John Rennie Short

Professor, Department of Public Policy

University of Maryland

Professor, author and renowned public speaker John Rennie Short is an expert on urban issues, environmental concerns, globalization, political geography and the history of cartography. He has studied cities around the world, and lectured around the world to a variety of audiences.

The world's cities aren't adapting to climate change quickly enough

December 22, 2021

by John Rennie Short

From Lagos to London, cities need to be reshaped.
- Cities
Is the return of gridlock inevitable? The case for people-friendly streets

June 29, 2021

by John Rennie Short

The traditional American road and car mentality remains strong, but the pandemic may have finally made clear that urban public transportation has a vital social and economic role in making cities fairer and more efficient.
The city that always drives: New York gets serious about traffic with first citywide U.S. congestion pricing plan

April 16, 2019

by John Rennie Short

A new policy makes it the first American municipality to try this approach, following London and Singapore.
Is your city green? Why measuring sustainability matters

March 18, 2015

by John Rennie Short

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities and that percentage continues to rise, making cities critical areas for adopting practices to preserve natural resources.
How green is your city? How does it match up to other cities? Is it making progress in becoming more sustainable?
- Cities
How green is your city? Towards an index of urban sustainability

March 18, 2015

by John Rennie Short

There's more than one way to measure a city's shade of green. A public policy expert examines three of the most important ones.
- Cities
- Land Use