Sustainable Cities

Modular, floating communities, towering skyscrapers covered in trees and zero carbon, smart cities. These are some examples of what I call climatopias, which are utopian urban designs that attempt to address climate change, and they're the focus of my PHD research throughout 2022. They can take many different forms, but climateopias are the futuristic visions of architects and designers around the world who are seeking to create sustainable urban settlements in the face of mounting environmental threats. Climate change is something many of us are dealing with every day, and that can be both scary and motivating. But as we designed for climate change, it's important to think not just about infrastructure, but also about what really makes a city, a city, the people. So we have to know, like ourselves, what helps a city evolve and thrive, both today and in the future. Or, put another way, what makes it a city? Sustainable urban spaces meet strong communities to help guide and direct the various challenges that come from living in high density with other humans, especially with the added pressures of the climate change, and how that vulnerability gets distributed unevenly. But those ideals are often difficult to materialize in real life. Oftentimes, the people who can make planning decisions don't include everyone who might be impacted by the decision making process. Or sometimes there isn't funding to modify or retrofit landscapes designed for one purpose, like the flow of cars, with all the accessible options, like bike lanes. Planning for the future is no small task, but as geographers, we have the spatial skills to take on the challenge. I'm alice a career, and this is crash course geography. We are like many of the specialties we've talked about in this series. Environmental planning is an interdisciplinary field involving urban planning, geography, economics and even agriculture, which focuses on how we can build sustainable communities that are better places to live, work and play. Environmental planning is part of sustainable development, which can mean everything from using natural resources in a way that protects the environment, to helping cities grow in ways that can be sustained for generations to come. As environmental planners, this means we focus on creating designs that use natural resources responsibly. We work on how to promote economic opportunities and environmental justice, which is when everyone is involved in environmental laws and policies. We also work on social equity, which is where everyone has just and fair access to things like housing and jobs that pay enough to cover basic needs. Borrowing a phrase from business, this goal is the quadruple bottom line positive results for people, planet, profits and community. But sustainable development can be a contradiction. What's good for the environment and what's good for the economy don't always match up. So whenever we're trying to sustain or conserve something, a key question to ask is, what are we really trying to conserve? For instance, we might focus on conserving the environment and limiting our use of natural resources. So urban planners will use a host of models and planning tools to help create relationships within the city that preserve and use open space, like zoning or designating where different land uses can take place. Residential zone areas of cities can be rezoneed or redesignated to create walkable neighborhoods with mixed housing and shops, rather than just one or the other. This creates compact zones where people want to live, work and play, which reduces the need for people to drive across the region. Zoning and other tools are often part of smart growth planning, which tries to control and direct the movement of sprawl, or places on the outskirts of cities, like suburbs and edge cities, expanding into open, undeveloped land. In our planning, we can also use ecological design, which is an effort to build buildings and even whole cities, to mimic nature, and buildings that are designed like living machines, or the emphasized pass of solar design, elements that use the sun for heating and cooling, are just the beginning. Ecological design is a key place for physical and human geography mix. But as we've learned in previous episodes, cities encode a lot about our ways of life and cultures within the design and architecture of their buildings, and we can conserve that too. But no matter what we're trying to conserve, we're going to create tension. For one urban planning is about relationships, so it's rarely a neutral act. One approach to sustainable neighborhoods includes new urbanism, which is like smart growth, but usually just at the neighborhood scale. It often creates areas people are drawn to, which can then cause gentrification. Gentrification is when the value of land and rent increase in lower income areas from a new influx of investment. This growth becomes problematic when people aren't treated equitably, as we learned when talking about red lining and urban renewal, if cities don't plan ways to increase economic opportunities for lower income residents or protect low income housing, people can be priced out of their neighborhood or city because they can no longer afford the rent. There's no one solution or easy answer to this problem, but we can at least start by staying focused on the people involved in the history of the area. Keeping equity in mind. In cities, we've also got large concentrations of people, and that allows for efficient access to services like health care, public transportation and education. And things like electricity or Internet access are cheaper. Urban areas are also centers of diffusion and cultural exchange, that can drive innovation and new economic frontiers and technological advances. But large concentrations of people also create pressure, partly because of the same economies of scale that make it efficient to offer services like education and renewable energy. There's also a lot of waste pollution and strain on water resources. And while there are more services