31/1/2012 - Who Gets Hurt When Redevelopment Gets Abandoned? .
31/1/2012 - Will electric cars change our mobility behaviour? (Germany) .
30/1/2012 - Whatever Happened to Obama's Urban Agenda? .
29/1/2012 - Find a free parking spot with your smartphone (Belgium) .
28/1/2012 - The "Avoid Ghetto" Walking App.
28/1/2012 - New guidelines for conducting Active Travel Audits available as a tool on Eltis.
27/1/2012 - Bicycle Superhighway to be Built.
27/1/2012 - Zero Carbon Mobility – Cycling in Lviv (Ukraine) .
26/1/2012 - Watch Your Behavior on the 'F' Train.
26/1/2012 - Thriving Neighbourhoods Conference 2012 – Call for contributions.
25/1/2012 - Hawaii's Light Rail Close to Breaking Ground.
25/1/2012 - Call for submission of local governance and decentralisation projects (Deadline: 1 February) .
24/1/2012 - Affordable Housing Industry Embraces Green Building Techniques.
24/1/2012 - Helsinki introduces hybrid electric buses.
23/1/2012 - The Effect of Gay Populations On Housing Prices.
23/1/2012 - World Mayor 2012 - nominations now open .
23/1/2012 - Indonesia's Growth Overwhelming its Public Infrastructure.
22/1/2012 - URBACT 3rd call for proposals now open! .
22/1/2012 - Guide to Street Design in Urban India.
22/1/2012 - SYNAPTIC Awards for Excellence in Seamless Mobility: Call for Entries.
22/1/2012 - Highway Removals to Become More Difficult.
21/1/2012 - A 'Smart Cities' Technology Revolution Underway.
21/1/2012 - New web-based HEAT+ tool launched.
20/1/2012 - How To Retrofit The Suburbs to Increase Walking.
20/1/2012 - Redevelopment Agencies to Close in California.
19/1/2012 - Program Helps Minnesota Cities Identify Sustainable Practices.
19/1/2012 - Call For Entries–Congress for New Urbanism 2012 Charter Awards.
19/1/2012 - Rio+20 Global Town Hall: towards a sustainable urban future.
18/1/2012 - Webinar: Living Together: City Strategies for Social Inclusion.
18/1/2012 - Cities’ next steps after COP17.
18/1/2012 - Train Times to Accompany Motorists Stuck in Traffic.
17/1/2012 - Neighborhood Slow Zones.
17/1/2012 - New UN-HABITAT initiative brings people’s perspective to green urban development.
16/1/2012 - Madrid Park Reconnects Once Divided Neighborhoods.
16/1/2012 - Adoption in Florence of the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City.
16/1/2012 - City Taglines Adopted in 2011.
15/1/2012 - Cities Face Tough Choices as U.S. Slashes Block Grants Program.
15/1/2012 - Biggest Transportation Failures of 2011.
14/1/2012 - Call for Submission: Good Ideas from Successful Cities: Municipal Leadershp on Immigrant Integration.
14/1/2012 - Collaborative practices for inclusive urban regeneration.
14/1/2012 - The Extreme Future of Megacities.
13/1/2012 - The public transport authority of Toulouse receives the best network of the year award.
13/1/2012 - Does Local Economic Development Work?
12/1/2012 - Live Podcast on Urban Sustainability.
12/1/2012 - New measures for cleaner air in London in 2012.
12/1/2012 - The Case Against Skyscrapers in Delhi.
12/1/2012 - Want Your City to Thrive? Get More Bandwidth.
11/1/2012 - Washington : public spaces for the waterfront.
11/1/2012 - 2012's Big Urban Projects.
10/1/2012 - Cruises and urban policy: the CTUR project.
10/1/2012 - Why Your City's Urban Canopy May Be Failing.
10/1/2012 - European Study: Cycling, Not Electric Cars Are Key To Emissions Reduction.
