Image of the Day: Walkable Communities via Worldchanging
Walkable communities are the no-brainer, urban design solution of the decade. But couching things in lofty design terms can make a simple idea -- like a pleasant stroll past your favorite coffee shop on the way to work -- sound like a New Age-y cause of the week. This video from the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) makes a clear, succinct case that's easy to understand. Planning communities that are dense and walkable, like the one shown in the video, allows residents to live within walking distance of grocery stores, office spaces, libraries and schools, helping them decrease their carbon emissions, build close-knit communities and improve their physical and mental health.
Read more about walkable communities in our archives:
My Other Car is a Bright Green City...
WalkScore to Obama: Here’s What You Should Do About Cities via WorldChanging
The team at WalkScore just launched this new site, where people can suggest -- and vote on -- policy priorities for Obama's proposed Office of Urban Policy (which we posted about earlier today).
According to David Goldberg at Transportation for America, the Office of Urban Policy "is conceived as something of a supercabinet position that potentially could coordinate policy among the Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, environment, public health and other arenas."
Currently, the top-ranking suggestions include:
• Invest in a world-class rail network
• Change zoning laws to promote walkable development
• End subsidies for car-dependent development
• Create more financing opportunities for mixed-use development
To read more about these and...
Economic Downturn Could Spur Smarter Growth via WorldChanging
As expert representatives from various sectors (including energy, green job creation and consumption) have been predicting in droves lately, the bright spot in the current global economic crisis may be the opportunity that it provides for long-awaited growth in forward-thinking, more sustainable policies and innovation.
On Saturday, Roger K. Lewis at the Washington Post contributed an excellent column discussing what the economic downturn could mean for smart growth.
Lewis identifies a new vocabulary of "R-words:"
rethinking, redeveloping, renewing, revitalizing, retrofitting
that are cropping up repeatedly in connection to new suburban development in the region surrounding the U.S. capitol.
He continues, noting that the housing bubble collapse and increasing foreclosure...
Minor Landscapes and the Geography of American Political Campaigns via WorldChanging
If you'll excuse a quick bit of landscape-inspired political speculation, I was reminded this morning of something I read last year on Boing Boing and which has stuck with me ever since – and that's that there are more World of Warcraft players in the United States today than there are farmers.
Farmers, however, as Boing Boing and the original blog post it links to are both quick to point out, are often portrayed in media polls as a voice of cultural and political authenticity in the United States. They are real Americans, the idea goes, a kind of quiet majority in the background that presidential candidates and media pundits would be foolish to overlook.
If you want a real cross-section of Americana, then, you're supposed to interview farmers and even hockey moms – but why... This Week on Worldchanging Seattle via WorldChanging
The new Seattle blog is coming along great, with some wonderful new local contributors on board. This week's headlines ranged from public health to shopping bags. Check out what's new:
A Tool for Building Healthier Public Projects and Policies
In this week's feature story, Dr. Lori Williams talks about the benefits of Health Impact Assessments and unpacks two HIAs that are influencing local development plans.
Car-Free Sundays: A Business Plan
Local business owners can use lessons from abroad as they prepare for the upcoming holidays from auto traffic.
Say Goodbye to Free Shopping Bags
The City Council's newly approved fee on disposable shopping bags will take effect in January. Should we take time to celebrate, or get back to work?
Citizen's Report: Climate Action... Headlines from Worldchanging Seattle via WorldChanging
As we've mentioned, we are working on the upcoming launch of our new locally focused blog, Worldchanging Seattle.
Though we know you read Worldchanging from all around the globe, we think that local insights could add value to what you find on our main site. We'll be covering local and regional news, and also taking some of the topics we tackle on Worldchanging and discussing them on a local level, to see how these big-picture concepts apply at the city scale.
A few recent headlines from Worldchanging Seattle:
How-to: Eat Local
Where Do Arts and the Environment Intersect?
Outside Ideas: Norwegian Bike Lift
Buses Done Right
Own the Service, Ditch the Stuff: Seattle Product-Service Systems
Coming soon: We're tapping our most in-the-know allies for Seattle's most... Reader Report From the World Cities Summit via WorldChanging
By Zufan*
Editor's Note: We encourage "Reader Reports" -- submissions from members of Worldchanging's global audience who volunteer to write up their notes from conferences, workshops and other worldchanging happenings they participate in. If you'd like to contribute your own report, please email editor@worldchanging.com.
