Chris Turner

MY MOST RECENT CONTENT

The Congress for the New Urbanism Turns 20

Wed, Apr 04 2012 at 10:45 AM

Next month in West Palm Beach, the 20th annual Congress for the New Urbanism convenes. Ahead of the big show, the movement's leading lights share their enthusiasm for reimagining cities for the world's first fully urban century.

The stats that mattered this wild, woolly March

Fri, Mar 30 2012 at 10:05 AM

From the harshest heat on record to record investments in offshore wind, this has been some kind of March. Here are some key figures from a record-breaking month.

How the street failed Trayvon Martin

Wed, Mar 28 2012 at 9:33 AM

Numerous observers have noted that Trayvon Martin was killed on the streets of a gated community for the crime of 'walking while black.' His murder was aided and abetted by a failed urban design model tragically lacking in 'eyes on the street.'

You know what the kids are into these days? Not General Motors

Fri, Mar 23 2012 at 5:08 PM

For the first time in generations, automobile use is on the decline among American youth. So how's General Motors responding? Fuel efficiency? Smaller, smarter cars? Nope. Pandering. Shameless pandering.

The art of the super-collider

Thu, Mar 15 2012 at 11:21 AM

Berlin-based artist Julius von Bismarck has been named the artist-in-residence at CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. If more of the world's research labs followed suit, maybe we'd have a better understanding of their work.

Is walking a form of activism?

Sat, Mar 10 2012 at 9:19 AM

For all but the last hundred years, walking has been humanity's primary mode of transportation. Today, though, simply strolling down the block in the evening might constitute an act of dissent. Some notes on the nascent pedestrian revolution.

The Lorax speaks for the SUVs? Yeah, sounds about right

Wed, Feb 29 2012 at 10:28 AM

The Lorax, defender of the trees, shilling for a gas-guzzling SUV? Cue the outrage, right? Wrong. The Lorax has always been part of the entertainment-industrial complex, and he remains as green as a spokescreature can be in that context.

Sustainable streets are popping up everywhere

Fri, Feb 24 2012 at 5:30 AM

Target opened a 24-hour boutique in Toronto this week, 10 years after its first pop-up retail experiment in Manhattan. The pop-up revolution is all grown up — and ready to inject urban sustainability with a big dose of fun.

The trouble with 'carbon bombs'

Tue, Feb 21 2012 at 4:18 PM

A new study shows Alberta's oil sands are nowhere near the climate terror that coal is. Which is a kind of relief, because we have a market-ready substitute for coal power up and running already.

The week in review for Big Renewables

Fri, Feb 17 2012 at 1:23 PM

A striking infographic demonstrates the latent power of Big Solar in the United States. A powerful image from the Irish Sea illustrates the staggering scale of Big Wind. This is the kind of week it was for a booming global renewable industry.

Commenting (8)

Actually, the folks in Europe

Fri, Mar 30 2012 at 12:54 PM

Actually, the folks in Europe go to the nearest square and sit out at cafes on warm evenings. Together. In public. There are no drive-by shootings there because no one has guns.

I'll throw in my two cents on

Tue, Nov 01 2011 at 1:37 PM

I'll throw in my two cents on this, Jenn. Very thoughtful response, and I recognize that half a century of car-centred urban planning (even at small-town scale) has turned walkable neighbourhoods into a certain kind of luxury. As with urban cycling, the safety of walkability comes in numbers, in what Jane Jacobs called "eyes on the street." I certainly can't speak authoritatively to your situation, but one thing I always stress in these conversations is that sustainability shouldn't be a chore, especially for kids. It should be joyous, reinvigourating, exciting. If it isn't, maybe your town isn't ready for it on that particular front. I gather the main reason your kids don't like it is because they're by themselves. Would there be a way to channel their energies into advocacy, maybe something like a one-day-a-month walk or ride to school day just to get some more kids engaged? Just a thought. Like I said, sustainability's not one-size-fits-all and it shouldn't be a constant battle. If it is, I'd argue the energy's better spent on something else.

Consider the source indeed.

Mon, Oct 10 2011 at 11:53 AM

Consider the source indeed. In classical logic, this is known as an ad hominem argument and is not generally thought to be a strong tactic. My credentials, for the record, are mostly as a journalist with 15 years' experience and nearly all of those on the climate/energy/tech beat. You think rocket scientists write their own press?

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Chris Turner is an author, journalist and public speaker covering climate change and sustainability issues. His most recent book, the bestseller The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need (Random House Canada, 2007), was named one of The Globe & Mail's Best Books of the year and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Nonfiction and the National Business Book Award. His narrated visual tour of The Geography of Hope has captivated audiences ranging from Environmental Defence summits to Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers galas. He was a featured speaker at the 2008 Alfred Deakin Innovation Lectures in Melbourne, Australia.

Turner is also the author of the international bestseller Planet Simpson: How A Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation (2004). He writes a monthly feature on sustainability for The Globe & Mail. His magazine writing mostly for the late, great Shift Magazine has earned him four Canadian National Magazine Awards and six honourable mentions, including the 2001 President's Medal for General Excellence (the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing). His writing and reporting on culture, technology and the environment have also appeared in Fast Company, Time Magazine, The Independent (UK), Maclean's, Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, Azure and Utne Reader. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, the photographer Ashley Bristowe, and their daughter, Sloane.

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Chris Turner

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