9/1/2012 - Using Bikes Instead of Cars to Run Errands Saves Lives, Money.
8/1/2012 - San Francisco's Performance Parking Pilot Less Successful Than Hoped.
7/1/2012 - ICLEI South Asia and IHCN-F working together for sustainable cities.
6/1/2012 - The Tea Party vs. Urban Planning.
5/1/2012 - ICLEI and UNISDR partner to make cities more resilient.
4/1/2012 - The Largest Urban Park In America Coming To Chicago.
3/1/2012 - Exchange of practices in crisis management.
2/1/2012 - Kuala Lumpur's Sprawl Creating A Mini Los Angeles.
2/1/2012 - Sustainable town tested in Japan.
1/1/2012 - “ZERØ EMISSION CITIES – Dream or Goal?” Conference 2011.
Who Gets Hurt When Redevelopment Gets Abandoned?
Ron Nyren examines the various types of projects that will be negatively impacted by California's decision to abandon redevelopment.
Affordable housing, public-private partnerships, public parks, fire stations, brownfield redevelopment -- this is just a sample of the types of projects that will be compromised by the dissolution of the state's redevelopment agencies.
According to Nyren, cities have few alternatives to redevelopment. Infrastructure financing districts (IFDs) are mentioned as one possibility. Unfortunately, the same conditions that put redevelopment agencies into the sights of public agencies starved for funding will diminish the likelihood of finding ample revenue streams for bond sales.
“There are mechanisms by which public improvements can occur,” says [Kim] Kilkenny, [chairman of Centre City Development Corp.]. “The trick is identifying funding sources. It is exceedingly difficult to generate new revenues when we are in a recession.”
http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2012/Jan/NyrenExperiment
Will electric cars change our mobility behaviour? (Germany)
Transport planners from the Technical University Berlin conducted a survey about people's expectations of usage and suitability for daily use of electric cars. Unlike the approach taken in other surveys, the researchers distinguished between a common acceptance of electric mobility and willingness to change personal mobility.
http://www.eltis.org/index.php?uid=ZGZkZQLX&ID1=5&id=60&news_id=3070
Whatever Happened to Obama's Urban Agenda?
Writing in Grist, Greg Hanscom's position is that under Obama's guidance, the Federal Government has shifted away from subsidizing sprawl and towards reviving cities. Agree?
Although the Conference of Mayors might argue differently, Hanscom comes to the conclusion that, "Under President Obama, key federal agencies have begun to shift away from subsidizing suburban sprawl and toward reviving cities and creating dense, walkable, transit-friendly communities."
Hanscom points to the creation of the Special Assistant for Urban Affairs position, TIGER grant funding, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Strong Cities, Strong Communities program, and the Sustainable Communities Initiative, to buttress his argument.
He cites the failure to pass a new transportation bill as Obama's major failing. “That’s a lack of leadership coming out of White House,” [Christopher] Leinberger, [President of Locus] says. “President Obama spent too much political capital on high-speed rail instead of looking at light rail, street cars, and the entire range of transportation alternatives.”
http://grist.org/cities/president-obama-and-the-forgotten-urban-agenda/
Find a free parking spot with your smartphone (Belgium)
The city of Mechelen and the Belgacom telecommunications company are developing a pilot project to allow users to find a free parking space through mobile phone, smartphone or GPS and the use of sensors
http://www.eltis.org/index.php?uid=ZGZkZQLX&ID1=5&id=60&news_id=3050
The "Avoid Ghetto" Walking App
At least that's what some are accusing Microsoft of patenting in its "Pedestrian Route Production" app, whose aim is to help pedestrians avoid unsafe neighborhoods "by taking information from maps, weather reports, crime statistics and demographics."
"Sarah Chinn, author of Technology and the Logic of American Racism, says she understands why people might want a GPS feature like that to help them feel safe. But, she says, the new application will reinforce assumptions about violent crime that just aren't true.
