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When a city burns, people often zoom in on houses, the individual cells that make up the fabric of a community. After the tragic fires in Los Angeles earlier this month, many publications, this one included, published essays, case studies, and guides shedding light on how to fire-proof a house. These guides are crucial tools for people who’ve lost their homes and for those who will be responsible for rebuilding them. But many experts are arguing that fire-proofing individual houses is not enough. They say we need to fire-proof entire communities. You can almost think of it as a domino effect, says Michael Gollner, an associate professor at UC Berkeleys Fire Research Lab. All it takes is for one house to burst into flames for those flamesor the embers they will produceto set the neighbor’s house on fire, and the neighbor’s neighbor’s houseuntil one by one, the houses end up falling like dominoes. This is what happened in L.A., where the fires recently burned more than 40,000 acres, destroyed 15,700 structures (including homes, schools, churches, synagogues, and various architectural gems), and displaced nearly 200,000 people who found themselves under evacuation orders. L.A. is not the first city to be ravaged by a wildfire, and tragic as it is, it will not be the last. Over the course of 2024, average global temperatures rose above 1.5 Celsius. This means that extreme weather events that are exacerbated by climate changelike wildfires, flash floods, and hurricanesare likely to occur more frequently, and with more intensity. If officials seize the opportunity, however, Los Angeles could become a model of resilience and provide a blueprint for a wildfire-adapted city of the future. An aerial image taken on January 25, 2025 shows homes damaged and destroyed by the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. [Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images] The anatomy of a fire-adapted community There is no silver bullet for a fire-adapted city. Every city faces unique challenges that stem from its geographical location, topographical features, or economic constraints, and building a fire-adapted community requires a multifaceted, ever-evolving approach. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture notes on its website: A community doesnt achieve fire adapted community status or certification because the work to reduce wildfire risk never ends. But a few facts remain universal. First: There is no fire without fuel, and cities are practically mines of combustible materials. There are the obvious contendersgasoline-powered cars, wooden bungalows, dry vegetation. There are also the less obvious: palm trees (their dead fronds near the top are highly flammable) and juniper trees (they contain volatile oils). And perhaps the least obvious: highly flammable couches made of polyester fabric and polyurethane foam, aka plastic. The second point is a logical extension of the first: When fire is starved of fuel, it is easier to extinguish. In practical terms, a fire-adapted community is one that understands the value of buffers. These include hardscapes, nonflammable barriers like tall stucco walls, and landscapes that can be heavily irrigated in anticipation of a wildfire. The solution isn’t to rip out all the trees, or to stop planting new ones. Trees play a crucial role in reducing the urban heat island effect that often chokes urban environments. They also provide shade and oxygen. A better option, according to Gollner, would be for city planners and landscape designers to follow a hopscotch pattern when rebuilding. You can have islands of trees and vegetation, but they need to be isolated, Gollner explains. When vegetation is isolated, fires can still start, but firefighters will have a better chance at containing isolated fires. Architect Michael Kovac points to his house, which survived the Palisades Fire due to fire-resilient features used in its construction. [Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images] The sprawl problem The problem is that L.A. wasn’t built with buffers in mind. While the city has a vast footprint, its buildable land is ultimately finite. Urban infilldeveloping vacant or underutilized land within the citycould be a solution to accommodate growth without expanding outward. But almost 80% of Los Angeles today is zoned exclusively for single-family homes, preventing the construction of multiunit housing in these areas. As a result, when demand for housingrises, new development ends up being pushed farther out to the edges of the cityand closer to what is known as the wildland urban interface zone. This zone (which encompasses both Altadena and the Pacific Palisades) is more vulnerable to wildfires. Over the years, many experts have argued that L.A. should rezone and built up, not out. But Gollnera self-described realistis reticent of such a radical approach. We’re not going to cancel the sprawl. I don’t see any shift in public sentiment that’s going to change it, he says, adding, Instead, I want to focus on rebuilding it in a more resilient way so that this isn’t going to happen again. One answer might be to create what Justin Hollander, a professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University, has called new townsa kind of “zoning overlay” that stipulates a number of requirements for the developer of a new neighborhood. Unlike single-family zoning, which dictates how individual lots are to be used on a large parcel of land, an overlay would establish comprehensive requirements for the development of an entire community, including reliable public transit, safe pedestrian and bike paths, well-planned roadways, essential utilities, and community-wide fire-resistant features like buffers, appropriate landscapes, and so on. Hollander explains this zoning overlay would exist simultaneously with the underlying zoning while introducing new opportunities or restrictions. An approach like Hollanders might also encourage broader, interconnected