Through a better understanding of the built environment – our cities, homes, and infrastructure – and its relationship to equity and justice, we can develop and implement better design choices and policies that can support a sustainable future and foster inclusive communities.

Sustainable Development

The United Nations projects that nearly 70% of the world’s populations will live in cities by 2050. Across the globe, the trend toward urbanization is driving resource needs and impacts with water, food, and energy while disparately impacting low income/minority populations.  

To that end, determining and implementing sustainable, healthy, and affordable solutions for urban areas is essential and urgent.

Moreover, it will require extensive interdisciplinary collaboration to adequately meet the needs of infrastructure, planning, finance, energy, engineering, transportation, utilities, and more.

Penn State has a strong history of innovative built environment solutions, and researchers continue to focus on creating equitable communities.


Working together and across disciplines, researchers from Penn State and beyond are are redefining the future of cities and the built environment through investigations of living materials, adaptive architecture, and dynamic infrastructure.

Equitable Communities and the Built Environment Research

 

Featured IEE Researchers

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Associate Professor, Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education

Equitable Communities and the Built Environment News

Featured Stories

Why a key India–Pakistan water treaty is under strain — and why it matters globally

The Indus Water Treaty governs a river system that supports nearly 300 million people, but climate change, rising demand, and political tensions are putting the agreement under pressure.

Mentions: Lara Fowler

Abandoned Pennsylvania mines and waste-heat recycling could make the state’s massive new data centers far more sustainable

| by Wangda Zuo

As more data centers are proposed across the state, residents and policymakers are asking important questions: How much energy and water will these data centers use? And what can be done to manage their environmental footprint?