Wuhan Metro Line 5 train cab by Painjet licensed under Creative Commons.

China has opened 41 new metro systems over the past two decades. An America that builds big. Berlin tests solutions to climate change.

China’s many metro systems: Between 2000 and 2022, China has built 41 metro systems across its mainland, covering over 4,500 miles. Metro systems in China can be built quickly in part because they use five different standardized train types and are able to design tunnels and bridges in bulk without individualized designs. But the massive expansion might not get to every city as rising costs and questions may slow down ambitions. (Alistair Baker-Brian | That’s Magazines)

A government that builds: America’s focus on procedures and deference to markets seems to keep us from building in big ways — whether that’s housing, transit lines, or renewable energy. Ezra Klein argues that we have created a government that makes it hard to build things in part because of procedures rooted in our litigious system. To move forward, we need a government that is structured for building, not for processing. (Ezra Klein | New York Times)

Creating a sustainable Berlin: Berlin, like many other cities around the world, is looking for ways to become more sustainable in this time of climate crisis. Officials are looking inward at the city’s ecosystem and testing potential solutions like allowing goats to graze the hills of an old stadium to create more biodiversity and sewing plant seeds that thrive in slightly warmer temperatures than exist now. (Timothy Schuler | The Nature Conservancy)

Rotterdam’s green roof network: In 2008, Rotterdam, Netherlands began giving building owners subsidies for retrofitting roofs into green spaces and parks. Years later, an experiment began connecting these rooftops to an elevated park network. Could connected roof parks be a cooling solution for cities in a warming world? (Ryan Waddoups | Surface Magazine)

Cities need a department of care: Urban planner Justin Garrett Moore believes cities should have a department of care, explaining that while we chat about constructing new buildings and infrastructure often, we don’t talk about maintenance and care of our neighborhoods over the longer term. (Catherine Chattergoon | The Architect’s Newspaper)

Quote of the Week

“It’s something that makes San Diego unique — when you come into San Diego, you see less billboards.”

Gary Geiler of the City of San Diego discussing the city’s strict billboard rules which have become a national model.

This week on the podcast, Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins, of NRDC and North Star Strategies, and Helen Chin, president of the Communities First Fund join the show.