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Americas Quarterly on Sustainable Cities Released

Launched on February 5, the winter edition of Americas Quarterly explores the most urgent issues facing our cities today, including environmental sustainability and rapid urbanization.

New Americas Quarterly Released: Our Cities, Our Future

What are our cities doing to improve sustainability, and how do these efforts translate across social classes and political administrations? The Winter 2014 issue of Americas Quarterly, released on February 5, will explore the challenges of the hemisphere’s rapid urbanization and look at emerging initiatives to make cities more environmentally friendly, safer and more integrated.  With articles by scholars, policymakers, journalists, and sustainability advocates across the hemisphere, the new AQ takes a close look at the most urgent issues facing our cities today.


Access the new issue of AQ.


In this issue, former Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard describes the process of reviving his once-polluted city, and Ellis J. Juan explains how the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has partnered with cities across the hemisphere to build more sustainable infrastructure and combat climate change. From Bogotá and Curitiba, journalists Sibylla Brodzinsky and Flora Charner visit Latin America’s two pioneering green cities to see how their urban planning innovations have helped the cities’ poorest residents and how they have fallen short. Plus, two AQ Charticles feature some of the most successful initiatives across the hemisphere, from transportation to housing, and a few of our favorite urban apps.

Finally, read in-depth articles on 20th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with insights from former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León and former White House Chief of Staff Thomas F. McLarty III.  Bernardo J. Rico challenges the theory that the decriminalization of marijuana will reduce violence in Central America, and journalist Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks with members of an Acapulco citizen’s militia to understand why these men and women are taking up arms.

Read the table of contents and check out the AQ app. Subscribe now to take advantage of our special limited-time discount.

In This Issue:

FEATURE SECTION: Sustainable Cities

Extreme Makeover: New York
MICHAEL SORKIN
How to make a city self-sufficient, neighborhood by neighborhood.

A 50-City Action Plan
ELLIS J. JUAN
The IDB tackles climate change at the municipal level.

Cleaning Up “Makesicko City"
MARCELO EBRARD
A former mayor chronicles the greening of Mexico’s Distrito Federal.

A Tale of Two Cities
Does sustainability matter if you’re poor? Sibylla Brodzinsky reports from Bogotá. Flora Charner visited Curitiba in Brazil.

The Politics of Sustainability
HANNAH THONET
Can green policies survive across municipal administrations?

Rethinking Buildings
BRUCE SCHLEIN
A different way to look at resource and waste management.

Safe Streets, Safe Cities
NANCY E. BRUNE
Across Latin America, military-led anticrime strategies are losing ground to newer concepts such as community policing.

CHARTICLE: What Cities are Doing
From reducing carbon emissions to improving governance, the cities in our hemisphere that are doing it best.

CHARTICLE: Urban Apps
ADAM FRANKEL
Cool apps for the environmentally aware (and socially responsible) city dweller.

ASK THE EXPERTS
How can sustainable cities serve the working poor? Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, Dr. Fran Tonkiss, Sérgio Cabral, and Anne Palmer respond.

AQ UPFRONT

Where We Go From Here
ERNESTO ZEDILLO PONCE DE LEÓN
The North American Free Trade Agreement created more jobs for Mexicans, but it was only a start.

The Perils of Partisanship
THOMAS F. MCLARTY III
North Americans now overwhelmingly support NAFTA, so why can’t their governments move toward further integration?

A Bittersweet Celebration
CAROL WISE AND JOSHUA TUYNMAN
After taking a beating from China, Mexico’s exports are beginning to compete.

Inroads or Detours in the Drug Debate?
BERNARDO J. RICO
Decriminalization or depenalization will do nothing to halt drug-related violence.

DEPARTMENTS

Dispatches from the Field: Housewives in an Acapulco suburb take up arms against narcotraffickers.

Panorama: Celebrating Chinese New Year in Cuba, 10 Things To Do in Valparaiso, mezcal goes upscale in Mexico, and more.

Hard Talk: Should the U.S. spy on its allies? Gabriel Marcella and William McIlhenny debate.

Innovators: Luis Antonio Vilchez celebrates Afro-Peruvian culture through dance. Rashida Tlaib brings essential services to her Detroit community. Ruth DeGolia creates a global market for Guatemalan weavers. Rolando Humire brings education to Chile’s Indigenous people.

Policy Updates: Marc Frank on Cuba’s bid for foreign investment, Duncan Wood on the Pacto Por México, and John Parisella on the Canada-EU Trade Agreement.

Fresh Look Reviews: Albert Fishlow reviews Celso Amorim’s memoirs. Alejandro Garro on the roots of constitutional democracy. Matthew Aho on Cuban reforms under Raúl Castro.

Just the Numbers: Global salsa dancing competitions.

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