Imagine a Renters' Utopia. It Might Look Like Vienna.

Mandatory inclusionary zoning policies have increased affordable housing stock in many cities across the U.S. In most cases, the policies require developers build 5-10% of new units with rents attainable for low- to median-income people, or pay a fee, which is dedicated to other affordable housing projects. In Redmond, Washington, such policy has resulted in a 42% growth of housing stock since 2010.

Almost 4 years ago, Opportunity Village was established in Eugene. It’s a community of tiny houses for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Circular Cleveland is a project run by the city and a nonprofit to help Cleveland develop a circular economy. Through community ambassadors, grants, and consultants the program is helping innovators and companies make circular switches.

Bamboo is growing in popularity as a cheap, sustainable building option that can replace hardwoods and other common construction materials.

In London, two community-driven initiatives are working side by side to engage residents in sustainable practices. Energy Garden, a community energy cooperative, has created green spaces in rail stations offers residents community gardens, nature education, and solar power. Repower, the other initiative, works with residents to communally invest in renewable energy for low-income neighborhoods while also providing those neighborhoods with energy jobs and mentoring services.

What started as a far-out concept in Berkeley, California, the goal of becoming zero-waste has spread to cities across the world. The idea makes individuals, communities, and governments think differently about what they do with their garbage and take responsibility for their environments. In places like Shikoku, an island in Japan, they’ve implemented waste categorization, creating 34 different categories to help residents more effectively recycle and reuse their waste.

By giving housing preferences to local families, cities like Portland hope to stem gentrification and preserve the historic diversity of their communities. Portland’s “Right to Return” program aims to resettle families displaced by gentrification through an investment in affordable housing and by giving preference to those families who have a generational connection to the city. The program could inform similar efforts in cities like Austin, Texas.

Cities around the United States look to tiny homes as a solution to the national homeless crisis. From Kansas City, Mo. to Seattle, Wa., community members and city officials come together to build tiny homes and provide access to a stable community.

For a megacity with more than 18 million people in its metro area, Mumbai, India is not a particularly vertical city. Many of its inhabitants squeeze into low-rise slums crammed into the urban space. But an ongoing slum rehabilitation program seeks to clear these corrugated metal shacks and relocate the slum-dwellers to new high rises.

The affordable housing crisis in Eagle, Colorado, is creating a severe staff shortage in local schools. So, the school district is partnering with organizations and developers like Habitat for Humanity to develop a mix of new apartments and houses that will be made available to school employees at affordable prices.