Can Future Cities be Designed to be Truly Sustainable?
In a world where over half of the human population calls a city their home, the need to restructure and revolutionize the way we design our urban environments has never been greater. Currently, the notion that these vast metropolises of metal, concrete, and sludge could one day be fully realized pillars of sustainability is certainly laughable. However, when these same cities are constantly growing and multiplying across the globe, all the while using a greater and greater chunk of our planet’s energy, this impossible task becomes a necessary focus. To strive towards the closed, continuous loop of “true” sustainability could greatly alter the image of the modern city. Any improvement over the current state of urban affairs could carry weight, and even if that goal is not entirely fulfilled, the gained benefits would be immense.
As previously implied, cities are currently the antithesis of even the barest sense of sustainability. To succinctly define the term “sustainability” would be to say that it represents living within one’s needs. When it comes to the city, with almost zero local sources of food or goods, one’s means is pushed and twisted to include resources originating far beyond the boundaries of the urban landscape. Those within cities paradoxically have both minimal and vast options when it comes to continuing their existence, yet this blurred reality is entirely reliant on the resources that a city can pull in with its constantly active economy.
Surely there exist cities that are determined to transform into more eco-friendly representatives of urban civilization, yet these efforts are typically focused on minimizing the harmful output of cities rather than rew...
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... architectures would led to a more organic organization beneficial to the people that choose to make their lives in this city. Although this model of a sustainable city is not a perfectly closed loop, it lays the foundation for one that is. Over time, with constantly evolving and improving technology and new methods of design from the scale of products to buildings, the gaps in the loop could be closed, and a “true” sustainable city could be fully realized.
Works Cited
Steward T.A. Pickett, Brian McGrath, M.L. Cadenasso & Alexander J. Felson. “Ecological Resilience and Resilient Cities.” Building Research & Information, 42:2 (2014), 143-157
Rogers, Richard. Cities for a Small Planet. S.l.: BBC Radio 4, 1995.
Axehausen, and Erath. "Urban Sustainability and Transportation: Research Framework for Medium and Long Term Transport Planning." Journeys 7 (2011): 7-19.
The incentive to develop a built environment which places the focal point on environmental and economic sustainability demonstrates progress and a shift in values from the past 10-20 years, and highlights that we have found a new value for the use of urban space.
Through past generations we have seen exemplifications of considerable innovation among city and municipal authorities in Canada regarding sustainable development. Due to Canada’s population density and the number of cities apart of it- I chose to study the sustainability of the city closest to my heart, my home, the City of Pickering. Sustainable development “is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”(Brundtland, 1987) The city of pickering is in the midst of a transformation from a suburban community to a sustainable city. “By 2031, the Region of Durham is expected to grow by 430,00 people and 160,000 jobs.” (Bodgan, 2007) It is estimated that Pickering
Finally in 1991, the federal government initiated a ‘Better Cities Program’ which aimed to make Australian cities sustainable and more liveable. It encoura...
Early, D. "What is Sustainable Design," The Urban Ecologist, Society of Urban Ecology, Berkeley, Spring. 1993.
Steve Johnson makes arguments for urbanization and the positive impact they have overall, despite some of the health problems they have created. His main argument is relating to the environment and urbanization. Johnson argues that while cities are usually viewed in a negative light, they do not offer negative impact on the environment. He discusses how urbanized cities are a necessary trend for the future of global relations. “The sheer magnitude of such of a footprint has been invoked as part of anti-urban environmental arguments, but the primary objection is in fact industrialization not
The following case study critiques Upton’s vision to establish a sustainable community through implementing comprehensive sustainable strategy. The urban periphery development is thought to demonstrate superior execution of sustainable principles in development (Jackson 2007). As a parallel, the report focuses on the development of Upton’s design code and demonstrates how large -scale mix-use developments can incorporate sustainable practice and principles of urban growth.
When urban planners sit at a table, and they are deciding what actions to take, they look at location as a primary source for putting cities together, with the development of houses, industries, and places for market goods to be sold while always trying to increase the supply and demand. In order to get from one place to the next, transportation methods were created to combat city growth and create valuable mechanisms of transporting goods and services within a market. Individuals determined to make things work within a given city constantly recreate, and challenge the laws of nature to make it fit their vision, because entrepuners want to bring character to cities by making them viable places to reside, consequences such as poverty , death, and poorly developed cities arose. Urban planning for city development is a constant battle between losers in winners in the struggle to manage population growth and the need for its current and future sustainability.
Again, this section will give a working definition of the “urban question’. To fully compare the political economy and ecological perspectives a description of the “urban question” allows the reader to better understand the divergent schools of thought. For Social Science scholars, from a variety of disciplines, the “urban question” asks how space and the urban or city are related (The City Reader, 2009). The perspective that guides the ecological and the social spatial-dialect schools of thought asks the “urban question” in separate distinct terminology. Respected scholars from the ecological mode of thinking, like Burgess, Wirth and others view society and space from the rationale that geographical scope determines society (The City Reader, 2009). The “urban question” that results from the ecological paradigm sees the relationship between the city (space) as influencing the behaviors of individuals or society in the city. On the other hand...
Yan, J. & Plainiotis, S. (2006): Design for Sustainability. Beijing, China: Architecture and Building Press.
Sustainable urban development has therefore become a multi-faceted and critical problem that now relates to energy consumption, transportation and land use planning, community building, and environmental and social justice issues, as well as good environmental management. Two Canadian reports prepared for the United Nations make similar observations and touch on the additional issues of a lack of affordable housing, the breaking up of farmland, and aging infrastructures that perform poorly in terms of energy efficiency and the environment. It is agreed that local governments have great influence over economic innovation and social cohesion in Canada, and that the various levels of government must work closely together and citizens must be involved from the outset if we are to find answers to the problem of urban sustainability. As part of the process, stakeholders would benefit from a greater understanding of how cities implement sustainable development objectives (which relate to broader quality-of-life objectives), the key factors for making a successful transition to sustainable urban development, and the combination of government and economic tools that will advance sustainable
These communities are also designed to save water by including less impervious space. Some barriers to the implementation of new urbanism include developmental regulations, public subsidies for conventional development, and public resistance to new ideas. Pollard believes that with education of the public and decision –makers, new urbanism can greatly curb environmental damage.
My argument is how sustainable architecture can be used and how it can benefit the Earth and it’s residence in an environmental or cost-effective way. Thus, leading to exploration of the different forms, of technology and materials used. Further developing my research on how culture, or time, might have affected, what or why, the building might have been constructed in a certain way, and also how the location might have affected the designs, of the buildings.
Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objects of sustainability are to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, minimal waste, and create healthy, productive environments (“Sustainable Design”). Focusing primarily on the sustainable design principles, there are five, including: low-impact materials, energy efficiency, quality and durability, design for reuse and recycling, and renewability. As sustainability appears to become the necessary trend in architecture, the question concerning the cost versus outcome of “going green” really an investment or a waste of time and money comes to mind. With our research provided below, we believe the expenses may truly be with the investment in the end.
In this regard, city authorities all over the world are increasingly adopting energy efficiency measures in a quest to become sustainable into the future. Consequently, this has led to the emergence of the term ‘green cities’ (Aulisi & Hanson, 2004). New York City, viewed by many as an urban, concrete jungle, was recently named the “greenest city" in the United States. This is mainly because most of its residents live in energy-efficient buildings, and use public transport, bicycl...
The notion of sustainable city has mounted a paramount place in the contemporary urban planning. In the world Conservation strategies in1980, the concept of sustainable development was firstly introduced.