"In much of dominant American culture, there's an assumption that criminality and being poor and not white go hand in hand," Chinn says. In reality, FBI crime statistics for 2010 show that whites were arrested more often for violent crimes that year than any other race."
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/17/145337346/this-app-was-made-for-walking-but-is-it-racist
New guidelines for conducting Active Travel Audits available as a tool on Eltis
As part of the URBACT European exchange and learning programme, the Active Travel Network has produced guidelines for conducting Active Travel Audits to improve conditions for walking and cycling in cities. It is a further development of the BYPAD audit scheme.
http://www.eltis.org/index.php?uid=ZGZkZQLX&ID1=5&id=60&news_id=3054
Bicycle Superhighway to be Built
A.K. Streeter provides the scoop on a new four-lane superhighway solely for bicycles planned for the south of Sweden.
Following on recent efforts that have increased cycling 30% in each of the last four years, the Swedish city of Malmo is prepared to spend $4.1 million to build a bike superhighway connecting to the city of Lund, its northern neighbor.
According to Streeter, "The proposed bicycle superhighway would, in addition to four lanes (2 in each direction) have exits but no intersections, two types of wind protection (low bushes as well as solid fencing) periodic bicycle service stations, and would take eight years to complete."
The full cost of the superhighway is projected at $7.1 million. With a route already planned, "what remains is for the central government (and Lund and the smaller towns between the two areas) to put their money down."
http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/new-cycling-superhighway-not-us.html
Zero Carbon Mobility – Cycling in Lviv (Ukraine)
Lviv is using a systemic approach to develop cycling infrastructure and to improve conditions for cyclists in a comprehensive way by establishing a working group, setting up a cycle plan and by active promotion of cycling.
http://www.eltis.org/index.php?uid=ZGZkZQLX&id=13&lang1=en&study_id=3169
Watch Your Behavior on the 'F' Train
Put you feet up on an an subway seat, and risk going to to jail. Bad behavior, sure. But criminal? In an effort to make the subway safer, NYPD is viewing even minor code violations seriously.
"It is perhaps the most minor crime New Yorkers are routinely arrested for: sitting improperly on a subway seat. Seven years ago, rule 1050(7)(J) of the city’s transit code criminalized what was once simply bad etiquette: passengers putting their feet on a subway seat."
"Paul J. Browne, the New York Police Department’s chief spokesman, said enforcement of subway regulations had made the transit system much safer.”
However, as the article illustrates, enforcement of some of these new crimes has only created lawsuits against the City for unlawful arrest.
"Police officers handed out more than 6,000 tickets for these violations in 2011. But a $50 ticket would have been welcome compared with the trouble many passengers found themselves in; roughly 1,600 people ...were arrested, sometimes waiting more than a day to be brought before a judge and released, according to statistics from district attorneys' offices.
In some instances, passengers were arrested because they had outstanding warrants, or did not have photo identification. Some arrests were harder to explain, with no apparent cause other than the seat violation. In at least one case, the arrest led to deportation.
Lawyers say many of the cases originate on the F train at the Rockefeller Center stop.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/nyregion/minor-offense-on-ny-subway-can-bring-ticket-or-handcuffs.html?_r=1
Thriving Neighbourhoods Conference 2012 – Call for contributions
Thriving Neighbourhoods is a conference series that ICLEI Oceania is hosting to explore the relationships between the built and natural environments, and human health and wellbeing. The conference will take place in Melbourne, Australia on 12-14 November 2012.
Thriving Neighbourhoods Conference 2012 invites papers and presentations on research and practice to the challenge of creating and supporting thriving neighbourhoods and communities.
Submit your contribution before 2 April 2012 and visit www.thrivingneighbourhoods.org for more information.
Hawaii's Light Rail Close to Breaking Ground
After decades of planning, a 20-mile light rail line in Honolulu is set to begin construction this March, despite persistent concerns over the project's cost.
