Population density is critical to climate action. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) has clear roadmaps like Project Drawdown. Less clear is how best to adapt key systems like property insurance and stormwater management (which we explored in a previous post). But higher population density is the way to accelerate adaptation, improve efficacy and reduce per capita costs of climate action.

The force multiplying effect of population density shouldn’t be a surprise. We already can see differences in infrastructure and services for urban versus suburban communities as illustrated below in data compiled by Halifax Regional Municipality.

Water infrastructure, specifically upgrading stormwater management, is strikingly 4x or 5x cheaper than the suburban equivalent. Other examples are not as striking, severe weather comes more of a need for emergency response, which costs at least 2x more for lower density areas.

Density also has advantages for GHG goals. We know that per capita energy use is lower because of a combination of factors. Homes tend to be smaller and therefore less energy is needed for heating and cooling. Assuming we are able to achieve electrification of all transportation, the new energy infrastructure demands for a very dense Hong Kong will be much less compared to a sprawling Houston. Even compared to moderate density differences, we again see 4x or 5x the benefits.

If this sounds too good to be true, it is. Density comes with a number of persistent challenges, the most obvious being affordable housing. In fact, for the United States, living in higher density means a lot more people are spending 50% of more of their income on their housing, roughly 2x the percent of medium and lower densities.

There are other density challenges like traffic congestion, which is getting worse, primarily as a function of our shift to more online orders and ride hailing. Cities have also historically been less safe versus rural areas, but that trend may have changed in the last decade.

To capture the benefits of population density, we also have to address the downsides of density. Today Urban Us investments are split roughly equally across 3 strategies — GHG, adaptation and density.

Urban Us Portfolio Breakdown by Climate Action

Source: Urban Us

Some examples of density-related investments:

Starcity — provides co-living accommodations that aren’t just significantly cheaper, but offer more service and amenities too.

Blokable — makes multistory buildings in factories dramatically reducing time and cost to deliver products as good or better than site built construction.

Toggle — automates the production of core concrete components, starting with the rebar cages in pretty much all of the built environment.

Mark43 — makes more effective use of law enforcement resources by redesigning the core software platforms for records management, analytics and dispatch.

Coord — offers a new approach to managing curb space to reduce congestion and bring in new revenue. Start by understanding the value of curb space and then helping to manage in new ways.

Miles — rewards citizens for changing how they move around, earning more points for transit or cycling to reduce traffic congestion.

Near Space Labs — provides daily, high resolution imagery to understand the impact of weather, vegetation or traffic on critical urban infrastructure.

Bumblebee Spaces — transforms unused space into useful space by quickly and easily re configuring physical spaces.

If you’re thinking about building a startup that re-imagines life in higher density communities, we’d love to hear from you. If you’re still working on a first product or already have customers, regardless of whether you’ve raised or where you’re located, we’re accepting applications at URBAN-X or drop us a note at hello@urban.us.