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318 Following
250 Posts
Associate professor of urban and environmental planning at #MIT, studying cities, infrastructure, climate, energy & long bike rides. Likes, RTs ≠ E. On Twitter as @d_hsu_work, but let's be honest, I also use this for ... wait, why do any of us look at social media?
MIT websitehttps://dusp.mit.edu/people/david-hsu
Google Scholar profilehttps://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bZ98GoIAAAAJ&hl=en
Finally got around to reading Jennifer Pahlka's "Recoding America" (2023). Direct, penetrating, and hopeful in its stories and analysis of how all government could work differently and better. An essential read. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jennifer-pahlka.html
Opinion | The Book I Wish Every Policymaker Would Read

In “Recoding America,” Jennifer Pahlka offers a deeper theory for why the U.S. government struggles to provide services to its people.

The New York Times
This Washington Post article about the iconic yellow school bus is a great illustration of everyday inequities in urban planning, education, labor, parenting, air quality, government spending, and quality of life, all accelerated by the pandemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/02/school-bus-era-ends/
Analysis | The school bus is disappearing. Welcome to the era of the school pickup line.

Parent drop-offs at school soared during the pandemic, and bus use fell, but only among kids whose parents graduated from college. What’s going on?

Washington Post
I'm not really sure what to do with the divergence and fragmentation among social media sites, and so just cross-post everything. Please let me know if this is annoying and what you do instead.

A postdoc ad at BU with Ben Sovacool studying building decarbonization open to many methods and backgrounds.

Pass it on to someone who might be interested! @kevinjkircher

https://www.bu.edu/igs/files/2023/12/BU-SE-Job-Description-120523.TK-BKS.pdf

This article about Montreal’s Habitat from 1967 is OK but the video rendered using a game engine is mind-boggling. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/16/opinion/habitat-67-moshe-safdie/
Habitat 67: A once-futuristic housing vision whose time still may come

An idea for dense mixed-income living in city centers got a showcase in the 1960s but didn’t catch on. Could something like this work in Boston?

The Boston Globe
Maybe I will read this handy article about universities and climate action ... later. https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000322
Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

Interest in the relationship between the activities of universities and action on climate change is growing, but until recently there has been little focus on the critical role of researchers, particularly with regards to how research practices and culture can enable or inhibit change. This study addresses this gap, exploring researchers’ perceptions of universities’ measures to tackle their own emissions, their own engagement on issues surrounding the climate crisis, and challenges and opportunities for researchers to contribute to them. We present findings from a representative survey of 1,853 researchers from 127 UK universities across disciplines and career stages, including comparing responses across these professional differences, and analysis based on over 5,000 open text responses provided by the survey participants. The results show that while most have some knowledge of actions being taken by their universities and feel that universities’ public declarations of a climate emergency are making a difference, almost half think not enough is being done. They feel that responsibility for university climate action sits across government, universities and research councils, but almost all researchers are also personally worried about climate change and want to do more themselves to address it. For the most part, they also strongly support climate advocacy by those engaged in research. Yet high workload, uncertainty about what actions to take, perceived lack of agency or power, inflexible university processes and pressure to travel are just some of the many barriers researchers face in taking action. The study highlights how these barriers can be overcome, and the steps universities and researchers can take to better incorporate climate action into their research culture and practices.

I guess I should share this nice profile, because the writer rather generously captured me on my best day, feeling positive, hopeful, and passionate about climate action. Now that I have tenure, I just have to figure out how to be this person all the time. https://news.mit.edu/2023/david-hsu-climate-action-0102
Climate action, here and now

In profile: Associate Professor David Hsu examines how cities, states, and local governments can fight climate change — and how MIT can do the same.

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In advance of Taiwanese elections tomorrow, here is my article, from a year ago, on how China's economic/ information/political war against Taiwan has already begun

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/taiwan-china-disinformation-propaganda-russian-influence/672453/

China’s War Against Taiwan Has Already Started

How Beijing tries to make a democracy submit without putting up a fight

The Atlantic

If you haven't yet read the entire Fifth US National Climate Assessment #NCA5 -- hundreds of pages of summary by leading scientists on every aspect of climate change in the US -- then these coming webinars are your chance to catch up!

Schedule here: https://www.globalchange.gov/events?topic%5B135%5D=135

Events

Our Events, such as webinars and listening sessions, provide additional ways for the public and communities to learn about and participate in USGCRP activities. While these events are not always hosted by USGCRP, they reflect the ongoing mission of the Program.

U.S. Global Change Research Program