Pathways to Urban Sustainability Research and Development on Urban Systems: Summary of a Workshop (2010) / Chapter Skim
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2 Developing Livable Urban Areas
2 Developing Livable Urban Areas
Pages 7-12
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From page 7... ...
Unsustainable Trends From a social and political perspective, the key issue driving discussions at the workshop was this: Cities in the United States have been growing in an unsustainable fashion for the past half century―and this trend cannot continue. As Adolfo Carrion, appointed by President Obama as the first Director of the nation's Office of Urban Affairs, noted in his talk: "The United States is becoming more urbanized and the current trend is unsustainable." He went on to caution that: "Our sprawl, the way we continue to spread over the land, the amount of pollution that we create, the inefficiencies that we support, how we have allowed development to take place, doesn't make sense any more." But knowing that we cannot continue to develop the way we have over the past five decades is not the same as knowing what to do about it.
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From page 8... ...
As Amy Glasmeier, Head of the Department of Urban Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology inquired in her talk: "How do we go about looking at something as grand as sustainability when we are trying to take into account multiple actors, multiple locations, multiple drivers and unexpected events? " The concept itself is fuzzy and, as the definition of urban sustainability gains sharper focus and acquires the attributes of an operational tool of change, it needs to be considered in the context of many traditional American political and cultural values deeply rooted in idealized notions of individualism and the value of limited, localized government―notions that have gained even greater currency during the post World War II period of suburbanization.
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From page 9... ...
Second, such efforts must promote not only affordable housing but also housing that meets the needs of diverse demographic groups―for example, families of modest incomes, those living alone (more than a quarter of the nation's households are now single person households) , the elderly (senior citizens are the most rapidly growing demographic group in the United States.)
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From page 10... ...
Centers for Disease Control, declared: Land use decisions have public health implications and that, in turn, makes public health "intrinsic to sustainability." This effort, moreover, has implications for all other components of sustainability. Frumkin noted that unless the United States finds a way to rein in escalating health-care costs, all other aspects of the sustainability agenda will be starved for a lack of funds.
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From page 11... ...
Even more revealing from a place-based perspective, average summer temperatures in downtown Phoenix are often 5 degrees C warmer than the less densely populated surrounding areas. While all cities are experiencing the effects of climate change, the desert city of Phoenix shows a trend towards warmer temperatures in its own unique way: Overall temperatures are rising faster and differences in temperatures between the city and suburbs are growing more extreme than in many other places.
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From page 12... ...
are ultimately political and social issues, and not scientific ones―unless, of course, nature intervenes to transform time-bound and place-based challenges into existential risks that necessitate a truly global response.
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