thinking, discouraging planners and developers from addressing one disaster while inadvertently exacerbating another (like building wider evacuation roads, which improve fire access but can increase erosion and runoff, making mudslides more likely). When you work too hard to solve a single problem, that myopic viewpoint ends up detracting from holistic problem-solving, Hollander says. Today, Altadena operates under its own set of zoning and development rules, outlined in Title 22Planning and Zoning of the Los Angeles County Code. Hollander explains that Altadena would have to amend the rules to allow for new towns to be built by right, meaning developers wouldnt have to go through lengthy approval processes or seek special permits. Then the county would have to approve the modifications. As Hollander envisions it, overlay zoning would provide the community with a tool to guide the reconstruction of Altadena that isn’t based on a lot-by-lot model of zoning, but on a larger area that would consider fire risks at a neighborhood level. Each individual property owner can not realistically account for all of these considerations, but a master planner could, he says. The process may seem administratively arduous, but it would pave the way for an intentionally designed community that is more connected, more walkable, and more resilient than it was before. The Malibu home of Nancy and Jim Evans (photographed on January 14, 2025) survived the Palisades Fire even though many neighboring homes didn’t. After the previous house on the same lot burned down in a 1993 wildfire, Evans built a fire-resilient structure with a metal roof, steel-reinforced walls with cinderblock at the bottom, double-paned windows, and 6 feet of stone encircling the house, clear of vegetation. The rest of the yard is landscaped with fire-resilient succulents and oak trees. [Photo: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images] The seeds of a resilient community Already, Los Angeles has set up special parking restrictions banning street parking on narrow roads, sharp curves, and key intersections when high winds signal fire danger. Local governments in the L.A. region have also adopted defensible space rules that require property owners to clear away flammable vegetation and materials from their property to reduce fire risk. However, the ordinance applies only to houses in a so-called Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. In 2020, state lawmakers passed a more aggressive, more restrictive fireproofing measure that specifically targets the first 5 feet around a home and bars things like brush and mulch, but also wooden fencing, furniture, and sheds. The bill’s aim is to create an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of a house, which is known as Zone 0, but it has faced pushback and still hasn’t been implemented. No one wants to cut down their petunias or juniper gasoline can next to their window, says Gollner, though such changes can make a real difference. What you do affects your neighbor, and your neighbor’s neighbor. California also has one of the country’s most stringent building codes. Chapter 7A of the building code passed in 2008 mandates fire-resistant siding, tempered glass, vegetation management, and vents for attics and crawl spaces that are specially designed to prevent embers from flying in. According to a 2021 study, the new building code has proven to reduce average structure loss risk during a wildfire by 40%. But the building code applies only to new homes. And in both Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, where the biggest fires occurred, the majority of the housing stock was built before Chapter 7A went into effect. Now vast swaths of these neighborhoods have been reduced to ashes, and anything that gets rebuilt will have to adhere to Chapter 7A. It is a painfully, unthinkably overwhelming situation. But as Gollner points out, it is also an opportunity to make a change for the future.
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Israa Nasir is a psychotherapist and founder of WellGuide, a digital community for mental health awareness. Her work centers around helping people redefine their relationship with productivity and achievement to lead more mindful, purpose-driven lives. She has been featured in Vox, NBC, and Teen Vogue and invited to speak at Google, Meta, and Yale. Whats the big idea? Productivity isnt always a good thing. It can be a way to fill the void of unmet emotional needs, perpetuate a constant state of busyness, and erode well-being. For productivity to be healthy rather than toxican activity, not an identityit must come from a place of self-care, balance, and personal fulfillment. Below, Israa shares five key insights from her new book, Toxic Productivity: Reclaim Your Time and Emotional Energy in a World That Always Demands More. Listen to the audio versionread by Israa herselfin the Next Big Idea App. 1. Know the difference between healthy and toxic productivity On the surface, healthy and toxic productivity can both look like achieving goals, but their roots couldnt be more different. Healthy productivity aligns with your values and allows you to work with intention and purpose without sacrificing your well-being. Toxic productivity pushes you to do more out of fear, shame, the need for external validation, or a drive to prove your worthnot out of genuine purpose. In toxic productivity, productivity habits become an identity rather than an activity. We learn harmful or unhelpful messages about productivity throughout our early childhood experiences. You must bring awareness to your habits and patterns before you can unlearn them. Ultimately, the long-term effects of toxic productivity are harmful. Studies show that if you link your self-worth solely to productivity, youre at a greater risk for mental health challenges like anxiety and depression because youre constantly striving to meet self-imposed, impossible demands. By recognizing when productivity stops serving you and starts