places several barriers in the way.

City design influences how we move, eat, and consume, but sustainability has long been portrayed as an issue of individual behavior rather than a matter of rethinking the way cities are designed. When cities make the right behaviors difficult, it becomes hard for people to behave in sustainable ways. Instead of putting the onus on the individuals, simple changes in choice architecture and design can help make pro-environmental behaviors automatic.