Making Meaning of Urban Greening in the Anthropocene
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Geoengineering in the Anthropocene Through Regenerative Urbanism
geosciences Review Geoengineering in the Anthropocene through Regenerative Urbanism Giles Thomson * and Peter Newman Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, WA, Australia; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-8-9266-9030 Academic Editors: Carlos Alves and Jesus Martinez-Frias Received: 26 June 2016; Accepted: 13 October 2016; Published: 25 October 2016 Abstract: Human consumption patterns exceed planetary boundaries and stress on the biosphere can be expected to worsen. The recent “Paris Agreement” (COP21) represents a major international attempt to address risk associated with climate change through rapid decarbonisation. The mechanisms for implementation are yet to be determined and, while various large-scale geoengineering projects have been proposed, we argue a better solution may lie in cities. Large-scale green urbanism in cities and their bioregions would offer benefits commensurate to alternative geoengineering proposals, but this integrated approach carries less risk and has additional, multiple, social and economic benefits in addition to a reduction of urban ecological footprint. However, the key to success will require policy writers and city makers to deliver at scale and to high urban sustainability performance benchmarks. To better define urban sustainability performance, we describe three horizons of green urbanism: green design, that seeks to improve upon conventional development; sustainable development, that is the first step toward a net zero impact; and the emerging concept of regenerative urbanism, that enables biosphere repair. Examples of green urbanism exist that utilize technology and design to optimize urban metabolism and deliver net positive sustainability performance. If mainstreamed, regenerative approaches can make urban development a major urban geoengineering force, while simultaneously introducing life-affirming co-benefits to burgeoning cities. -
Urban Planning and Urban Design
5 Urban Planning and Urban Design Coordinating Lead Author Jeffrey Raven (New York) Lead Authors Brian Stone (Atlanta), Gerald Mills (Dublin), Joel Towers (New York), Lutz Katzschner (Kassel), Mattia Federico Leone (Naples), Pascaline Gaborit (Brussels), Matei Georgescu (Tempe), Maryam Hariri (New York) Contributing Authors James Lee (Shanghai/Boston), Jeffrey LeJava (White Plains), Ayyoob Sharifi (Tsukuba/Paveh), Cristina Visconti (Naples), Andrew Rudd (Nairobi/New York) This chapter should be cited as Raven, J., Stone, B., Mills, G., Towers, J., Katzschner, L., Leone, M., Gaborit, P., Georgescu, M., and Hariri, M. (2018). Urban planning and design. In Rosenzweig, C., W. Solecki, P. Romero-Lankao, S. Mehrotra, S. Dhakal, and S. Ali Ibrahim (eds.), Climate Change and Cities: Second Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network. Cambridge University Press. New York. 139–172 139 ARC3.2 Climate Change and Cities Embedding Climate Change in Urban Key Messages Planning and Urban Design Urban planning and urban design have a critical role to play Integrated climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the global response to climate change. Actions that simul- should form a core element in urban planning and urban design, taneously reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and build taking into account local conditions. This is because decisions resilience to climate risks should be prioritized at all urban on urban form have long-term (>50 years) consequences and scales – metropolitan region, city, district/neighborhood, block, thus strongly affect a city’s capacity to reduce GHG emissions and building. This needs to be done in ways that are responsive and to respond to climate hazards over time. -
Sustainable Urbanism: Towards a Framework for Quality and Optimal Density? Steffen Lehmann
Lehmann Future Cities and Environment (2016) 2:8 Future Cities and Environment DOI 10.1186/s40984-016-0021-3 REVIEW Open Access Sustainable urbanism: towards a framework for quality and optimal density? Steffen Lehmann Abstract The question of density is closely connected to urbanization and how our cities may evolve in the future. Density and compactness are two closely related but different criteria, both relevant for sustainable urban development and the transformation of cities; however, their relationship is not always well understood. While a high degree of compactness is desirable, too much density can be detrimental to liveability, health and urban well-being. The purpose of this article is to report first on an extreme case of hyper-density: the Kowloon Walled City (demolished in 1993), where 50,000 residents led a grim life in one of the most densely populated precincts in the world with intolerable sanitary conditions. While the Walled City was a truly mixed-use and extremely compact precinct, it was neither a ‘liveable neighbourhood’ nor sustainable. The article then explores some more recent cases of optimized quality density in developments in Singapore, Sydney and Vancouver. This article sets out to answer the question: Since density is key to sustainable urbanism, what are the drivers and different planning approaches in relation to establishing an optimal density? And what is the ideal density model for tomorrow’s sustainable cities? Some of the critical thinking around the high-density cases is replicable and could translate to other cities to inform new approaches to quality density. Medium to high-density living is acceptable to residents as long as these developments also provide at the same time an increase in quality green spaces close by. -
