Climate Week NYC, September 21-25, 2026

The Urban Climate Solution

At The Urban Climate Solution, presented by Parking Reform Network at NYC Climate Week, we are bringing together advocates, researchers, public officials, practitioners, and movement leaders to make the case that urban policy is climate policy. Too often, climate conversations focus on technology alone while overlooking the everyday decisions that shape how people live, move, build, and share space. These events will spotlight practical, high-impact urban strategies from parking reform, curb management, and reducing vehicle miles traveled to housing abundance, adaptive reuse, emerging mobility, and sustainable growth in rapidly urbanizing regions. Together, we are creating a space for the people doing the work on the ground to show how better land use, transportation, and development choices can cut emissions, strengthen communities, and build cities where the climate-friendly choice is also the easy choice.

“Climate action cannot stop at cleaner cars and better technology. We have to change the way our cities are built, priced, and connected so that lower-carbon choices become the easiest choices in everyday life.”

— Tony Jordan, President, Parking Reform Network

Agenda

Monday, September 21 | 1:00–4:00 PM

Office-to-Residential Conversions

Hosted by PRN and Pew
Venue: Building Energy Exchange, 31 Chambers St #609, New York, NY 10007

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Office-to-residential conversions are emerging as a powerful strategy for addressing several urban challenges at once: downtown vacancies, housing shortages, embodied carbon, and the need for more homes in walkable, transit-served neighborhoods. This session will explore how adaptive reuse can conserve existing buildings, reduce the climate footprint of development, and create new housing opportunities near jobs, transit, and public amenities. Panelists will discuss the policy, design, financing, and implementation strategies needed to make conversions a more practical and scalable climate-aligned development tool.

Tuesday, September 22 | 9:00 AM–12:00 PM

Access Without Driving: Reducing Trip Demand Through Mixed-Use Neighborhoods

Hosted by PRN
Venue: The Bench, 49 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013

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The cleanest trip is often the one people do not have to take by car. This session will explore how neighborhood-scale access — including corner stores, daily needs, mixed-use development, and walkable destinations — can reduce vehicle miles traveled while making cities more convenient, affordable, and livable. Rather than focusing only on cleaner vehicles, this conversation asks how better land use can shorten trips, support local businesses, and make low-carbon living easier in everyday life.

Wednesday, September 23 | Time TBD

Beyond Sprawl: Sustainable Growth in the Global South

Hosted by WRI, NYU, and PRN
Venue: NYU Morris / NYU Marron — final listing to confirm

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Most of the built environment that will define African and Latin American cities in 2050 has not yet been built. The decisions made now will determine whether rapidly growing cities lock in sprawl, long commutes, high infrastructure costs, and climate risk — or chart a different path. This session will explore practical policy tools for sustainable urban growth, including work on Sub-Saharan African urban expansion, densification, street networks, land policy, and urban design. The conversation will focus on how governments, planners, and practitioners can make compact, well-located, transit-accessible development easier to understand, plan, and implement.

Thursday, September 24 | 3:00–5:00 PM

Preparing for Emerging Mobility: Autonomous Vehicles and Mobility Horizons

Hosted by PRN and NYU
Venue: NYU Rudin, 105 E 17th St, New York, NY

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This session will move beyond both hype and doom to ask how cities can use emerging mobility to support safer streets, reduce vehicle miles traveled, improve curb management, and incentivize climate-aligned transportation choices.