Center for Sustainable Cities University of Southern California

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1 Center for Sustainable Cities University of Southern California Annual Report June, 2010 Introduction This Annual Report focuses on the Initiative on Cities and Climate Change (ICCC). HSBC provided generous support for the USC Center for Sustainable Cities (CSC) to launch ICCC in September ICCC accomplished a great deal in its first year, and established a strong foundation for continued growth and visibility. The year brought several changes to the ICCC. In Fall 2009, the CSC moved to the School of Policy, Planning and Development (SPPD) from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. In view of this institutional change, it is appropriate to begin this report with a description of the new CSC. SPPD provides an excellent home for CSC. Many SPPD faculty were already affiliated with the Center and involved in sustainability research topics, including climate change. SPPD had also just begun an effort to develop a major research effort in sustainable development. CSC offered the opportunity to build on an already recognized center, effectively accelerating the SPPD effort. The first task for SPPD was to establish a CSC research team. Research Professor Hilda Blanco was appointed Interim Director of CSC. Formerly a member of the urban planning faculty at University of Washington, Prof. Blanco brings both excellent management experience and research expertise. Her primary area of research is climate change adaptation. Josh Newell was appointed Research Assistant Professor. His research focuses on life cycle analysis and carbon footprints of global supply chains. Prof. Blanco is advised by an Executive Committee made up of faculty from SPPD, engineering, and architecture. The main tasks for CSC in its first year have been development of a strategic plan for building the Center, and developing a funded research portfolio to support the Center s agenda. The HSBC grant provided essential funding for the Center, and this year s activities leveraged the HSBC grant in various ways. We view climate change as one of the core thematic areas for the Center. In addition to carrying out the main tasks of the Initiative, we are pursuing other related topics that build on these activities. This report therefore goes beyond the specific ICC activities and describes how we have Figure 1 Cities are responsible for approximately 80% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions 1

2 gone about developing our research, education and outreach programs in Our efforts focus on addressing the many challenges facing urban regions in an era of climate change. RESEARCH Research activities are organized around three topic areas: Mitigating Climate Change, Climate Change Adaptation, and Cities, Sustainability and Climate Change. In this report we profile research projects by title, team members and funding. Under funding we identify agencies, including HSBC, that have contributed to either proposal development or carrying out the research. Mitigating Climate Change Cities emit a major portion of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the primary contributors to climate change, and as such, they will be key agents in reducing GHG emissions. The first step to reduce emissions is to inventory them by modeling material and energy flows through the urban system. During this year, the HSBC grant has funded the completion of research on the carbon footprint of paper products, as well as initial work on urban greenhouse gas inventories, the urban meat consumption-climate change nexus, and green buildings. Center researchers have also conducted a study designed to reduce GHG emissions associated with goods movement in the LA region and internationally. In addition, Prof. Blanco has been a major contributor to the first global assessment of climate change in cities, Prof. Adam Rose has assisted several states to develop climate change mitigation plans, and Profs. Rose and Genevieve Giuliano are currently working on an economic assessment of California s climate change legislation (see CSC Researchers section for bios of CSC faculty) Title: Comparative Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Urban Areas: Beijing and Los Angeles Metropolitan Areas Team: H. Blanco, J. Newell Funding: HSBC, USC U.S.-China Institute GHG inventory methods have been developed for urban areas, but our initial research indicates these methodologies differ significantly depending on their assumptions about scale and scope. There are no universally accepted protocols for conducting inventories at the urban scale. In general, there are deep divisions among major nations, in particular, the U.S. and China, on 2