Urex Srn 2020 Annual Report
UREX SRN 2020 ANNUAL REPORT Award Number 1444755 Project Period July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2020 (No-Cost Extension granted through June 30, 2021) Reporting Period: July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020 (Year 5) Executive Management Team Charles L. Redman, Arizona State University Nancy B. Grimm, Arizona State University Mikhail V. Chester, Arizona State University Peter Groffman,City University of New York David M. Iwaniec, Georgia State University P. Timon McPhearson, The New School Thaddeus R. Miller, Arizona State University Tischa A. Muñoz-Erickson, USDA Forest Service Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network www.URExSRN.net Table of Contents Overarching UREx SRN Goals 1 Network Partners 2 Common Abbreviations 2 Accomplishments 3 Major Activities Specific Objectives Significant Results Key Outcomes & Other Achievements Opportunities for Training & Professional Development Disseminating Results to Communities of Interest Year 6 Plans Impacts 22 Impact on the Development of the Principal Disciplines of the Project Impact on Other Disciplines Impact on the Development of Human Resources Impact on Physical Resources that Form Infrastructure Impact on Institutional Resources that Form Infrastructure Impact on Information Resources that Form Infrastructure Impact on Technology Transfer Impact on Society Beyond Science & Technology Changes 27 Products 28 Books Book Chapters Journal Articles Conference Presentations Other Publications/Products Thesis/Dissertations Network Researchers 41 External Advisory Members 48 Practitioner Organizations 49 Overarching UREx SRN Goals Climate change is widely considered to be one of the greatest challenges to global sustainability, with extreme events being the most immediate way that people experience this phenomenon. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to these events given their location, high concentration of people, and increasingly complex and interdependent infrastructure. -
Integrated Approaches to Long-Term Studies of Urban Ecological Systems
Articles IntegratedIntegrated ApproachesApproaches toto Long-TermLong-Term Studies Studies ofof UrbanUrban EcologicalEcological SystemsSystems NANCY B. GRIMM, J. MORGAN GROVE, STEWARD T. A. PICKETT, AND CHARLES L. REDMAN n 1935, Arthur Tansley wrote: I URBAN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS PRESENT We cannot confine ourselves to the so-called “natural” entities and ignore the processes and expressions of vegetation now so MULTIPLE CHALLENGES TO ECOLOGISTS— abundantly provided by man. Such a course is not scientifically PERVASIVE HUMAN IMPACT AND EXTREME sound, because scientific analysis must penetrate beneath the HETEROGENEITY OF CITIES, AND THE forms of the “natural” entities, and it is not practically useful because ecology must be applied to conditions brought about by NEED TO INTEGRATE SOCIAL AND human activity. The “natural” entities and the anthropogenic ECOLOGICAL APPROACHES, CONCEPTS, derivates alike must be analyzed in terms of the most appropriate concepts we can find. (Tansley 1935, p. 304) AND THEORY This quote captures the spirit of the new urban emphasis The conceptual basis for studying urban in the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) net- ecological systems work. We know now that Earth abounds with both subtle and pronounced evidence of the influence of people on Why has the study of urban ecological systems attracted so natural ecosystems (Russell 1993, Turner and Meyer much recent interest? The rationale for the study of 1993). Arguably, cities are the most human dominated of human-dominated systems is three-pronged. First, all ecosystems. Recent calls for studies on “human-domi- humans dominate Earth’s ecosystems (Groffman and nated ecosystems” (Vitousek et al. 1997) finally have been Likens 1994, Botsford et al. -
The Climate Just City
sustainability Article The Climate Just City Mikael Granberg 1,2,3,* and Leigh Glover 1 1 The Centre for Societal Risk Research and Political Science, Karlstad University, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden; [email protected] 2 The Centre for Natural Hazards and Disaster Science, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden 3 The Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Cities are increasingly impacted by climate change, driving the need for adaptation and sustainable development. Local and global economic and socio-cultural influence are also driving city redevelopment. This, fundamentally political, development highlights issues of who pays and who gains, who decides and how, and who/what is to be valued. Climate change adaptation has primarily been informed by science, but the adaptation discourse has widened to include the social sciences, subjecting adaptation practices to political analysis and critique. In this article, we critically discuss the just city concept in a climate adaptation context. We develop the just city concept by describing and discussing key theoretical themes in a politically and justice-oriented analysis of climate change adaptation in cities. We illustrate our arguments by looking at recent case studies of climate change adaptation in three very different city contexts: Port Vila, Baltimore City, and Karlstad. We conclude that the social context with its power asymmetries must be given a central position in understanding the distribution of climate risks and vulnerabilities when studying climate change adaptation in cities from a climate justice perspective. Keywords: just city; climate just city; ‘the right to the city’; climate change adaptation; power; equity; urban planning Citation: Granberg, M.; Glover, L. -