"A 40-year battle to build a mass transit line appears to be nearing its end. Barring a court intervention, construction is to begin in March on a 20-mile rail line that will be elevated 40 feet in the air, barreling over farmland, commercial districts and parts of downtown Honolulu, and stretching from here to Waikiki.
The two-track line —a 30-foot-wide span, with 21 elevated stations — is designed to accommodate an increasing crush of commuters and tourists while encouraging new growth and development, particularly on this undeveloped part of the island. The Honolulu rail project, scheduled for completion in 2018, seems certain to change sharply the nature of much of the south side of the island, as well as downtown Honolulu.
The project has drawn fierce opposition from many environmentalists and some community leaders, who describe it as a concrete gash across green Oahu that will blight pristine coastlines and farmland at the western end and throw a shadow over city streets in Honolulu. It could still be delayed or frozen by a pending suit in federal court from opponents who assert that planners failed to properly explore alternatives to the project in environmental studies."
The light rail is coming on line at a time when traffic and growth are increasingly noticeable in this once-small town. But despite the growing need for new transportation options, some are still opposed to the project's $5.3 billion cost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/us/hawaii-train-line-is-likely-to-rise-on-oahu.html?_r=1
Call for submission of local governance and decentralisation projects (Deadline: 1 February)
The European Commission has launched a call for proposals dedicated to local and regional authorities, with the aim of supporting the enhancement of the capacities of municipalities and regions and supporting projects related to local governance in EU partner countries
http://www.ccre.org/news_detail_en.htm?ID=2187
Affordable Housing Industry Embraces Green Building Techniques
Affordable housing advocates find that green building techniques result in higher-quality construction -- and often with costs comparable to traditional building techniques.
The long-held view that green building is too expensive for affordable housing is being challenged. While critics argue that now is not the time (or the market) to incorporate greening into affordable housing, Noreen Beatley, former director of state and local policy for Enterprise Community Partners, suggests the contrary, writing that "these economic times require us to look for the best return on our investments and elected officials know that green building provides that."
Evidence debunking this green "cost myth" has mounted over the past decade. The ongoing operations and maintenance costs that often threaten the sustainability of developments are brought down over time in green building. Recent studies from organizations like New Ecology and the Green CDC Initiative support that green building will minimize these costs over time. "As money for new construction dries up," says Beatley, "preserving and retrofitting existing affordable housing stock to energy efficient, green building standards is of paramount importance."
"Great strides have been made in green building over the past 10 years. Today, more than 50 percent of the housing certified under the LEED for Homes program are affordable. LEED and Green Communities criteria have been updated to reflect innovations and higher performance standards that have evolved as green building practices become more common. LEED for Homes has been expanded to include mid-rise multifamily buildings and LEED Neighborhood Development has become a standard for many public housing redevelopment projects. "
http://www.shelterforce.org/article/2486/green_is_affordable/
Helsinki introduces hybrid electric buses
Helsinki, Finland is plugging into the electric vehicle revolution with the launch of the city’s first two hybrid electric buses at the start of 2012. It is hoped that the vehicles will help propel sustainable transport in the Scandinavian capital to the next level.
This recent development does much to build on Helsinki’s reputation as a forward-thinking green society. Earlier this year, the city made the top ten of the Global Liveability Ranking Report compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit which assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions.
The Effect of Gay Populations On Housing Prices
A new study looks at how home values in neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio responded differently to the presence of gay populations.
The results of researchers and economists David Christafore of Konkuk University in Korea and Susane Leguizamon of Tulane University find "a strong link between a neighborhood's social ideology and its response to gay populations, as measured in housing prices. In areas where 59 percent or more voted against the marriage act -- in other words, more liberal areas -- the number of same-sex households was associated with a rise in home values. In areas that voted more vehemently for the marriage act -- considered more conservative neighborhoods -- housing prices dropped when same-sex households increased," writes author Eric Jaffe.
