In this episode of Plan A, No Plan B with Mentor Pllana, we address the elephant in the room: housing and climate change.

Today, over 50% of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2040, that number will reach 75%. In the next two decades alone, three billion people will be added to urban areas - requiring roughly 40% more housing globally.

At the same time, one billion people live in slums and over 100 million are homeless. Construction already accounts for nearly half of global CO₂ emissions when materials, transport and energy use are combined. Housing and climate are not separate problems - they are the same system.

This episode explores why our current extractive model of “take, make, use and lose” no longer works, and why we must transition toward regenerative systems of “take, make, use and reuse.”

This episode is part of the series The Future Is Happening Now, focused on housing, industry and global systems.

Follow the podcast for more episodes on housing, sustainability and the future of development.