Being a fan of cities, I was drawn to Stewart Brand’s contention that the ingenuity of urban slums provide examples of how to make metropolises more green.
The point is clear: environmentalists have yet to seize the opportunity offered by urbanisation. Two major campaigns should be mounted: one to protect the newly-emptied countryside, the other to green the hell out of the growing cities.
You have to parse his argument carefully though. It’s not a call to perpetuate slums, and Brand probably underplays the intense misery and injustice that engenders slum “innovation”. The commenters (and do read the comments) perform quite well in pointing this out. Brand may also oversell the positives of modern urbanism.
Still, a thought provoking take.