The new research is expected to be published in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Urban Economics
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2012/01/do-gay-populations-influence-housing-prices/882/
World Mayor 2012 - nominations now open
Recognising pioneering urban developments by mayors across the world
The City Mayors Foundation is seeking nominations for its biennial World Mayor award. The award recognises a mayor who has made outstanding contributions to his or her community and has developed a vision for urban life that is transferrable to other cities around the world.
Recent winners include the mayors of Athens, Capetown, Melbourne and Mexico City, and your city’s mayor could be rewarded in 2012! The awards are open to mayors who are at least in their second term of office and nominees wishing to be considered for the prize must sign up to the City Mayors Foundation code of ethics.
To nominate a mayor, complete the nomination form on the website below before the middle of May 2012. Nominations must be accompanied by a supporting statement and a shortlist will be published in June 2012. The next ‘World Mayor’ will be announced in early December 2012.
http://www.worldmayor.com/contest_2012/word-mayor-nominations-2012.html
Indonesia's Growth Overwhelming its Public Infrastructure
Indonesia's economy is growing but the crumbling infrastructure is costing residents.
"Indonesia has one of the world's fastest growing economies, and it's already the largest in Southeast Asia. Yet this vibrant economy has an Achilles' heel: its crumbling, overwhelmed infrastructure."
According to Anthony Kuhn of NPR, "Indonesia's economy is growing at about 6.5 percent a year, and the country spends about 3 percent of its GDP on infrastructure."
"According to our survey, the transportation costs here in Jakarta and the surroundings are almost 30 to 40 percent of income," Elly Sinaga, Ministry of Transportation says.
Kuhn says that increasing the percentage of GDP spent on infrastructure, "its growth might compare more favorably to that of China."
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/04/144641849/indonesian-economy-booms-its-infrastructure-groans
URBACT 3rd call for proposals now open!
URBACT 3rd call for proposals will run until 15 March 2012
URBACT is a European exchange and learning programme promoting sustainable urban development, jointly financed by the EU’s European Regional Development Fund and the EU member states. The programme enables cities across Europe to work together to develop solutions to major urban challenges, reaffirming the key role cities play in facing increasingly complex societal changes. It helps cities to develop integrated and sustainable solutions and promotes the exchange of best practices between professionals involved in urban policy throughout Europe.
The third call for proposals to create up to 19 new thematic networks opened on 9 December 2011 and will run until 15 March 2012. For more information on the call, or to submit a project, visit the URBACT website, below.
http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/get-involved/call-for-proposals-and-jobs/
Guide to Street Design in Urban India
A new guidebook illustrates ways to create safer streets and more livable public spaces.
This detailed and illustrated manual, produced by the Institute for Transport and Development Policy and the Ahmedabad-based Environmental Planning Collaborative, provides guidance on how to apply good design to create attractive, safe multi-modal streets and more livable public spaces.
The manual describes sixteen street elements, such as footpaths, cycle tracks, medians, and spaces for street vending, and discusses the role each plays in an efficient, multi-use roadway. It identifies the different functions of streets and emphasizes the need to design complete streets that provide space for all users. It describes practical ways to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, and ways to avoid common pitfalls. Through the street and intersection templates one can get a sense of how the different elements come together for different types and sizes of streets. Finally, there is an overview of the activities that are undertaken as a part of the overall process of street design.
