City governments are increasingly recognised as leaders on environmental issues. But one important tool they use to promote sustainability—procurement—sometimes flies under the radar.

I’m an optimist, by nature, so I’ve had to befriend failure over the course of my career—seeing it as instructive for the next big thing, rather than a referendum on my leadership or the capacity of change in design. I experienced this most acutely when I co-created “The 1%” pro bono design program with my colleagues at Public Architecture in the mid-aughts.

Today, the design industry is complex. Key ingredients used to be attention to detail, market analysis and strong technical knowledge. However, ethics and building consensus increasingly surface as more important design skills.

I’m an optimist, by nature, so I’ve had to befriend failure over the course of my career—seeing it as instructive for the next big thing, rather than a referendum on my leadership or the capacity of change in design. I experienced this most acutely when I co-created “The 1%” pro bono design program with my colleagues at Public Architecture in the mid-aughts.

City governments are increasingly recognised as leaders on environmental issues. But one important tool they use to promote sustainability—procurement—sometimes flies under the radar.

We have to reevaluate the idea that this land is here for our consumption.