consuming you, you can shift to a healthier, more intentional way of workingone that enhances your life rather than depletes it. 2. Emotions play a role in productivity Its easy to think of productivity as a purely logical process, but emotions like guilt, fear of failure, and the need for approval deeply influence productivity. Sometimes, we use productivity to cope with uncomfortable feelings. Other times, productivity habits or lack thereof can trigger uncomfortable feelings. For instance, productivity guilt is the feeling that youre never doing enough, often resulting in overwork. The American Psychological Association shows that those who struggle with productivity guilt tend to work long hours and take fewer breaks, which leads to burnout. Emotional regulation isnt just about feeling better. It enhances productivity. Learning to regulate your emotions is crucial. This means learning to identify, understand, manage, and release difficult emotions. Tools like mindfulness, journaling, movement crafts, and setting realistic goals can help you manage feelings constructively, allowing you to operate from a place of balance instead of anxiety. Emotional regulation isnt just about feeling better. It enhances productivity. By helping you focus, make clearer decisions, and stay motivated through emotional awareness, you can begin asking yourself: Am I working from a place of purpose or fear? This question is the key to creating sustainable productivity. 3. Toxic productivity often hides in daily habits Toxic productivity isnt always obvious. It often lurks in small, seemingly harmless habits, such as working through lunch, checking emails at midnight, or staying glued to your phone for fear of missing something. Toxic productivity can also mask itself as personal development habits, self-care, meeting emotional needs, and chronic busyness. These behaviors can snowball into a lifestyle that prioritizes doing over being, leading to feelings of disengagement and exhaustion. You can transform toxic habits into nurturing ones. Instead of working nonstop, schedule genuine breaks, like a quick walk or a few minutes of mindful breathing. Research shows that taking short, regular breaks can boost productivity by up to 40%. Allow your brain space to reset. Also, balance the well-being of your relationships with your productivity habits. This helps you stay connected to community and have your emotional needs met so that you dont have to turn to toxic productivity habits. This approach turns productivity from a draining cycle into a process of growth where self-care is the driving force rather than self-neglect. 4. Busting myths that keep you trapped in toxic productivity Our culture is filled with productivity myths that can keep you stuck. For example, you might believe multitasking makes you more efficient, but research shows it can reduce efficiency by up to 40%. Then theres the myth that busyness equals productivity or that doing more equates to more success. But thats also far from true. Research shows that only 20% of daily tasks drive 80% of our results. These beliefs can lead you to overcommit, so youre constantly busy but rarely fulfilled. Working smarter-not-harder means giving yourself permission to focus on what really matters rather than just filling time. By reframing these myths, you start to see productivity as a personal, flexible practice, not a rigid checklist. Working smarter-not-harder means giving yourself permission to focus on what really matters rather than just filling time. Youre not bound by external definitions of success, achievement, or productivity. Be guided by your own sense of fulfillment. 5. Rest is essential In a society that glorifies the hustle, rest is often seen as something you earn only after checking off your to-do list. But rest is not a reward; its essential. Neuroscience research shows that the brain needs downtime to process information, form memories, and spark creativity. A study from the University of California found that people who took regular rest breaks were 26% more likely to experience breakthroughs in problem-solving compared to those who worked nonstop. Rest isnt just about physical recovery either. Its also a mental reset for approaching tasks with fresh energy and creativity. By intentionally building rest into your day, such as setting aside quiet moments or practicing active rest through hobbies, rest becomes part of the productivity cycle. Embracing rest as a cornerstone of productivity means honoring your own rhythm, allowing you to approach each task with clarity, resilience, and purpose. Re-imagining productivity means questioning cultural frameworks about achievement and self-worth. Toxic productivity is the quiet whisper urging you to always be in the next stage, closer to the conclusion. But living this way takes you out of the preent. It keeps joy at a distance. The most optimized life is not the happiest life. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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The U.S. government gives other nations $68 billion of foreign assistance annuallymore than any other country. Over half of this sum is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, including funds for programs aimed at fighting hunger and disease outbreaks, providing humanitarian relief in war zones, and supporting other lifesaving programs such as the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. President Donald Trump suspended most U.S. foreign aid on January 20, 2025, the day he took office for the second time. The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order that for 90 days halted foreign aid funding disbursements by agencies like USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. A week later, dozens of senior USAID officials were put on leave after the Trump administration reportedly accused them of trying to circumvent the aid freeze. The Office of Management and Budget is now pausing and evaluating all foreign aid to see whether it adheres to the