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Some pro-development commentators are starting to suggest a different strategy: acknowledge that NIMBY fears are frequently well-founded and address them with changes in design, policy and process that respect their concerns.

We face an entangled communications challenge. Becoming a sustainable city is less a technological issue than one of mindset, understanding and behavioural. Too many people still believe there is no problem. How can this be overcome? Do we approach it by engendering fear, cajoling, or persuasion? By providing evidence of the threats or examples of good practices? Do we jolt people into focus by ascending graphs of problems or imagery of iconic events like Katrina or Superstorm Sandy? It is best to show how the shift is doable and already happening and that those at the forefront have a better life economically and socially. The image of the sustainable city needs to feel as emotionally satisfying as the lure of consumer culture.

Distrust, fear, and contempt have poisoned our society and personal relationships-perhaps including your own. 75% of Americans say this problem has reached a crisis level. Experts say the solution is to cultivate more positive social connections.  A brighter future requires understanding, trust, and grace. Thankfully, 75% of Americans are willing to practice conversations across differences, and 36%-more than 100 million people-want to see a national campaign to improve those interactions.

Systems change on a huge scale is needed at this point in history. Many of our institutions, industries, organizations and professions were built in a very different context. A context where for example we believed that we could have constant economic growth, without fear of running out of natural resources. The concept of white supremacy was accepted. Women had clearly defined roles and were not seen as capable as men in the workplace.

"Around the country, people are grappling with how best to protect their communities and prevent future mass shootings. While it is necessary to develop a shared sense of how to proceed, some fear engaging in public deliberation about such hotly contested issues, especially at a time of such divisive political discourse. Will deliberating together under these circumstances only lead to greater conflict? "

In 1946, Chester Bowles-advertising executive, director of the Office of Price Administration during World War II, and popularizer of the soap opera-published a remarkable pamphlet about the coming transition to a peacetime economy. In clear, optimistic prose he explained the economics of what had gone wrong in the Great Depression and why the United States had been able to awaken its productive capacities during the war.