3 how to inventory, monitor and mitigate GHGs. With support from USC s US-China Institute, Profs. Blanco and Newell will develop a collaboration between researchers at Tsinghua University in Beijing and USC to begin to reach consensus on appropriate methods for conducting GHG inventories at the metropolitan scale. This initial research on Comparative Urban-scale Greenhouse Gas Inventories aims to develop methodologies and inventories for the Los Angeles and the Beijing metropolitan areas to act as the foundation for climate change action plans for these two major metropolitan areas. This collaboration will involve two workshops, one in Tsinghua and one at USC during this coming year to address issues of data availability and to assess the inventory methods available. During the spring of 2011, we will develop a major proposal for joint or separate funding to carry out the inventories and begin the climate change plans. Title: Global Assessment of Climate Change in Cities Team: H. Blanco, international group of researchers Funding: HSBC Today over half of the world s population is urban, and the UN estimates the share will grow to 65% by Several of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions -- energy, industry, transport, residential and commercial buildings and waste and wastewater are located primarily in urban areas. The Stern Report (2007), for example estimates that urban areas produce 78 % of carbon emissions from human activities. Cities therefore play a critical role in mitigating these emissions. And it is in cities that the majority of the world s population will need to cope with climate change impacts. Despite the growing importance of urbanization in the modern world, it is only recently that global organizations have begun to recognize the need to address the role of urbanization in climate change mitigation and adaptation. A new international organization of urban climate change researchers, the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) ( was organized in Prof. Blanco has been active in the network and is a lead author contributing to the first global Assessment of Climate Change in Cities (ARC 3 ). A team of international experts prepared the report, with several levels of peer review. Prof. Blanco is the lead author of the Urban Land chapter in the report, and a contributing author for the Governance chapter. The report will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2010 as First Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) Assessment Report on Climate Change in Cities, edited by C. Rozensweig, W. Solecki, and S. Hammer. In addition, this year, the International Panel on Climate Change has invited Prof. Blanco to participate in expert meetings to provide advice to the Working Groups on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. 3

4 Title: Carbon Footprint of Paper Products Team: J. Newell, R. Voss Funding: HSBC, Clean Agency, Inc. There has been an explosion in carbon calculators and related methods and tools to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (i.e. carbon footprint) of households, buildings, cities, and processes. These methodologies face significant challenges due to complexities of scale, largely a function of the number of actors and geographies involved in globalized commodity and energy networks, and scope, which increasingly demands inclusion of emissions due to land use change (e.g. biofuel production, timber harvest, livestock grazing, mining). Prof. Newell and colleagues recently completed a study of the global paper industry to further the science of carbon footprints. This research has been published as a technical report that helps institutions understand and address the complexities associated with product carbon footprinting in their sustainability operations. The research is also being published in Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Finally, Newell is working on a paper inventory audit mechanism that will allow financial sector institutions to quickly estimate their in-house and marketing related paper consumption. This audit tool will be provided to interested institutions upon completion, with the long-term aim of using it to provide the basis for an offset mechanism. Title: Meat Consumption-Climate Change Nexus. Team: J. Newell, J. Wolch Funding: HSBC Livestock production contributes an estimated 18% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide, and global demand for livestock products is rising rapidly. For the past two years, Newell has worked with colleagues from UC Berkeley and Clark University to develop a research program that will develop the conceptual and methodological framework necessary to understand the climate change implication of urban meat consumption. Specifically, this research will: a) model urban beef consumption and associated GHG emissions (the carbon beef hoofprint ); and b) identify urban pathways, change agents, and policy levers to reduce the climate change impacts of beef production-consumption systems. The research deploys an innovative mixed methods toolkit that spans geographic science, engineering, and public health. The proposed activities will influence key policy debates, student education and training, and public awareness of the relationships between meat consumption and climate change. In January 2010, a three-year, $400,000 proposal was submitted to NSF for this important research. Development of this proposal was supported in part by the HSBC grant. 4 Figure 2 CSC Publication of the Carbon Footprint of Paper Products

