Buro Happold tapped to develop a Local weather Motion and Adaptation Plan for Tucson

Having previously developed climate mitigation and adaptation plans for cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, a dedicated climate team from Buro Happold now has its sights set on Tucson. Home to over a half-million residents, Tucson is Arizona’s second-largest city and has the dubious distinction of being the third-fastest warming city in the United States behind Las Vegas and El Paso.

As recently announced by Buro Happold in a press statement, its winning proposal to helm the 10-year CAAP, “combines the total urgency of establishing climate solutions, with the necessity of enacting these plans with the support and involvement of the diverse communities it will affect.”

Per the United Kingdom-headquartered global, integrated engineering, design, and planning firm, Tucson’s CAAP will combine the on-the-ground knowledge and expertise of local climate groups with its own advisory team of climate experts and engineers, including frequent collaborator Autocase.

“These foundational partnerships will incorporate the essential experience of local groups and organizations, including the Living Streets Alliance and the Drachman Institute, the community-based research and outreach arm of the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture,” said Chris Rhie, associate principal with Buro Happold. “Buro Happold will work in collaboration with each of these groups, making sure to center historically underrepresented voices in the work.”

As noted by Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, the city has already taken impactful steps to achieve goals outlined in its 2020 Climate Emergency Declaration, including launching widespread tree-planting efforts, introducing electric buses into its public transportation fleet, and retrofitting existing buildings to ready them for electric vehicle charging. “Building off this work, we have brought onboard Buro Happold to help shape our Climate Action Plan and create a more livable, vibrant and healthy Tucson,” said Mayor Romero in a statement. The oft-scorching desert city has committed to carbon neutrality by 2030 and becoming zero-waste by 2050.

As noted by Buro Happold in its announcement, the plan “lays out clear and achievable objectives for the city, including a concrete path and timeline to reduce carbon emissions while leaving important room for the goals to be refined in response to developing circumstances.” Diversity and inclusion are an integral part of the plan as Buro Happold aims to engage everyone in the Tucson community in the plan.

Per a recent Arizona Daily Star article detailing Tucson’s CAAP and Buro Happold’s involvement in crafting it, the plan will take the firm nine months to develop before it is finalized in December. Residents will be able to provide feedback throughout the development of the plan and share input during the public hearings process as Tucson City Council votes to adopt it at the end of the year.