Green Manhattan

The “density-is-green” argument — the counterintuitive claim that dense urban living (Manhattan as the archetype) is environmentally efficient relative to suburban sprawl, because shared infrastructure, walkability, and small living spaces cut per-capita energy use. In The New Urban Crisis, Kyle invokes it against sprawl’s energy inefficiency, pairing it with the Distributed Energy Model. His marginal note ties it directly to his own The New City thinking: “Connect to The New City and the New Yorker article from Cambridge about how green dense cities are — Green Manhattan.”

Context: “Green Manhattan” is the title of a 2004 New Yorker essay by David Owen, later expanded into the book Green Metropolis, arguing that Manhattan is one of the most environmentally efficient places in America precisely because of its extreme density.

Where this appears

• The New Urban Crisis — cited as the density-is-green argument against sprawl, alongside the Distributed Energy Model and connected in a Kyle note to The New City.

From Roam

Roam page metadata — Tags: #Cambridge #PKP The New Yorker The New City City Building · Source: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/10/18/green-manhattan