5 Title: Moving Containers Efficiently and with Less Impact Team: J. Newell, M. Rahimi (Indus. Eng.) Funding: HSBC, METRANS The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach currently handle about 35% of the goods imported into the United States, generating both regional economic benefits but also environmental and social costs. In 2006 the ports adopted the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) which will fundamentally alter operations at the Ports and in the international goods movement industry in the region. This plan includes adoption of new operating programs, shifts in the ratio of modal transport (truck to rail), clean technologies, and alternative fuels. Faced with changing technologies and uncertain costs, goods movement stakeholders are now confronting an array of choices with potentially large impacts on the region s economy and environment. They urgently need information about how these proposed changes will affect key shipping nodes and the goods movement system as a whole. They also need to be able to weigh options and identify optimal leverage points where cost-effective changes can be made. Newell is the lead investigator of an interdisciplinary (Geography, Engineering, and Planning) research project funded by the USC METRANS Transportation Center designed to identify strategies to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with goods movement both in the LA region and internationally. This research teams includes undergraduate and graduate students (figure 3). To make the research Figure 3 Port of Los Angeles Figure 4 Urban transportation research team results accessible and usable by those who need it most, the research team will build the prototype architecture for an internetbased goods movement simulation tool. This tool will allow the stakeholders to improve supply chain efficiency by enabling them to locate leverage points that yield the desired change for the lowest cost and shortest period of time. This research has been published as a technical report and will soon be submitted to an academic journal. 5

6 Title: Developing an Integrated Framework for Sustainable Buildings Team: J. Newell, M. Schiler (Arch.), E. Johnson (Civil Eng.), B. Ramachari (Civil Eng.), J. Albright (Soc.) Funding: HSBC In the US, buildings are responsible for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 71 percent of electricity consumption, 39 percent of energy use, 12 percent of water consumption, and 40 percent of non-industrial waste. These buildings, by and large, are located in urban areas. Given their importance for mitigating climate change, the CSC is developing a research program in green buildings. Funds from HSBC have allowed CSC researchers to prepare long-term funding proposals to support this research. CSC, with colleagues in engineering and architecture (name the colleagues), have applied for a U.S. $2 million research grant to the National Science Foundation. The project, entitled A Framework for Integrating Energy Efficiency, Safety, and Comfort for Sustainable Buildings, will develop a framework to design building systems that Figure 5 Proposed framework for Next-Generation Sustainable Buildings leverage the interdependence between building energy efficiency, structural safety, and occupant comfort and productivity (figure 5). The research includes a public outreach component that will work with real estate developers to promote green, next-generation buildings. Title: Climate Change Policy Analysis Team: A. Rose, D. Wei Funding: Center for Climate Strategies, Southern California Association of Governments Funded by the Center for Climate Strategies, Prof. Adam Rose (PI) and Dr. Dan Wei designed a policy instrument for implementing greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and analyzing the macroeconomic impacts of climate action plans. The first aspect involved the development of a method for incorporating GHG allowance trading into the REMI Macroeconometric Model. The 6

7 second involved extending and applying the REMI Model. Prof. Rose and Dr. Wei completed macroeconomic impact assessments for three states: Pennsylvania Michigan and Wisconsin. They also modeled the current Senate Climate bill. The Michigan study received major attention in the press, including an article in the New York Times. Papers from previous year s research in this area were published in the International Regional Science Review and accepted for publication in Climate Policy. Major presentations were made to state government policy committees, the Southern Governors Association, and U.S. Senate staffers on Capitol Hill. The research successes also led to the awarding of a new project to analyze the impacts of California s Global Warming legislation (AB32) in Southern California. Adapting to Climate Change The increasing evidence of the change in climate, and the lack of adequate action on mitigation have brought renewed emphasis on climate change adaptation policies. The International Panel on Climate Change 4 th assessment of mitigation efforts shows that current commitments would not lead to a stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations, and that due to lag times in the climate system, no mitigation efforts, no matter how rigorous and relentless, will prevent climate change from happening in the next few decades. (IPCC AR4 WG II 2007, 748) During this century, regardless of mitigation efforts, we will either suffer the adverse impacts of, or successfully adapt to climate change. Figure 6 Research Agenda for Climate Change Adaptation Planning. 7

