Although Cleveland often serves more as a punchline than a solution (the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969 due to pollution), a climate change conference convened by the United Nations and currently being held in Quito, Ecuador sees new potential in the city. As StreetsBlog reports, if Cleveland can transform its current suburbia into denser neighborhoods, the metropolis could serve as a model for numerous water and climate-challenged cities in how to adapt to the demands of an increasingly populated globe. As a paper entitled "Where to put the next billion people" states:

"Cleveland could play a significant role in the fight against climate change by developing a strategy for more compact communities and with a more open and encouraging immigration policy, the report concludes.

The influx of immigrants should probably be planned better.

Cleveland’s outer suburbs and nearby rural towns hold the key. If the suburbs can figure out strategies to retrofit themselves as dense, walkable communities, they will gracefully absorb growth and sustain over the long term. It will take unprecedented vision and cooperation."

Cleveland in the news:

• Cleveland Institute of Art to break ground on final phase of an eight-year, $63.5 million expansion and renovation
• Four teams unveil concepts in competition to design $40 million architecture school at KSU
• Two Projects Share First Place at 2012 Cleveland Design Competition - Transforming the Bridge