in urban areas, they're not distributed evenly, which can create uneven health outcomes. One strikingly visible example of this is the gray green divide. On the usually wealthier side, houses are comfortably nestled among shady, tree lined streets, and on the other side of a single road, everything suddenly changes to shades of concrete and asphalt, gray roads, gray roofs, gray sidewalks. This has an effect on our mood, our health, and even the biodiversity of life around us. And all this vegetation also helps to minimize the effects of the urban heat island, where all that asphalt, concrete, stone and steel absorbs heat and prevents air pollution from dissipating. In fact, whether air pollution is common because of the physical geography of the city, or because there are more heavy polluters, like cars or factories, there are a lot more asthma cases, ear nose throat illnesses and people with weaker immune systems in cities. This is particularly true in poorer areas of cities with substandard housing, where people have the fewest resources and little ability to access healthcare. There are other problems too, like air pollution from factories, and cars can mix with water in the atmosphere, creating acid rain, the effects of which can be felt hundreds of miles away from the cities where it formed. And there are water quality issues like sewer overflows and dumping chemicals in urban waterways. Most cities were built long before environmental justice was part of the urban planning discussion, which, according to the U-S Environmental Protection Agency, grew out of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and is the idea that every person is entitled to protection from environmental hazards, regardless of race, gender, age, class or politics. And so creating sustainable cities is about planning for the future and reconciling the past. And as we work to make the built environment evolve with our own understandings of justice and environmental impact, there's attention between retrofits that reuse old materials and spaces and fresh development. For instance, we have to decide what to do about beautiful, old buildings built in areas with lots of earthquakes. Urban planners may work with structural engineers to determine what kind of retrofitting is necessary to make a building earthquake proof, or if the safest thing for everyone is to have the building come down and reusing what's there, like the work of French architects and Lacaton and Jon Philip Vassal, who have won awards for their work, retrofitting buildings can have enormous global impact. The materials and construction industries are responsible for 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions in the early 2020s, which will be reduced dramatically if existing buildings and infrastructure can be reused. The push to reuse rather than build fresh also saves biodiversity outside cities and minimizes how many habitats get fragmented when urban sprawl is allowed to run a muck. Much of this can be at risk when a green field development is chosen over a brown field development, whether for housing shops or factories. In a green field development, the project is a blank slate for the architects and builders, while brown field development is done on top of land that has already been used, whether that land used to be a factory, car dealership or even a parking lot, retrofitting is just one tool we have as we think about effective ways to address climate change and atmospheric warming, as people try to change their lifestyles, many are constrained by structural problems, like living in a place with no public transportation, or that are designed poorly for accessibility, walking and biking. Planning with an eye towards sustainability and working with what already has been built offers a way to start addressing those larger retrofits we need as a society. And if we're going to shift to new technologies like electric cars or retrofits like efficient windows and insulation, we have to also make space and be willing to help those who can't afford the changes. Who pays for retrofits or who pays the environmental costs for unsustainable designs are political. As a society, we often just accept that there will be some people who have to live with the economic or environmental consequences of the types of development decisions we make, and that can be heavily placed on vulnerable groups. So creating sustainable cities can't just be a part of our future. It also has to be part of our present. And that means citizens like you or I can get involved, e.g. a cooperative, or coop is a group of people who come together to collectively manage a resource, whether that's housing or agricultural production. And in Barcelona, the Laborda Coop is building off a collaborative housing model used in Denmark, germany and Uruguay, that provides non speculative housing. This means that people don't own the individual units they live in, but they also don't pay rent to another person or company. Instead, they join a cooperative business as members. It's a little complicated, but what's important here is that it's a way of opting out of trying to always make a profit on land or housing. Individuals can't sell or even rent their space in the coop, and this keeps prices low for everyone. The complex was also built to be flexible in order to meet the needs of each of the residents. In fact, their building wasn't completely finished before people moved in. This allows the coop members to finish the building to suit the needs of the group, rather than needing to remodele later, so they save on the impact of construction. And we see this type of coop effort all over the world, from grocery stores in Detroit to housing in Greece to sustainable agriculture in Carolla, india, groups of people are banding together to leverage their numbers and purchasing power to envision new ways to exchange goods and services that will allow for secure, healthy lives, but with a smaller planning. Our cities and neighborhoods, including our communities and rural spaces, is a community effort. 