8 In 2009, Prof. Blanco (with M. Alberti, University of Washington) published a paper on climate change adaptation, Building Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change through Planning. The paper develops a research agenda for the planning profession to address the challenges of climate change adaptation. Figure 6 summarizes research needs by planning process steps. Distinctive research needs include planning analysis which requires new ways of integrating and modeling scientific information and dealing with uncertainty, and implementation barriers. Prof Blanco will pursue funding for this research in the coming year. Title: USC Research Collaboration on Urban Climate Change Adaptation Team: H. Blanco, G. Giuliano Funding: HSBC, USC Zumberge Research and Innovation Fund In spring of 2010, to incorporate more faculty in research on climate change adaptation, Profs. Blanco and Giuliano prepared a proposal to the USC Research Collaboration Fund. The proposal aims to bring together faculty from throughout USC to address research questions related to climate change adaptation in urban areas. Major opportunities for multi-disciplinary research include: downscaling global climate models to regional-scale urban area, metropolitan and mega-city-regions; the impacts of climate change on the built environment and infrastructures; the effects of climate change on the health of humans and biota in urban environments; risk, vulnerability, and resilience; adaptation policy; complex modeling; and urban planning. We obtained commitments from over a dozen faculty working in relevant fields throughout the University who are interested in collaborating on these topics. The collaborative grant would provide support for ongoing monthly seminars and for the preparation of large grant proposals to NSF and other funders. Title: Water Scarcity in Southern California Team: H. Blanco, J. Newell, L. Stott, M. Alberti (U. of Washington) Funding: HSBC, Haynes Foundation The HSBC grant also enabled us to undertake the initial research to obtain funding from the Haynes Foundation for a two-year study of a key impact of climate change in Southern California--increasing water scarcity. Profs. Blanco and Newell will study urban water districts in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The research will first establish the effectiveness of recent strategies that water districts have developed to deal with water supply scarcity during this past decade in Southern California. Then, it will assess the extent to which innovative strategies can address, if expanded, greater water scarcity anticipated under climate change. CSC will develop water scarcity scenarios through a stakeholder involvement process.. To assess how these strategies are working, we will study the water districts of Orange County, Los 8

9 Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency. These local water districts have implemented many water conservation and a range of strategies to increase water supply. The three cases will enable us to study institutional, demographic/economic, land Figure 7 Even after heavy winter rain storms in 2010, Southern California water reserves are still critically low use, natural and infrastructure factors that shape the plans, and to assess the potential of the strategies used to maintain reliable water supplies in the face of growing scarcity. We propose to conduct a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis of the strategies that will include, in addition to the financial costs, the energy use and the resulting greenhouse gas emission costs of the strategies. Cities, Sustainability and Climate Change Sustainability has become a major theme in public policy efforts to address urban environmental and social problems. More sustainable urban development and transportation policies and practices are required to reduce air pollution, conserve scarce natural resources, increase livability of communities, foster economically healthy cities, and reduce energy consumption. Increasingly, the risks of climate change have heightened the focus on sustainability. Title: Towards Evidence-Based Sustainable Communities Team: H. Blanco, G. Giuliano, J. Newell Funding: HSBC, The Urban Institute This year HSBC support has helped CSC to develop a research project that links sustainability to climate change and that will further the national agenda on sustainable cities. This spring we were successful in obtaining funding for the first phase of a project that will help the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to define its sustainability agenda. US HUD is launching its own sustainable communities program, and is partnering with USDOT and EPA to develop a broader federal agenda on Sustainable Communities. However, there is surprisingly little agreement on what specifically constitutes sustainability, and to what extent practices commonly identified with it are effective in achieving environmental or social objectives. The purpose of the research project, led by Profs. Blanco and Giuliano, is to assist federal efforts to develop sustainability policies and programs by clarifying the concept of sustainability as it relates to HUD s and other relevant agencies areas of responsibilities and to focusing on specific issue areas that would help to inform a national sustainability program. We propose a 9

