Housing
Suburbs Might Be Just as Green as Cities
According to a new study, the carbon emissions of urbanites and suburbanites are more or less even.
Blaming the suburbs for harming the environment sometimes seems as simple as adding low-density living to single-occupancy driving. But studies of greenhouse gas emissions have come out surprisingly mixed. Some researchers find that suburbs contribute more damage to the climate than cities, but many see cities as the biggest total (if not per capita) contributors. Still others fail to find any strong connection between energy use and urban form.
Now a group of Canadian researchers would like to remind us not to leave one area out of the conversation: the exurbs.