"You need AC", "You need cars" ... I lived for 4+ years in Phoenix, Arizona and I tell you that humans can live without those two things with the right design. We're way too far into the modern way of thinking that we almost take these things for a given ... It's a huge blindspot. I grew plants here in the desert, I lived without AC, I never had a car and all of this when everything around me has been designed in what I think is the worst way possible ... People think in linear terms but forget that managing heat for example should be approached holistically as different element will augment each other ... etc. It can be done with low tech and there is research to back this up (look up "urban heat ASU").