10 series of three tasks: 1) survey of sustainability research in US research universities and institutions, 2) development of white papers on up to four focus areas, and 3) a one day sustainability workshop based on the white papers. We are actively seeking additional funding to support this project. PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH This year the Center and associated faculty have conducted several types of public education and outreach efforts, including: public seminars and symposia sponsored by the Center; lectures and presentations at various forums within the University; presentations at national and international conferences and forums; and publications. Public Seminars Sponsored by the Center 1. Dr. Woody Clark II, Nobel Prize Winner (2007as contributor to the International Panel on Climate Change). Third Industrial Revolution, November 19, Josh Newell. Carbon Footprints and the Shaping of Public Policy, METRANS Transportation Center and Center for Sustainable Cities Seminar, Los Angeles, CA, March 11, Profs. Anthony Bertelli and Adam Rose, The Economics and Politics of Cap and Trade. Center for Sustainable Cities. April 15, USC Presentations Blanco, H. Sustainability research at USC, presented at the USC President s Leadership Retreat, November 15, Blanco, H. The role of urban planning in climate change. At USC s School of Policy, Planning and Development s Urban Growth Seminar. November 3, Blanco, H. The role of urban planning in addressing Climate Change, presented in Prof. Mazmanian s course on Sustainability Planning, March 24, Newell, J. Water-Energy-Climate Nexus: Implications for energy policy, USC Water Retreat, Los Angeles, CA, April 2, Newell, J. Measuring the Carbon Footprints of Cities, Products, and Processes, USC Energy Institute Annual Retreat, La Canada Flintridge, CA, November 13,

11 National and International Conference Presentations Blanco, H. Keynote speaker at the roundtable of Peking University Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy on Green Cities: Urban Development and Environmental Policy in a Global Context, held on September 11, 2009 at Peking University in Beijing, China. Presented a paper on The Role of Urban Planning in Creating Green Cities. Also made this presentation at the International Academic Frontier session of the annual meeting of the Urban Planning Society of China held on Sept. 13, 2009 in Tianjin, China. Blanco, H. Planning for Resilient and Sustainable Cities. Presentation to the Annual Conference of the Urban Affairs Association in March 11, 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Giuliano, G. The contribution of urban transport to climate policy, presented at the World Bank/Korea Transport Institute Joint Workshop, Transport Systems to Reduce Climate Change and Promote Green Growth, Washington, DC. January Newell, J. Moving Containers Efficiently and with Less Impact: Stakeholder collaboration for sustainability in goods movement, 3 rd METRANS National Urban Freight Conference, Long Beach, CA, October 21, Rose, A. and Wei, D Macroeconomic Assessment of the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan, presented at the Annual Meeting of Association of American Geographers, Washington, DC, April 14-18, Rose, A. and Wei, D The Economic Impact of the Florida Climate Action Plan on The State s Economy, presented at the 2009 IAEE International Conference, San Francisco, CA, June 21-24, Selected Publications Blanco, H. (Lead Author), P. McCarney, S. Parnell, M.Schmidt, K. Seto Chapter 8. The Role of Urban Land in Climate Change in C. Rozensweig, W. Solecki, and S. Hammer (Eds.) First Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) Assessment Report on Climate Change in Cities. Cambridge University Press, in press. McCarney, P. (Lead Author). H. Blanco, J. Carmin, M. Colley, E. Fuchs, E. Ligeti, C. Natenson, M. Schmidt Chapter 9.Cities and Climate Change: the Challenges for Governance in in C. Rozensweig, W. Solecki, and S. Hammer (Eds.) First Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) Assessment Report on Climate Change in Cities. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, in press. Blanco, H. and M. Alberti (Eds.) Shaken, Hot, Shrinking, Impoverished and Informal: Emerging Research Agendas in Planning. Progress in Planning, 72(4):

