Building Postcarbon Futures: Billy Fleming's Case Studies for Equitable Decarbonization

Fast Company interviews landscape architect Billy Fleming about his new book, Building Postcarbon Futures. The book documents 26 case studies across 43 countries that show how communities are tackling decarbonization in practical ways. Examples range from the Zapatista milpa farming system in Mexico to public housing retrofits in France that avoid displacing residents. The book goes beyond swapping fossil fuels for renewables. It questions who owns energy infrastructure and what kind of knowledge counts as innovative. For anyone tracking carbon markets, grid upgrades, or climate policy, this is a useful look at how real projects balance environmental goals with social equity. The interview is condensed but gives a clear sense of why the atlas was written and how designers, policymakers, and everyday readers might use it as a reference.