Built Environments

Understanding the intersection of urban and environmental systems is critical to planning and designing the future of our planet. Re-envisioning transportation systems, land use, urban form, building materials, and water and energy systems are all under way at UArizona.

Our research

In Vienna, a visionary example of dealing with urban floods

As climate change amplifies extreme weather events around the world, the Viennese defense system built in the 1970s and ’80s can protect the city from even a 10,000-year flood.

Life on LEO: Plants to be Added to the Landscape Evolution Observatory at Biosphere 2

Surprisingly little is known about how rain moves through landscapes once it's on the ground. UArizona's Landscape Evolution Observatory is designed to provide answers. A $3.5 million grant will allow scientists to study the roles plants and microbes play in the process. 

Exposure to deadly urban heat worldwide has tripled in recent decades, says study

A fifth of world population is affected; many U.S. cities on list.

Sustainable Design Expert: The Building You're Sitting in Is the Elephant in the Room

Jonathan Bean in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture says buildings are the No. 1 pathway to achieving the Biden administration's new carbon emissions goals. He's training the next generation of architects to make climate-positive buildings the new normal.

$4 million landslide stabilization project ongoing on State Route 87

Work continues to stabilize the slopes on Slate Creek Hill south of Payson, where a large landslide took out the highway many years ago and continues to threaten State Route 87.

How Trump’s Attempt at a Wall on U.S.-Mexico Border Damaged the Environment & Local Wildlife

Now that President Joe Biden has stopped the construction of Trump’s wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, media outlets and environmental organizations are finally getting a clearer view of the destruction that has been done to the borderlands.

Some Ecological Damage from Trump’s Rushed Border Wall Could Be Repaired

Conservationists urge Biden to dismantle it quickly, especially in key habitats

A Q&A with Ida Sami

Ida Sami, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Arizona, shares her research focus, challenges, and impact in a Q&A for the NCSE Conference 2021.

Government scientists predicted border wall construction could harm wildlife refuge

Construction of President Trump’s border wall moved forward last year even after government scientists said it could harm a nearby wildlife refuge, according to an internal report obtained by The Hill.