12 Blanco, H. and M. Alberti (Eds.) Hot, Congested, Crowded and Diverse: Emerging Research Agendas in Planning. Progress in Planning. 71(3): Blanco, H. and M. Alberti. Building Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change through Planning. Chapter 2 in Hot, congested, crowded and diverse: Emerging research agendas in planning. Progress in Planning. 71(3): Doi: /j.progress Abridged version published in Chinese in the Chinese Journal of Urban and Regional Planning. 3(2): 1-22(2010). Giuliano, G. and A. Agarwal (2010) Public transit as a metropolitan growth and development strategy, in M. Tuner, H. Wial and H. Wolman, eds., Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects, Vol 2. Washington DC: Brookings Institution, forthcoming. McKinstry, R.B., Peterson, T.D., Rose, A., and Wei, D The New Climate World: Achieving Economic Efficiency in a Federal System for GHG Regulation through State Planning, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation 34(3): Newell, J and R. Vos. Papering over Space and Place: Fuzzy Accounting and Flat Geographies in Carbon Footprints. Under review. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Newell, J., Madachy, R., Haas B., and H. Bradbury Calculating the Carbon Emissions of a Shipping Container from China to U.S. Retailer. Los Angeles, CA: USC Center for Sustainable Cities. 28 pages. Rose, A., Wei, D., Wennberg, J., and Peterson, T Climate Change Policy Formation in Michigan: The Case for Integrated Regional Policies, International Regional Science Review 32(4): Rose, A. The Economics of Climate Change Policy: International, National and Regional Strategies, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Company, Vos, R. and J. Newell A Comparative Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Coated Paper Production: Key Differences between China and the U.S. Los Angeles, CA: USC Center for Sustainable Cities. 51 pages. Climate Change Symposia for We are planning a Climate Change Symposium in the fall of 2010 around the recommendations of the Pacific Council s Task Force on Climate Change Adaptation ( In December of 2009, Governor Schwartzenegger appointed the Task Force as the Climate Adaptation Panel to the State of California. The Task Force recommendations will be released in early fall. Our planned symposium will present the findings and recommendations of the Task Force, as well as focus on the next steps. We will bring together Task Force members academics, and elected officials to discuss the Task Force findings. In Spring 2011, we plan to convene a sustainability summit of the major university sustainability research centers in the country to report on the state of 12

13 research on urban sustainability and climate change, and to provide guidance on the sustainable communities research and policy agendas for the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and the Environmental Protection Administration. STUDENT RESEARCH PROGRAM 2010 Summer Fellows Program The 2010 summer fellowship program builds on CSC s highly productive 2009 Summer Fellowship program. For summer 2010, the Center provided summer fellowships and research assistantships for 6 graduate and doctoral students. The summer program will take place over eight weeks from Jun 1 to August 15. The students will work on a series of climate change related topics focused on the urban environment: Water supply scarcity and climate change in the LA Basin Greenhouse gas inventory methodologies for metropolitan areas Inventory and survey of urban sustainability research centers in U.S. universities. Green rating systems, including LEED building and neighborhood rating systems. Work began June 1 with an orientation to introduce students to the goals and objectives of the CSC and the research. Once every two weeks there will be brown bag lunches for team members to engage in information exchange. These sessions will be important learning opportunities, giving the group a chance to engage in discussion and field questions amongst their peers, and interact with faculty. At the beginning of August, students will make their final Figure 8 CSC Summer Fellows 2009 research presentations. This will be an excellent opportunity for students to practice making professional presentations in front of an audience. 13

14 CSC Researchers Hilda Blanco Hilda Blanco is Research Professor and Interim Director of the Center for Sustainable Cities in SPPD. She is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington, where she served as Chair of the department from She holds Master s and Ph.D. degrees in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Blanco s current research interests include: cities and climate change, critical infrastructures, and urban growth management. On climate change, she has presented papers at several conferences: Urban Affairs Conference in Seattle (2007); International Scientific Congress on Climate Change (2009); University of Copenhagen (2008, 2009); Peking University-Lincoln Institute Center for Urban Development and Land Policy (2009); and, Urban Planning Society of China (2009). A paper developing a research agenda on climate change adaptation (with M. Alberti) Building Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change through Planning was published in Progress in Planning, July 2009, 71(3): Through the Urban Climate Change Research Network (www. Dr. Blanco is involved in the preparation of the first Assessment Report on Climate Change in Cities (ARC3). This first report, following the model of the IPCC assessment reports, will be published by Cambridge University Press in Her experience is sustainable communities dates back to her graduate studies, her Master s project was on Solar and Wind Energy Prospects for San Francisco, which was a background report for the City s of San Francisco s Energy Policy included in the City s Master Plan (1982), and she taught graduate courses on sustainable communities at Hunter College in the early 1990s, and at the University of Washington. Genevieve Giuliano Genevieve Giuliano is Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Research and Technology in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California, and Director of the METRANS joint USC and California State University Long Beach Transportation Center. She was named the Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government in 2009 for her work in regional transportation policy. She also holds courtesy appointments in Civil Engineering and Geography. Professor Giuliano's research focus areas include relationships between land use and transportation, transportation policy anlysis, and information technology applications in transportation. She has published over 140 papers, and has presented her research at numerous conferences both within the US and abroad. She serves on the Editorial Boards of Urban Studies and Journal of Transport Policy. She is a past member and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board. She was named a National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2003, received the TRB William Carey Award for Distinguished Service in 2006, and was awarded the Deen Lectureship in She has 14