This manual is intended for planners, urban designers, landscape architects, civil engineers, government officials and citizens who are interested in improving the quality of urban environments and the character of city streets. Although produced in India, the authors feel it is "suitable for use in any urban area."
http://www.itdp.org/library/publications/better-streets-better-cities/
SYNAPTIC Awards for Excellence in Seamless Mobility: Call for Entries
Many local authorities and organisations are undertaking initiatives toward seamless mobility in Europe. The INTERREG Northwest Europe cluster project SYNAPTIC has established the SYNAPTIC Awards for Excellence in Seamless Mobility to recognise initiatives leading toward seamless mobility in Europe. If you have implemented an innovative mobility initiative, this is your opportunity to gain recognition (and win prizes!) for your work.
http://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/158/45/SYNAPTIC-Awards-for-Excellence-in-Seamless-Mobility-Call-for-Entries/
Highway Removals to Become More Difficult
Following highly publicized urban highway removal success stories like Boston's Big Dig and San Francisco's Embarcadero, Anthony Flint asks whether similar successes will be easy to duplicate.
"Whether this stage of urban design interventions can be pulled off in quite the same slam-dunk fashion as the Embarcadero is very much in question. The infrastructure being re-engineered is similarly from a half-century ago, and exclusively built with the car as priority. But the scale is a bit smaller. Rather than big elevated interstates through downtowns, these are connectors and overpasses, sometimes a long way from the center of town, where the neighborhoods are defined on different terms."
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/01/tricky-second-wave-urban-highway-removals/897/
A 'Smart Cities' Technology Revolution Underway
A group of high technology firms, led by IBM and Cisco, are plunging into the city management business to offer super-efficient new-generation computerized information and control systems.
If the systems prove out — and first signs are positive — the companies stand to garner billions of dollars in business. But savings for cities, measured by dollars, by livability, by human lives protected, may be far greater," writes Neal Peirce.
One example from the column: "Now Memphis has a new 'Real Time Crime Center' that's able to pinpoint and relate crime incidents in seconds, to predict hot spots and redeploy police officers with high efficiency. Robberies, burglaries and forcible rapes have fallen to their lowest rate in a quarter century. Several million dollars in savings are being reported. And IBM has sharpened crime tracking and control software it can offer to cities elsewhere."
http://citiwire.net/post/3136/
New web-based HEAT+ tool launched
ICLEI’s newest software tool HEAT+, launched at COP17 in Durban, South Africa, is designed to help local governments reap the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and common air pollutants.
For the first time ever, cities using HEAT+ (Harmonized Emissions Analysis Tool) can really compare “apples with apples” and benchmark emissions levels against local, state, national, provincial, and international standards.
HEAT+ is the only web-based product of its kind, offering secure data storage, a global data bank, comprehensive technical support, and 24/7 accessibility. A variety of software packages are available.
Start working with HEAT+! Visit www.iclei.org/heat
How To Retrofit The Suburbs to Increase Walking
Researchers look at the largely suburban South Bay area of Los Angeles to offer ways to retrofit auto-oriented suburbs for more pedestrian travel.
"Researchers have spilled much ink debating the feasibility of alternatives to car travel, but have focused less on how suburbs built for the car might be transformed to accommodate other modes. Seven years ago, communities in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County decided to focus on this question. They found that walking is the gateway mode for alternative transportation," write an impressive array of authors, including Marlon G. Boarnet, Kenneth Joh, Walter Siembab, William Fulton, and Mai Thi Nguyen.
"While traditional urban design elements such as inwardly focused street geometry may encourage walking, our results suggest that a more critical factor is the concentration of business activity in a compact commercial center. The tricky part is that the business concentration needed to encourage walking appears to be larger than most neighborhood residential populations can support. Given that, suburban regions should focus both on fostering pedestrian centers and on knitting those centers together with transportation networks, though such networks need not accommodate only cars. We suggest both a land use approach and a mobility approach, and coordination between the two."
http://uctc.net/access/39/access39_suburbwalking.shtml
Redevelopment Agencies to Close in California
Most of California's redevelopment agencies will be shut down after losing their court fight against Governor Jerry Brown's austerity budget. The agencies, many of which practiced smart growth, are funded through property taxes, an arrangement the Governor said is a drain on local and state budgets. More than 400 California redevelopment agencies will cease to exist after February 1.