There is a sense of urgency among city planners around the globe. With more people moving into the cities, urban density will exceed what has been experienced in the West. Stresses will appear on the F.E.W. (food-energy-water) equation and commodity and utility prices will rocket. And most planners now recognize that the U.S. and Europe’s path of development--consuming resources disproportionate to their size--is a bankrupt model.
At the inaugural World... San Francisco Goes Wireless and Real-Time to Reduce Traffic via WorldChanging
Check your smartphone to find a parking meter.
By Adam Stein
When I last wrote about San Francisco’s innovative plan to reduce congestion through market-based pricing of parking spots, I assumed some of the more futuristic features of the system were still a long way off. Well, turns out I was wrong.
The city is already installing a network of wireless sensors in the asphalt based on the “smart dust” technology to come out of UC Berkeley. Once in place, battery-operated “bumps” will not only relay information about open parking spots to drivers via street signs and smart phones, they’ll also convey real-time information about congestion and traffic and flow to city planners.
San Francisco is way out in front of this issue, but other cities are cautiously dipping... Book Review: Verb Crisis via WorldChanging
Verb Crisis, edited by Mario Ballesteros, Albert Ferré, Irene Hwang, Michael Kubo, Tomoko Sakamoto, Anna Tetas and Ramon Prat. Design by Twopoints.net (Amazon UK and ) USA
Publisher Actar says: Verb Crisis examines architectural solutions to the extraordinary conditions of an increasingly dense and interdependent world.It presents innovative projects and research through original photos, essays, and exclusive interviews with key figures from architecture and urban planning to environmental, economic, and global affairs. Confronted by shifting densities and uncharted urban transformations, Crisis tackles the conflict between the physical limits of architectural design and the demands on the practice for an updated social relevance.
With a description like that and coming... Everybody Freeze via Extra Extra
Highlights from the 7th EcoCity World Summit via WorldChanging
"In order to transform our cities, we need to move from ego-culture to eco-culture."
—Rusong Wang
President, Ecological Society of China
The EcoCity World Summit (see my intro here) wrapped up on Saturday afternoon in San Francisco. An incredible assemblage of the world’s brightest minds that are working to build greener cities and towns gathered for three and a half days of presentations, discussions, city tours, arts & culture, and celebration. As an urban planner for whom the sustainable cities movement is not only a passion but also a raison d’etre, professionally speaking, I found the conference to be nothing short of mind-blowing.
A vast amount of information and ideas was exchanged, and after letting it all sink in for a day or so I’ve summarized what I...
The City is the Solution: The EcoCity World Summit via WorldChanging
"Cities are part of what it means to be human. We need to build cities as much as birds need to build nests. And if we want to have a future, then EcoCities must be part of who we are."
—Paul Downton, Architect, Adelaide, Australia
Greetings from the EcoCity World Summit in San Francisco!
Delegates from around the world are gathering this week in San Francisco to share ideas and innovations, network, and advance the international movement for sustainable cities. This is the 7th international EcoCity Summit, hosted by Oakland-based EcoCity Builders and partner organizations. The conference is back in the Bay Area for the first time since the first EcoCity Summit took place in 1990, having been hosted since then in Australia, Senegal, Brazil, and China.
Why focus on the...
Someone Invent a Better City Ranking! via WorldChanging
A couple weeks ago, Popular Science released a list of the greenest 50 U.S. cities, to a predictable amount of bloggage and debate about whether Portland is really all that.
But something important's been missed in the discussion of the list, which is that it's not actually based on good measurements of what makes a city green.
The exercise was based on the following criteria:
* Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.
* Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also...
Shiny new recycling scheme may displease professors via Extra Extra
Faustin, Nancy, Sarah and Nadine pose in front of a PoubelKin banner in Kintambo, Kinshasa
Wonders never cease. A new private initiative is being launched to collect and - ta da! - recycle household rubbish.
Piles of rubbish had become such a fact of life in Kinshasa that it’s become a cliché to call it Kin-la-Poubelle. As you’d expect, a lot of this is already recycled, since people in difficult circumstances become adept at finding a use for everything. But lots more is burned, releasing toxins into the atmosphere, or left to lie around in suppurating heaps that mosquitos just love, or title=”blog post by Du Cabiau à Kinshasa - a volunteer with Belgian Cooperation”>thrown into drains to be washed into the river (often blocking them and causing floods).... Wrestling - a fascinating way to spend a Sunday via Extra Extra
I found traces of inadvertant humour in the African city guide in BSpirit, the inflight magazine of Brussels Airlines. Here are some exerpts:
Abidjan: Hotel Ivoire is a local landmark and a real treat if you like late-1960s architecture… The ice-skating rink was closed many years ago, but the bowling alley is still open every day until 10pm.
