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In the face of a changing climate, rising sea levels, and various national security concerns, market forces—assisted by public policy—continue to shift key portions of the American economy away from carbon-intensive, fossil fuel driven activities toward cleaner, more efficient, and higher-output ones, especially through greater energy efficiency and more use of renewable energy sources. Consumers are changing their behavior and increasingly seeking greener alternatives as new products flood the marketplace. Businesses are launching new innovations, shifting production schedules, and bringing cleaner products and services to the market to serve them. And with the recent promotion by climate activists of an ambitious Green New Deal, fiery policy debates have broken out in Congress over the need for investments in clean-energy jobs and infrastructure. As a result, big changes in consumption patterns, manufacturing processes, the power sector, and regulatory affairs—all related to the shift to reduced carbon emissions—have become some of the highest-profile, most-debated trends of the decade. The resulting analysis projects great promise for the U.S. labor market and household opportunity as the clean energy economy transitions continues to push forward. Yet delivering economy-wide prosperity based on the inclusive nature of many clean energy economy occupations will require a more concerted effort to ensure all individuals can fill these jobs.

In this study, we describe several of the fundamental pillars that define smart cities in India, using Ajmer, Allahabad, and Visakhapatnam (Vizag) as examples. First, we establish additional context behind these efforts and provide a critical appraisal of previous government programs centered on urbanization, including the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM). We describe the central role of local governments in spearheading future changes across India, including the continued devolution of fiscal responsibility and authority. In particular, states and municipalities throughout India have varied widely in their implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, which was designed to improve local governance. Across the public and private sectors, in turn, a wide range of institutional and financial factors must be weighed carefully when accelerating Smart City improvements in years to come.

Across the world, rapid urban growth offers enormous opportunity to those living in cities and suburbs. Urban residents tend to earn higher incomes than their rural peers, and enjoy the benefits of living in closer proximity to vital services and commerce. However, the same influx of people and economic activity also places enormous pressure on the built environment, straining existing transportation systems across the developed and developing world. In turn, residents and businesses increasingly struggle to reach one another, and they often place a premium on locating in neighborhoods with the greatest urban access. In other words, people want to live where it is easy to reach key destinations. This can drive up the price of land and contributes to a toxic mix of income inequality and spatial inequity. In response, urban leaders need to plan, design, and deliver transportation services and develop land in a way that prioritizes inclusive access. Striving for greater and more inclusive access requires a new vision for urban areas in the years to come and should inform longer-term strategies and policy decisions. This new framework should aim to optimize access for all people regardless of demographic characteristics, ensure the built environment is responsive to their needs, and promote development of a transportation system in line with an urban area's long-term fiscal and financial health.

The United States requires an enormous class of workers to keep essential services online. The Department of Homeland Security uses a sweeping definition of such essential industries from grocery stores to hospitals to warehouses, which collectively employed 90 million workers prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. A portion of these essential workers—or "frontline" workers—must physically show up to their jobs and have been especially vulnerable to additional health and economic risks, including many employed in infrastructure-related activities. This analysis—based on Brookings Institution posts written in March and June 2020—defines the country's essential workforce and explores their economic and demographic characteristics in greater depth, revealing a need for continued protections and investments as part of the COVID-19 recovery.