Trump administrations policies and priorities. Im a scholar of foreign aid who researches what happens to the U.S. governments local partners in the countries receiving this assistance when funding flows are interrupted. Most of these partners are local nonprofits that build schools, vaccinate children, respond to emergencies, and provide other key goods and services. These organizations often rely on foreign funding. A reckless move Aid to Egypt and Israel was spared, along with some emergency food aid. The U.S. later waived the stop-work order for the distribution of lifesaving medicines. Nearly all of the other aid programs remained on hold as of January 29, 2025. Many development professionals criticized the freeze, highlighting the disruption it will cause in many countries. A senior USAID official issued an anonymous statement calling it reckless. InterAction, the largest coalition of international nongovernmental organizations in the U.S., called the halt contrary to U.S. global leadership and values. Of the $35 billion to $40 billion in aid that USAID distributes annually, $22 billion is delivered through grants and contracts with international organizations to implement programs. These can be further subcontracted to local partners in recipient countries. When this aid is frozen, scaled back, or cut off altogether, these local partners scramble to fill in the gaps. The State Department manages the rest of the $68 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid, along with other agencies, such as the Peace Corps. How local nonprofits respond and adapt While sudden disruptions to foreign aid are always destabilizing, research shows that aid flows have fluctuated since 1960, growing more volatile over the years. My research partners and I have found that these disruptions harm local service providers, although many of them manage to carry on their work. Over the years, I have conducted hundreds of interviews with international nongovernmental organizations and these nonprofits local partners across Latin America, Africa, and Asia about their services and funding sources. I study the strategies those development and humanitarian assistance groups follow when aid gets halted. These four are the most common. 1. Shift to national or local government funding In many cases, national and local governments end up supporting groups that previously relied on foreign aid, filling the void. An educational program spearheaded by a local Ecuadorian nonprofit, Desarrollo y Autogestión, called Accelerated Basic Cycle is one example. This program targets young people who have been out of school for more than three years. It allows them to finish elementary schoolknown as the basic cycle in Ecuadorin one year to then enter high school. First supported in part by funding from foreign governments, it transitioned to being fully funded by Ecuadors government and then became an official government program run by the countrys ministry of education. 2. Earn income Local nonprofits can also earn income by charging fees for their services or selling goods, which allows them to fulfill their missions while generating some much-needed cash. For example, SEND Ghana is a development organization that has promoted good governance and equality in Ghana since its founding in 1998. In 2009, SEND Ghana created a for-profit subsidiary called SENDFiNGO that administers microfinance programs and credit unions. That subsidiary now helps fund SEND Ghanas work. Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and the Grameen Bank, which is also in Bangladesh, use this approach too. 3. Tap local philanthropy Networks such as Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support and Global Fund for Community Foundations have emerged to promote local philanthropy around the world. They press governments to adopt policies that encourage local philanthropy. This kind of giving has become easier to do thanks to the emergence of crowdfunding platforms. Still, complex tax systems and the lack of incentives for giving in many countries that receive foreign aid are persistent challenges. Some governments have stepped in. Indias corporate social responsibility law, enacted in 2014, boosted charitable incenives. For example, it requires 2% of corporate profits to go to social initiatives in India. 4. Obtain support from diaspora communities Diasporas are people who live outside of their countries of origin, or where their families came from, but maintain strong ties to places they consider to be their homeland. Local nonprofits around the globe are leveraging diaspora communities desire to contribute to economic development in their countries of origin. In Colombia, for example, Fundación Carla Cristina, a nongovernmental organization, runs nursery schools and provides meals to low-income children. It gets some of its funding from diaspora-led nonprofits in the U.S., such as the New England Association for Colombian Children, which is based outside of Boston, and Give to Colombia in Miami. A push for the locals to do more Trumps stop-work order coincided with a resurgence of a localization push thats currently influencing foreign aid from many countries. With localization, nations providing foreign aid seek to increase the role of local authorities and organizations in development and humanitarian assistance. USAID has been a leading proponent of localization. I believe that the abruptness of the stop-work order is likely to disrupt many development projects. These projects include support to Ukrainian aid groups that provide emergency humanitarian assistance and projects serving meals to children who dont get enough to eat. To be sure, sometimes there are good reasons for aid to be halted. But when that happens, sound and responsible donor exit strategies are essential to avoid the loss of important local services. Susan Appe is an associate professor of public administration and policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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