Sustainable Urbanism: Towards Edible Campuses in Qatar and the Gulf Region
True Smart and Green City? 8th Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism SUSTAINABLE URBANISM: TOWARDS EDIBLE CAMPUSES IN QATAR AND THE GULF REGION Anna Grichting 1* and Reem Awwaad 2* Qatar University 1 Assistant Professor at Qatar University 2 Master student, Urban Planning and College of Engineering Design program at the College of Department of Architecture & Urban Engineering, Qatar University Planning Abstract Producing food on a campus not only reduces the food print, that is the energy that is required to bring the food from distant factories and fields, but also allows more efficient resource use and recycling of water and waste. A permaculture or systems approach to food production can contribute to increasing biodiversity on the campus, with careful combinations of plants that repel harmful insects but attracts multiple species. This research looks at the different practices and modes of producing food in dry lands and proposes an application at Qatar University campus. It builds on previous research on Food Urbanism in Doha, and on a prototype Edible Boulevard and Edible Rooftop Garden being implemented at the College of Engineering. Introduction Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have food security issues that depend exclusively on international trade with a percentage that ranges from 80% to 90% of their economic activities (Bailey & Willoughby, 2013). In many cases, they import the majority of their food and produce their sweet water from desalination It is important to find new approaches to design cities that integrate food production while balancing resource utilization. Universities, being key institutions in processes of social change and development, play explicit role in spreading knowledge and producing highly skilled personnel to meet perceived economic needs Food Security and Sahara Desert Qatar National Food Security program was founded in 2008 with an aim to reduce Qatar’s reliance on food imports through the realization of the principle of self-sufficiency. -
Introduction Global Transformations, Cities, and the New Sustainability Consensus
Introduction Global Transformations, Cities, and the New Sustainability Consensus Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag, and Samuel Mössner he end of the twentieth century marked a profound transformation of Tthe Earth’s natural and social systems. For example, some geologists postulate that the Earth, for the first time in human existence, is in a geological epoch where the influence and transformative power of human beings has become the de facto dominant force in nature; indeed, the very layers of the Earth show the profound effects of human activities. This new era is often referred to as the “Anthropocene.” And it’s not evidenced only in the Earth’s crust, as The Economist(2011) has poignantly claimed something even more extraordinary: “Humans have changed the way the world works.” Following on, we, the editors, soberly call for a fundamental change in how we think about the Earth and its systems. To be sure, the search for new modes of managing global change and consequent trans- formations is the major global task of today. Some have tried to extend the concept of the Anthropocene to cities. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, for example, has reported in the World Urbanization Prospect that by 2050 two-thirds of the world population will live in urban areas (UNDES, 2014: 7). Consequently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change considers urban adaptation an opportunity “for incremental and transformative adjustments to development trajectories xv © 2019 State University of New York Press, Albany xvi Robert Krueger, Tim Freytag, and Samuel Mössner toward resilience and sustainable development” (IPCC, 2014: 538). -
A Study of Iconic Architecture Via the St. Petersburg Pier
The Endless Pier: A Study of Iconic Architecture via the St. Petersburg Pier by Kyle W. Pierson A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Liberal Arts Department of Humanities College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida, St. Petersburg Major Professor: Thomas Hallock, Ph.D. Raymond Arsenault, Ph.D. Carol Mickett, Ph.D. Louis Simon, Ph.D. Date of Approval: July 11, 2014 Keywords: Florida Architecture, Iconicity, William B. Harvard, Sr., Inverted Pyramid, Architects, Palimpsest, Bauhaus, Modernism, Postmodernism Copyright © 2014, Kyle W. Pierson Dedication For Dave, who will always have my endless love. Acknowledgments Writing a thesis requires support from an intellectual community, friends, and family. I want to acknowledge them here. First, I am grateful to Dr. Ray Arsenault and Dr. Gary Mormino, who welcomed me into the Florida Studies Program. Thanks to this program, I now see every issue through the lens of a Florida Studies student — a useful backdrop for understanding American history. This project began with a paper I wrote for Dr. Louis Simon’s post modernism class. His course stimulated me to ask how architecture reflected cultural values. Dr. Thomas Hallock, my major professor, guided me toward deeper research and showed me how to apply theoretical ideas to my thesis. I am grateful to Dr. Hallock for his unwavering encouragement, his insightful questions, and his insistence on using primary sources, but most of all for expanding my mind. For their careful reading, friendship, and commitment to my project, I am deeply indebted to Thomas L. Brown and Rita Herron Brown -— thank you! My supporters also included my daughters, Katherine and Hilary; my friends, Deborah O’Hearn and Christine Melecci, each of whom encouraged me to reach this goal. -
