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A living collection from Natural Artificial Labs at Dartmouth. Problems come from expert sources — research agendas, standards bodies, agencies — and every source is fetched and checked before a problem enters; independent readers re-tag samples blind so the genes can be trusted.

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Genome › Scale

Scale · gene 5 of 5

69 problems carry a city or region

scale:regional

Regional problems span a city, a state, or several communities that share geography or infrastructure: an urban heat island, a river basin, a regional grid. This is the scale where physical systems and local politics start to interlock — big enough that no single community can fix it, small enough that national policy often overlooks it.

Related genes

a neighborhood or villagecommunityOperates at the level of a neighborhood, village, or single local organization.a whole countrynationalCountry-level systems or policy — regulations, codes, national infrastructure, and markets.needs an organization on boardinstitutionalA solution only works if an organization formally adopts or integrates it.

How to recognize it

Tag a problem regional when it spans a city, state, or multiple communities but stops short of country-level systems.

Independent readers re-tag samples of the collection blind so tags like this one can be trusted — plain-words reliability numbers live on data & method.

69 problems · 13 fields — filter them, then share the link.

field: the built worldnobody taught the boda riderthe economics don't workhigh field: the built worldthe app that rides alongbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energysprings nobody measuredbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energysalt or germsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldthe house that didn't burntested in the wrong worldmedium field: society & learningtutoring the wrong percentiletested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worlda machine needed only in the rainthe economics don't workhigh field: food & the living worldbeetle notches four months latethe economics don't workhigh field: water & energywhen the lights go out on the loanthe economics don't workmedium field: water & energytemperate fixes for tropical acid minestested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldthe cable breaks, the wind farm goes darktested in the wrong worldmedium field: the built worldthe centrifuge waits six monthsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinesame fever, three diseasestested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicineforty years studied, nowhere replicatedbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinefactories that can't pass who inspectionthe rules got in the wayhigh field: food & the living worldtwo billion people's water, almost no monitoringit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe lake burst, the warning didn't arrivebuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldgreen batteries, dry villagesbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energygrid systems that refuse to talkbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: water & energydrill for heat, trigger the quaketested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldflood-proof rice, flood-blocked deliverytested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldhigh-yield rice nobody wants to eatbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worldninety percent of fields unsurveyedbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: food & the living worlddesertification measured by the wrong maptested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldradar goes blind in wet claytested in the wrong worldmedium field: the built worldrain gardens with no scorecardmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: the built worldmillimeter precision in the factory, gaps on sitetested in the wrong worldmedium field: the built worldthe robot gets lost on the job sitetested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldevery city counts its emissions differentlytested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energywarm all winter, dirty at peaktested in the wrong worldmedium field: water & energythe worst air conditioners go southbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: society & learningloans that lifted, then buriedmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: food & the living worldone fix for a million hectares of peattested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldthe fish ladder almost no fish can climbtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldshade won't save a humid citytested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldthe delta chooses concrete over waterthe rules got in the waymedium field: food & the living worldthe cure that clears the waymeasured the wrong thinghigh field: food & the living worldthe harvest that hollowed the landit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthree days from first sign to empty pondtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldthe mold cure nobody usesbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energythe slow leaks nobody detectstested in the wrong worldhigh field: health & medicinea thousand studies, nine worth trustingbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energythe water after the fireit fell between the cracksmedium field: the built worldmonitoring built for new buildings, not old onesit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldcool parks in rich neighborhoodsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicinecurable but unconfirmabletested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energypredictable power, prohibitive pricethe economics don't workhigh field: the built worldfire models stop where buildings startit fell between the crackshigh field: the built worldsmart city pilots that can't talk to each otherit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldthe fault line keeps its schedule secretit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldevery hillside plays by different rulestested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worlddisasters that multiply, models that don'tit fell between the crackshigh field: food & the living worldbillions in monitoring, forecasts still failtested in the wrong worldhigh field: digital & spaceeurope's satellites run on american chipsbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: health & medicineantivenom waits at hospitals victims can't reachthe economics don't workhigh field: water & energytwo million miles of pipe, no failure maptested in the wrong worldmedium field: water & energythe water plant runs on software from the ninetiesbuilt without the people who'd live with itmedium field: food & the living worldfood needs water, neither system talksit fell between the cracksmedium field: food & the living worldharvested, then losttested in the wrong worldmedium field: making & materialsmandated green, can't afford the transitionbuilt without the people who'd live with ithigh field: water & energybus batteries die on the route, not in the labtested in the wrong worldmedium field: water & energygarbage in, corrosion outtested in the wrong worldmedium field: water & energythe building has no twintested in the wrong worldhigh field: water & energythe savings were never realmeasured the wrong thinghigh field: food & the living worldten times the energy per lettucetested in the wrong worldmedium field: food & the living worldsatellites see the spill but not its depthtested in the wrong worldhigh field: the built worldknock out power, lose water, lose everythingtested in the wrong worldhigh field: food & the living worldevery field varies, every sensor averagesthe economics don't workhigh field: food & the living worldthirty-five years and the sensor still doesn't worktested in the wrong worldhigh