WRI Ross Center
for Sustainable Cities
Our Work
WRI Ross Center’s goal is to help cities transform their physical infrastructure, institutions and mindsets.
Our unique Deep Dive Cities approach of multi-year, multi-sector engagement with places like Bengaluru, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro allows us to build coalitions, work across political administrations and implement strategic projects that catalyze urban transformation.
From project inception to financing, implementation and lessons learned, we help cities not only create change but sustain it.
Cities are complex, living systems; single-sector solutions do not always address the full scope of urban problems. We focus on an integrated approach across three areas that form the backbone of cities: land use and economic development, mobility, and energy and resource efficiency. We have found solutions that cut across multiple sectors are most effective, with the greatest potential to trigger systemic, lasting change.
WRI Ross Center’s value is that we can bring these road-tested and data-proven solutions to scale, from the local to the global level. Our unique strategy allows us to effect change from neighborhood projects to municipalities, national legislation and global coalitions.
Building sustainable solutions for the world’s 5,000+ largest and fastest-growing cities requires collaboration on a global scale. We are committed to partnerships as a central tenet to how we reach more people and therefore actively seek them out to help accomplish strategic goals. By engaging a range of stakeholders, we elevate our impact to more cities and support global efforts to build sustainable solutions for people and the planet.
WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities works on Urban Mobility, Urban Development, and Urban Efficiency & Climate. Explore all projects in depth.
Urban Mobility
Improving quality of life, health and opportunity in cities through sustainable and safe transport and urban design.
Part of Cities
Urban Development
Creating livable neighborhoods that build resilience, improve health, and equitably connect people and opportunities.
Part of Cities
Urban Efficiency & Climate
Helping cities adopt an integrated approach to improve the built environment, clean the air and tackle climate change.
Part of Cities
All Projects
Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange
Part of Cities
Cities for Smart Surfaces
Part of Cities