Edited by Bauhaus Earth, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Rocío Armillas Tiseyra

Approximately 40% of global emissions derive from the construction, operation, and demolition of human settlements. The 21st century must be the century of re-entanglement, where quintessential functions (housing, work, culture, recreation) are reintegrated within urban spaces; where socioeconomic and ecological systems form a mutually supportive network of networks; and where past, present, and future are perceived as interwoven waves in the river of time. Opportunities exist to transform the built environment from a carbon source to a carbon sink through, for example, timber construction high-rise buildings, circular bioeconomy methods, AI-assisted design, smart recycling technology, multifunctional land use, integrated regional resource management, and community-based urban development. Reconstructing the Future: Cities as Carbon Sinks compiles papers presented by world-renowned scientists, architects, spatial planners, activists, and policy makers at the Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet conference, held at the Vatican in June 2022.