#MoveTheDate
12
Days
Placing new housing development in existing urban areas to avoid sprawl would move Earth Overshoot Day by 12 days.
What is the solution?
Increasing the density of existing cities through infill housing development, rather than continuing to sprawl outward. Dense cities are more efficient in their energy and resource consumption, and they foster more sustainable lifestyles.
This solution improves our resource security in the cities category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
In denser cities, residents are less likely to drive, and require less energy for their homes, on average. In addition to the direct impacts captured in the move-the-date calculation, density also supports the implementation of many other solutions (relating to building design, utilities, and transportation) to be adopted more efficiently and at scale.
How is it scalable?
Many cities in high-income regions are currently built around widespread car use. Many cities in low-income regions are still growing quickly and have the opportunity to influence their future trajectory.
What is the solution?
Increasing the density of existing cities through infill housing development, rather than continuing to sprawl outward. Dense cities are more efficient in their energy and resource consumption, and they foster more sustainable lifestyles.
This solution improves our resource security in the cities category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
In denser cities, residents are less likely to drive, and require less energy for their homes, on average. In addition to the direct impacts captured in the move-the-date calculation, density also supports the implementation of many other solutions (relating to building design, utilities, and transportation) to be adopted more efficiently and at scale.
How is it scalable?
Many cities in high-income regions are currently built around widespread car use. Many cities in low-income regions are still growing quickly and have the opportunity to influence their future trajectory.
There’s no benefit in waiting!
Acting now puts you at a strategic advantage in a world increasingly defined by ecological overshoot. Countless solutions exist that #MoveTheDate. They’re creative, economically viable, and ready to deploy at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day. If we move the date 6 days each year, humanity can be out of overshoot before 2050.