Banjul: Traditional wrestling is the Gambia’s national sport, and a fascinating way to spend a Sunday.
Bujumbura: If you’re interested in Burundian cuisine (predominantly beef or fish brochette, chips or fried plantain), try Le Layor …
Conakry: The many markets of Conakry offer the chance to take home African hardwood sculpture (some incredible pieces of ebony)…
Douala: Las Vegas Refuge will leave a lasting impression... Living green in Barcelona (Part 1): From Transit to Garbage via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Across the world, Barcelona is widely recognized as a best practice example for city planning and management, urban solutions, environmental programs, preservation/growth of green areas, transportation and regeneration.
(more)
(Posted by Adrian Muller in Cities at 7:57 AM)... Living Glass and River Glow: Developing Responsive Architecture via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang are both architects, but to call their company, Living, an architecture firm doesn't come anywhere near to explaining what they do. Benjamin and Yang create what they call "open source, incremental, small-scale architecture that engages the city." They fuse science, technology, engineering and interactivity, "defining responsive kinetic architecture to involve input, processing and output." Their work is as much R&D as structural design. A couple of weeks ago at Postopolis, a New York exhibition and conference on architecture, urbanism, landscape and design (of which our teammate Geoff Manaugh was an organizer), the pair presented two of their projects, Living Glass and River Glow, which utilize responsive technologies as a means of revealing the... Keeping on keeping on via Extra Extra
London’s Climate Change Action Plan via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, is no stranger to making bold and often controversial moves - a recent deal with Hugo Chavez to buy cheap oil in exchange for sending officials to help with infrastructure planning being a good example. But he is also well known for his enthusiasm for all things green - we've covered his policies and projects many times before. This week he launched by far the most radical green initiative yet - a climate change action plan that aims to reduce London's emissions by 60% from 1990 levels, by 2025. So much for the aspiration, hailed by environmental pressure groups as "probably the best city-level plan of its kind in the world," -- what about the tools to make it work? Livingstone has set aside £47m per year for the initiative but, it has to be... Then I Saw the Congo via Extra Extra
I have just finished reading Then I Saw the Congo, a 1920’s travel memoir by Grace Flandrau, a novelist from Minnesota who shared an editor with F. Scott Fitzgerald. (It happens that her biography is being published this spring.)
I had misgivings about the title (see below), but found Flandrau’s writing pleasantly unburdened by the conventions of the adventure travel genre, and she disparages - even mocks - the then-fashionable pastimes of shooting large animals and ill-treating ‘the natives’.
Since the book is long out-of-print (Nayembi discovered it in an antique book shop in Lilongwe), I’ll spare you a review and transcribe some of the more memorable passages instead.
First impressions of Kinshasa:
At first glance Kinshasa gives one the rather... Incremental Change on a Radical Scale via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
by Worldchanging Portland local blogger, Ethan Timm: While planetary accords and national legislation are vital for addressing carbon emissions and climate change at a scale as massive as the problems we face, the emergence of widespread local, incremental change and the regional reimagining of cities and watersheds are beginning to create real shifts leading us towards a more sustainable world. Margaret Wheatley writes: Large-scale changes that have great impact do not originate in plans or strategies from on high. Instead, they begin as small, local actions. While they remain separate and apart, they have no influence beyond their locale. However, if they become connected, exchanging information and learning, their separate efforts can suddenly emerge as very powerful changes, able... Towards a Worldbuilding Pattern Language via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
by Worldchanging Austin local blogger, Heath Rezabek As we know from reading the containers of dishwashing detergents, something can be called ‘Green’ and not help to heal a tattered landscape or bring more life to an ecosystem. This is as true in our built ecosystems and architectures as anywhere else in product design, and this should not surprise us; ever since Le Corbusier’s ‘Machines for Living’ popularized the notion, the places we live, sleep, eat, love, celebrate and mourn have been products, commodities, marketed like any other. But not until fairly recently have we been forced to be so discerning when judging the intent of greenwashing language and labels on building plans. With increasing concern over Global Climate Change, there has been a drive to frame new...