Knowing Nature in the City: Comparative Analysis of Knowledge Systems Challenges Along the 'Eco-Techno' Spectrum of Gree
Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Summer 8-1-2017 Knowing Nature in the City: Comparative Analysis of Knowledge Systems Challenges Along the 'Eco- Techno' Spectrum of Green Infrastructure in Portland & Baltimore Annie Marissa Matsler Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Sustainability Commons, and the Urban Studies Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Matsler, Annie Marissa, "Knowing Nature in the City: Comparative Analysis of Knowledge Systems Challenges Along the 'Eco-Techno' Spectrum of Green Infrastructure in Portland & Baltimore" (2017). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3767. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5651 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Knowing Nature in the City: Comparative Analysis of Knowledge Systems Challenges Along the ‘Eco-Techno’ Spectrum of Green Infrastructure in Portland & Baltimore by Annie Marissa Matsler A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies Dissertation Committee: Connie P. Ozawa, Chair Thaddeus R. Miller, Co-Chair Vivek Shandas Jennifer L. Morse Portland State University 2017 © 2017 Annie Marissa Matsler Abstract Green infrastructure development is desired in many municipalities because of its potential to address pressing environmental and social issues. However, despite technical optimism, institutional challenges create significant barriers to effective green infrastructure design, implementation, and maintenance. -
Downloadfile/616075 Toft, J
REVIEW published: 30 April 2021 doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.582041 Designing (for) Urban Food Webs Alexander J. Felson 1,2,3 and Aaron M. Ellison 4* 1 Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 2 Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, University of Connecticut, Groton, CT, United States, 3 Urban Ecology and Design Lab and Ecopolitan Design, New Haven, CT, United States, 4 Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, United States Interest is growing in designing resilient and ecologically rich urban environments that provide social and ecological benefits. Regenerative and biocentric designs fostering urban ecological habitats including food webs that provide ecosystem services for people and wildlife increasingly are being sought. However, the intentional design of urban landscapes for food webs remains in an early stage with few precedents and many challenges. In this paper, we explore the potential to design (for) urban food webs through collaborations between designers and ecologists. We start by examining the ecology and management of Jamaica Bay in New York City as a case study of an anthropogenic landscape where ecosystems are degraded and the integrity of extant food webs are intertwined with human agency. A subsequent design competition focusing on ecological design and management of this large-scale landscape for animal habitat and ecosystem Edited by: services for people illustrates how designers approach this anthropogenic landscape. Mary L. Cadenasso, This case study reveals that both designing urban landscapes for food webs and directly University of California, Davis, United States designing and manipulating urban food webs are complicated and challenging to achieve Reviewed by: and maintain, but they have the potential to increase ecological health of, and enhance Frederick R. -
A Review of Urban Ecosystem Services Research in Southeast Asia
land Review A Review of Urban Ecosystem Services Research in Southeast Asia Karen T. Lourdes 1 , Chris N. Gibbins 2, Perrine Hamel 3,4 , Ruzana Sanusi 5,6, Badrul Azhar 5 and Alex M. Lechner 1,7,* 1 Landscape Ecology and Conservation Lab, School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Malaysia; [email protected] 2 School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Malaysia; [email protected] 3 Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore; [email protected] 4 Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA 5 Department of Forestry Science and Biodiversity, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia; [email protected] (R.S.); [email protected] (B.A.) 6 Laboratory of Sustainable Resources Management (BIOREM), Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia 7 Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health, School of Geography, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Urban blue-green spaces hold immense potential for supporting the sustainability and liveability of cities through the provision of urban ecosystem services (UES). However, research on UES in the Global South has not been reviewed as systematically as in the Global North. In Southeast Asia, the nature and extent of the biases, imbalances and gaps in UES research are unclear. We address this issue by conducting a systematic review of UES research in Southeast Asia over the last twenty years.