Built Environments
Urban areas are our future – more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 according to the UN. Cities and their interconnected systems also contribute the majority of greenhouse gas emissions. Built environments must be made more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable and resilient. As part of Arizona Environment's vision for the future, the built environment must advance improved quality of life and equity.
UArizona applies its expertise in sustainable built environments to urban green space and biodiversity, transportation, energy, wastewater treatment, and planning for climate adaptation and recovery from extreme events. These efforts support the planning, design and governance of more livable cities, especially in challenging environments such as the semi-arid Sonoran Desert. The College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture and the College of Engineering are leaders in built environment innovation and transforming learning to address the future needs of built environment scholars and practitioners. Our faculty and students leverage their expertise to shape robust and effective local, statewide, national, and global partnerships. By enriching teaching, interdisciplinary research, and supporting community decision-making in the built environment, UArizona is building a more sustainable and resilient world.
Research Spotlights in Built Environments
Ladd Keith
College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture
Keith’s research includes the use of urban heat island and heat increase modeling in land use planning for more sustainable and resilient cities.
Learn moreCourtney Crosson
College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture
Crosson works to realize regenerative water and energy designs at the urban scale, such as by evaluating the barriers to and capacity of decentralized urban water infrastructure to meet water stress through rainwater harvesting.
Learn moreNadar Chalfoun
College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture
Chalfoun’s work aims to achieve net zero energy efficiency in the design of high-performance buildings for indoor and outdoor spaces.
Learn moreAltaf Engineer
College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture
Engineer has developed an award-winning housing prototype for refugees and communities displaced by man-made and natural disasters.
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Biosphere 2 serves as a unique large-scale experimental apparatus housing seven model ecosystems with active research by teams of multidisciplinary scientists.
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The vision of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center is to develop controlled environment agriculture as an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable agricultural option.
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The Drachman Institute is a research and public service unit of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture dedicated to the environmentally sensitive and resource-conscious development of neighborhoods and communities.
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The Office of Sustainability works to ensure that the UA continues to be a leader in sustainability among its peers. They collaborate with partners across the University and throughout the community to coordinate environmental sustainability initiatives and communication.
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The Transportation Research Institute addresses the mobility, safety and environmental challenges of a rapidly evolving transportation landscape, building on UA expertise in emerging transportation systems and critical, enabling technologies.
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Located on the grounds of the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture building on the UA campus, the Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory represents the reclamation of 1.2 acres of former university parking lot into a viable Sonoran Desert landscape, with high-performance integration of the building and site. It demonstrates low-cost arid land design principles of water harvesting, water reuse, mitigation of desert microclimates and reduction and re-direction of runoff for passive and active storage as well creating an enchanting desert oasis.
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