译文：

                              可持续的城市

模块化的浮动社区，树木覆盖的摩天大楼和零碳智能城市。这些是我所谓的“气候偏见”的一些例子，这是一种乌托邦式的城市设计，试图解决气候变化问题，它们是我2022年博士研究的重点。它们可以有许多不同的形式，但气候偏执狂是世界各地的建筑师和设计师正在寻求的未来愿景面对日益严重的环境威胁，创造可持续的城市住区。气候变化是我们许多人每天都在处理的事情，它既可怕又鼓舞人心。但当我们为气候变化而设计时，重要的是不仅要考虑基础设施，还要考虑真正构成城市、城市和人民的东西。所以我们必须像我们自己一样，知道是什么帮助一个城市在今天和未来发展和繁荣。或者，换句话说，是什么让它成为一座城市？可持续的城市空间与强大的社区相结合，帮助指导和指导与他人高密度生活所带来的各种挑战，特别是在气候变化的额外压力下，以及脆弱性如何不均匀地分布。但这些理想往往难以在现实生活中实现。通常，能够做出计划决策的人并不包括所有可能受到决策过程影响的人。或者有时没有资金来修改或改造为一个目的而设计的景观，比如车流，有所有可达的选择，比如自行车道。规划未来是一项艰巨的任务，但作为地理学家，我们拥有迎接挑战的空间技能。我是爱丽丝，这里是地理速成班。我们就像我们在这个系列中讨论过的许多专业一样。环境规划是一个涉及城市规划、地理学、经济学甚至农业的跨学科领域，它关注的是我们如何建立可持续发展的社区，使其成为更好的生活、工作和娱乐场所。环境规划是可持续发展的一部分，这意味着从以保护环境的方式利用自然资源，到帮助城市以可持续的方式发展，为子孙后代服务。作为环境规划师，这意味着我们专注于创造负责任地使用自然资源的设计。我们致力于如何促进经济机会和环境正义，这需要每个人都参与环境法律和政策。我们还致力于社会公平，这是指每个人都有公正和公平的机会获得住房和足够支付基本需求的工作。借用商业术语，这个目标是对人类、地球、利润和社区产生积极影响的四倍底线。但可持续发展可能是一个矛盾。对环境有益的事情和对经济有益的事情并不总是一致的。因此，每当我们试图维持或保护某些东西时，一个关键的问题是，我们真正想要保护的是什么？例如，我们可以把重点放在保护环境和限制自然资源的使用上。因此，城市规划者将使用大量的模型和规划工具来帮助在城市内部建立保护和使用开放空间的关系，比如分区或指定不同的土地用途。城市的住宅区可以重新划分或重新指定，以创建混合住房和商店的步行社区，而不是只有一个或另一个。这创造了人们想要生活、工作和娱乐的紧凑区域，从而减少了人们开车穿越该地区的需求。分区和其他工具通常是智能增长规划的一部分，它试图控制和指导城市蔓延的运动，或城市郊区和边缘城市等郊区的地方向开放的未开发土地扩张。在我们的规划中，我们也可以使用生态设计，这是一种建造建筑物甚至整个城市的努力，来模仿自然，把建筑物设计得像有生命的机器，或者强调太阳能设计，利用太阳来加热和冷却的元素，只是一个开始。生态设计是自然地理学与人文地理学相结合的关键所在。但正如我们在之前的节目中所学到的，城市在其建筑的设计和建筑中编码了很多关于我们的生活方式和文化的信息，我们也可以保护这些信息。但是不管我们想要保护什么，我们都会制造紧张。首先，城市规划是关于关系的，所以它很少是一个中立的行为。可持续社区的一种方法包括新城市主义，这就像智能增长，但通常只是在社区规模上。它通常会创造出吸引人们的区域，从而导致中产阶级化。中产阶级化是指由于新的投资涌入，低收入地区的土地价值和租金上涨。当人们没有得到公平对待时，这种增长就会出现问题，正如我们在谈论红线和城市更新时所了解到的那样，如果城市不计划为低收入居民增加经济机会或保护低收入住房，人们就会因为负担不起租金而被赶出他们的社区或城市。这个问题没有单一的解决方案或简单的答案，但我们至少可以从关注参与该地区历史的人开始。牢记公平。在城市，我们也有大量的人口集中，这使得人们能够有效地获得医疗、公共交通和教育等服务。电力和互联网接入等东西也更便宜了。城市地区也是传播和文化交流的中心，可以推动创新和新的经济前沿和技术进步。但人口的大量集中也会带来压力，部分原因是同样的规模经济使得提供教育和可再生能源等服务变得高效。还有大量的废物污染和水资源紧张。