Transforming Los Angeles into a Sustainable City via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Mayor Villaraigosa has made it one of his goals to transform Los Angeles into “the greenest big city in America.” Plagued with traffic problems and the worst air quality in the country, LA is more often equated with urban sprawl and asthma than a model of sustainability. But that transformation is exactly what Villaraigosa and Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley have in mind. Nancy Sutley is the Deputy Mayor for Energy and the Environment for the City of Los Angeles, and is also Mayor Villaraigosa’s appointment to the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. With a long history in environmental policy at both the state and federal level, Sutley is in a unique position to lead Los Angeles toward sustainability. Tuesday night, I joined 100 other Los... Tales of the Self-Sufficient City via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Somewhere at the intersection of New Urbanism, DIY culture, and the resurgence of gardening for self-sustenance, an active and growing community of artist-maker-activists is redefining urban survivalism. While their work addresses our tenuous food security and the threats of catastrophic climate change, it's not a fear-driven movement. Rather, the best of these "new survivalists" are embracing radical self-sufficiency because it fuels their creativity, arms them with a sense of personal empowerment, and strengthens their communities. Tale 1: These are part of what motivates Amy Franceschini and what comprises the "win scenario" for her newest project, Victory Gardens 2007+, in which ubiquitous, small-scale urban agriculture paves the way towards "less CO2 emissions, neighborhood... Architecture 2030: An Interview with Ed Mazria via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
Last year, Ed Mazria and his New Mexico-based non-profit organization, Architecture 2030, released the 2030 Challenge. Architecture 2030 has revealed that buildings are the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions, worldwide. As Mazria states in the following interview: "48% of total US energy consumption... can be attributed to the building sector, most of which... can be attributed just to building operations. That's heating, lighting, cooling, and hot water. There are others - running pumps and things like that. But 40% of total US energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed just to building operations." By 2030, then, to prevent "catastrophic" climate change, the building sector must become carbon neutral – reaching that state is the 2030...
LA River Tour: History, Context and Conclusions via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
By Worldchanging LA blogger, Foster Kerrison Editor's note: This is part of a series of posts about the LA River, all viewable at Worldchanging LA [Part 8 of the LA River series. For previous posts, read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, and part 7.] So, why does the LA River look like it does today? Why was the Terminator able to drive a big rig down the riverbed? Here is the history lesson, in a nutshell. The first party of Spanish explorers arrived in the Los Angeles area in 1769, and founded the settlement from which the city grew. From the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, Los Angeles County continued to grow and became the most productive agricultural area in the nation. However, during this time, the river was constantly shifting its channel during seasonal flood...
LA River Tours via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
by Worldchanging Los Angeles local blogger, Foster Kerrison Last Saturday I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the Los Angeles River by those who know it best: the non-profit advocacy group Friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR). FOLAR are the premier advocate for rehabilitating the river, and I jumped at the chance to join them for what I knew would be a fantastic day. Our tour leaders were FOLAR outreach director Joe Linton, and environmental writer Jenny Price. They did not disappoint, providing us with a comprehensive look at the many faces of the river. Over the course of the day we stopped at five different locations, covering everything from the verdant, almost-natural Glendale Narrows area, to the incredibly industrial jungle of Vernon/Maywood. Prior to taking the tour,...
Commuter Rail vs. Population Density via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
by Worldchanging Chicago local blog editor, Patrick Rollens Commuter rail isn't just a convenience in Chicago – it's a way of life. The region's Metra network, operated by the Regional Transportation Authority across 11 different rail lines, carries almost 70 million people a year. Most take the train in from the outlying suburbs, but an increasing number of riders (empty nesters and young professionals craving the urban lifestyle) live downtown and commute out to jobs in the burbs. It's cheap (relatively so), reliable and offers service to and from all of Chicago's major suburbs into the city center; light rail is also 80 times safer than driving in a car. The major selling point, of course, is that it cuts down on traffic congestion – Metra's roadside billboard advertisements,... New Year’s Resolutions: Clean Up the Clutter via WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green Future
by Worldchanging New York local blog editor (and WC contributor), Emily Gertz Apartment dwellers in our part of the world know that you can only have so much stuff. January's many post-holiday recycling events offer opportunities to "edit" your belongings (as Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy puts it) without contributing extra to landfills or dumps. Below are just a few for Gothamites in particular; WorldChanging readers, please add your favorite reuse/recycle resources to the comments. MulchFest: Holiday trees (stripped of all ornaments, tinsel, tree stands, and anything else that didn't grow on them naturally) will be turned into mulch for city parks during the New York City Parks Department's annual MulchFest, held on Saturday, Jan. 6 and Sunday, Jan 7, 2007, from...