15 participated in several National Academies of Sciences policy studies; currently she is participating in the NAS study, America s Climate Choices. She is Chair of the California Research and Technology Advisory Panel, which advises Caltrans and the Department of Business, Housing and Transportation on the implementation of the Growth Management Plan. Josh Newell Josh Newell is a Project Manager and Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Southern California. Josh s research areas include political ecology, industrial ecology, forestry, urban ecology/sustainable cities, environmental certification and corporate social responsibility, and supply chain and resource theory and modeling. From , Josh was a program director for Friends of the Earth-Japan, a large international environmental nongovernmental organization. Adam Rose Prof. Rose is a Research Professor at the School of Policy, Planning and Development and Coordinator for Economics, Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events at USC. Much of Professor Rose's research is on the economics of natural and man-made hazards. He recently served on a National Research Council panel on the benefits of advanced seismic monitoring and as a lead researcher for a report to the U.S. Congress on the net benefits of FEMA hazard mitigation grants. He is currently a principal investigator on an NSF grant to estimate the economic impacts of risk amplification following terrorist attacks, a project for the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center to develop a computable general equilibrium modeling capability to analyze the consequences of terrorist threats, and an NSF project to develop a hazards decision support model for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. A major focus of his research has been on resilience to natural disasters and terrorism at the levels of the individual business, market, and regional economy. Professor Rose's other research areas are the economics of energy and climate change policy. His emphasis has been on the design of policy instruments, primarily tradable emission permits, for sponsors ranging from the United Nations to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. He recently served as a member of an EPA Scientific Advisory Board Panel on the Second Generation Climate Change Policy Model and is a coordinating team member for the federal interagency State of the Carbon Cycle Review. He is currently focusing on greenhouse gas cap and trade systems in the Western U.S., with the prospects of involving the European Union and developing counties in the Pacific Rim. Chris Weare Chris Weare is a research associate professor within the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. Until recently he served as the deputy director of the USC Civic Engagement Initiative and also a principal investigator with the Neighborhood Participation Project. With Juliet Musso, he headed a major Neighborhood Council Evaluation Project, which examined the implementation of the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council system over a period of seven years. 15

16 Dr. Weare employs social network analysis to examine how voluntary associations join communities together and connect them to organs of governance; much of this work has been supported by the National Science Foundation. He also studies the development and impacts of e-government. For CSC, this year Prof. Weare developed a research proposal to study how to incorporate sustainability strategies into affordable housing programs. Before joining SPPD, he was a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Dr. Weare holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley. Dan Wei Dr. Wei is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Policy, Planning and Development, at University of Southern California. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Adam Rose on various research projects in the areas of energy and environmental analysis, economic policy modeling, and economic impact analysis of disasters and resilience measures. The first topic is the modeling and analysis of various energy and climate policy instruments, especially markedbased instruments. She has made major contributions to projects that model the cap and trade system at the state, regional, and international levels. The work has been published in both academic journals and book chapters. Her second research focus is to evaluate the impacts of state climate action plans on economies of several states. She also participates in an ongoing major research project to scale up state level climate mitigation efforts to the federal level, and to evaluate the economic impacts on the U.S. economy, as well as to different sectors and income brackets with respect to different policy design specifications. Contact information: Prof. Hilda Blanco Research Professor Interim Director Center for Sustainable Cities School of Policy, Planning and Development University of Southern California Von KleinSmid Center 370 Los Angeles, CA (213) hblanco@usc.ed 16