虽然城市地区有更多的服务，但它们的分布并不均匀，这可能导致健康状况不平衡结果。一个非常明显的例子就是灰绿之分。在通常较富裕的一方，房子舒适地坐落着在绿树成荫的街道上，在一条路的另一边，一切都突然变成了混凝土和沥青的阴影，灰色的道路，灰色的屋顶，灰色的人行道。这对我们的情绪、健康，甚至我们周围的生物多样性都有影响。所有这些植被也有助于减少城市热岛的影响，在那里，所有的沥青、混凝土、石头和钢铁都能吸收热量，防止空气污染消散。事实上，无论是由于城市的自然地理，还是因为有更多的重污染者，如汽车或工厂，空气污染是普遍的，城市里有更多的哮喘病例，耳鼻喉疾病和免疫系统较弱的人。在住房不达标的城市贫困地区尤其如此，那里的人们资源最少，获得医疗保健的能力也很少。还有其他问题，比如工厂产生的空气污染，汽车会与大气中的水混合，产生酸雨，其影响在形成酸雨的城市数百英里之外都能感受到。还有一些水质问题，比如下水道溢流和在城市水道中倾倒化学物质。大多数城市早在环境正义成为城市规划讨论的一部分之前就已经建成了。根据美国环境保护署的说法，环境正义起源于20世纪60年代的民权运动，其理念是每个人都有权受到保护，免受环境危害，不分种族、性别、年龄、阶级或政治。因此，创建可持续发展的城市是关于规划未来和调和过去。当我们努力使建筑环境随着我们自己对正义和环境影响的理解而发展时，我们关注的是重新利用旧材料和空间的改造与新发展之间的关系。例如，我们必须决定如何处理那些建在地震多发地区的漂亮的老建筑。城市规划者可能会与结构工程师一起决定需要什么样的改造才能使建筑物抗震，或者对每个人来说最安全的事情是让建筑物倒塌并重新利用那里的东西，就像法国建筑师拉卡顿和乔恩·菲利普·瓦萨尔的工作一样，他们的工作获得了奖项，改造建筑物可以产生巨大的全球影响。到本世纪20年代初，材料和建筑行业的温室气体排放量占世界温室气体排放量的10%，如果现有建筑和基础设施可以重复利用，温室气体排放量将大幅减少。推动再利用而不是新建，还可以保护城市以外的生物多样性，并最大限度地减少城市扩张导致的栖息地碎片化。当选择绿色土地开发而不是棕色土地开发时，无论是住宅商店还是工厂，这些都可能面临风险。在绿地开发中，项目对建筑师和建设者来说是一张白纸，而棕地开发是在已经使用过的土地上进行的，无论这块土地曾经是工厂，汽车经销商，甚至是停车场，改造只是我们考虑有效解决气候变化和大气变暖的一种工具，当人们试图改变他们的生活方式时，许多人受到结构性问题的限制，比如住在一个没有公共交通工具的地方，或者设计得很差，不适合步行和骑自行车。以可持续发展为目标进行规划，并与已经建成的建筑合作，为开始解决我们作为一个社会所需要的更大规模的改造提供了一种方法。如果我们要转向像电动汽车这样的新技术，或者像高效窗户和隔热材料这样的改造，我们也必须腾出空间，愿意帮助那些负担不起这些改变的人。谁为改造买单，谁为不可持续的设计买单，都是政治问题。作为一个社会，我们常常只能接受这样一个事实，即有些人不得不忍受我们所做的各种发展决定所带来的经济或环境后果，而这些后果可能严重地落在弱势群体身上。因此，创造可持续发展的城市不能仅仅是我们未来的一部分。它也必须是我们现在的一部分。这意味着像你我这样的公民可以参与进来。合作社是一群人聚集在一起共同管理一种资源，无论是住房还是农业生产。在巴塞罗那，LabordaCoop正在借鉴丹麦、德国和乌拉圭使用的合作住房模式，提供非投机性住房。这意味着人们不拥有他们居住的单个单元，但他们也不向另一个人或公司支付租金。相反，他们以会员的身份加入合作企业。这有点复杂，但重要的是，这是一种选择，不总是试图从土地或住房中获利的方式。个人不能出售甚至出租他们在鸡舍里的空间，这使得每个人的价格都很低。为了满足每个居民的需求，该综合体的建造也很灵活。事实上，在人们搬进来之前，他们的建筑还没有完全完工。这允许合作社成员完成建筑，以满足群体的需要，而不是需要改造，所以他们节省了建设的影响。我们在世界各地都看到这种合作的努力，从底特律的杂货店到希腊的住房到印度卡罗拉的可持续农业，人们聚集在一起，利用他们的人数和购买力，设想新的方式来交换商品和服务，这将使人们有安全，健康的生活，但计划更小。我们的城市和社区，包括我们的社区和农村空间，是一个社区的努力。