Dismayed by the destruction and death in Gaza? Fear not, the wizards at Boston Consulting Group have a plan – a 38-slide deck that will Make Gaza GREAT Again. It’s a molten nugget of consultant-speak, SimCity planning moves, weirdly proportioned AI slop renderings, and tokenized real estate transactions that place a thin veil of “solutioneering” over what looks an awful lot like ethnic cleansing. Don’t worry – it will all be covered by private investment and all kinds of familiar corporations in the tech, design, construction and security businesses are invited, whether they know it or not. Our hot take on this hottest of messes.

Discussed:

Washington Post article Wall Street Journal article Financial Times article GREAT Trust deck Pre-GREAT Trust Hebrew version of the deck Gaza Riviera TikTok video Scarlett Johansson on SNL: Complicit Boston Consulting Group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Tony Blair Institute Ebenezer Howard Baron von Haussmann SimCity Paul Romer’s Charter Cities Shout back to Episode 92, The Hidden Globe AECOM Studio Boeri Architetti IMEC = India-Middle East Corridor UN rapporteur communique on Gaza report: Economy of Occupation to an Economy of Genocide

A former president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Carl Elefante has led the field in finding common ground between two things seemingly in conflict: sustainable design and historic preservation. He is a Principal Emeritus with Quinn Evans and a charter member of the Climate Heritage Network. In addition to his work on the intersection of historic preservation and sustainability, he has spent decades focusing on building-sector decarbonization, community vitality, and urbanism. His new book is Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future.

Intro/Outro:

“24 Hour Limes,” by The Cooper Vane

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Discussed:

The Greenest Building is the One That is Already Built

Work and the City, by Frank Duffy

MASS Design Group

Kéré Architecture

Lo-TEK Design by Radical Indigenism, by Julia Watson

Empire State Building retrofit vs One World Trade Center: Both LEED Gold

Passive House

PassiveLogic

WUFI Modeling

Susan Roth

Mini-splits

Hillary Brown, Professor Emerita of Architecture at the City College of New York, joins Unfrozen to discuss her book Revitalize | Resettle, which explores how climate migration and rural revitalization can solve interlinked crises. Brown emphasizes that large U.S. cities alone cannot absorb climate-displaced populations due to infrastructural limits and rising costs. Instead, she proposes strategic resettlement in small towns and “micropolitan areas”—places often overlooked but rich in cultural value and potential.

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Intro/Outro:

“24-Hour Limes” by The Cooper Vane

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Discussed:

Hero towns leading the charge to accept climate migrants and flourish:

• Clinton, IA: Brownfield redevelopment and corridor revitalization
• Gorham and Milan, NH: Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program
• Madison, IN: Main Street Program
• Morris, NY: Livingston County Development Group
• Norfolk, NE: North Fork Whitewater Park
• Ord, NE: Vibrant Future Fund
• Rock Port, MO: Wind Capital Group – First town in U.S. to be 100% wind-powered
• West Windsor, VT: Ascutney revitalization

Jesse Keenan – Climate-Proof Duluth

New York State Small-Town Revitalization

T-Mobile hometown grants

Parag Khanna, ecstatic nomad