Program Helps Minnesota Cities Identify Sustainable Practices
The Minnesota GreenStep Cities program helps municipalities become eco-friendly by giving officials a choice of 28 sustainability "best practices." These actions are grouped into five categories: building and lighting; land use; economic and community development; transportation; and environmental management.
http://www.govtech.com/technology/Minnesota-Greenstep-Cities.html
Call For Entries–Congress for New Urbanism 2012 Charter Awards
The Congress for the New Urbanism facilitates an awards program to recognize the very best in New Urbanist design. Winning projects are recognized for their excellence in advancing the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism, which defines the essential qualities of walkable, sustainable places from the scale of the region down to the block and building.
Application deadline: February 15, 2012
http://www.cnu.org/awards
Rio+20 Global Town Hall: towards a sustainable urban future
ICLEI is convening the Rio+20 Global Town Hall together with a quickly growing coalition of partners, most recently joined by UNEP.
The program, running between 13 and 22 June, will see exciting topics like the Green Economy and governance systems covered by a variety of different session types including discussions and performances.
Cities are gaining more and more recognition in Rio+20 preparations, with ICLEI being a leading organization in linking local governments to Rio+20. Sustainable cities were recently mentioned in a speech by the Secretary General of the 1992 Earth Summit, Maurice Strong, in the UN newsletter "Rio+20 Making it Happen" and on the Rio+20: The Future We Want website. The role of local government and the importance of sustainable cities is prominently included in the "Zero Draft" version of the Rio+20 outcome document.
Registration for Rio+20 has been opened for accredited organizations, including ICLEI
ICLEI will be releasing details for registration of city representatives through ICLEI shortly. The deadline for registration to ICLEI will be in early May, since ICLEI needs to submit all participant details to the UN by 20 May 2012. We also encourage you to explore registering for Rio+20 as part of your national delegation.
More about Rio+20 and the Rio+20 Global Town Hall at www.iclei.org/local2012
Webinar: Living Together: City Strategies for Social Inclusion
Start date: February 8, 2012
URL: http://citiesofmigration.ca/webinar/living-together-city-strategies-for-social-inclusion/
Location: Online Webinar
Contact name: Evelyn Siu
Contact email: citiesofmigration@maytree.com
Cities’ next steps after COP17
The world's cities are impatiently demanding that they be heard earlier, and heeded seriously, in the decisions of nations - and at the United Nations.
The breakthrough of COP17/CMP7 is that nations agreed to adopt, by the latest in 2015, a new legally binding regime in which all nations will be included in both mitigation and adaptation actions. They are building up on a parallel decision to start a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol as of 1 January 2013. A number of decisions at the institutional level, including commencing operation of Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Committee were also other important outcomes.
In Durban, cities have already demonstrated their commitment to climate action by adopting the Durban Adaptation Charter, increasing the number of signatories to the Mexico City Pact and they released the carbonn Cities Climate Registry 2011 Annual Report.
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=1487&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=4764&tx_ttnews[backPid]=983&cHash=572ebdb8b7
Train Times to Accompany Motorists Stuck in Traffic
To encourage train ridership, Caltrans and Metrolink have teamed up to display train times on electronic signs along two oft-congested Southern California freeways.
"'For travel between Orange County and downtown Los Angeles' Union Station, trains are often faster than freeways,' said Malcolm Dougherty, acting Caltrans Director. 'We want to give commuters real-time information to help them get to their destination quicker.'
Caltrans provides the freeway travel time information using data collected from its vehicle detector stations throughout the freeway system while Metrolink offers train travel times, including train departure and trip duration information.
Along the 87-mile Orange County line, an average of 7,744 weekday riders traveled on Metrolink's 24 trains last year between April and June, according to Metrolink figures."
http://www.ocregister.com/news/train-332497-metrolink-freeway.html
Neighborhood Slow Zones
Neighborhood Slow Zones are a community-based program that reduces the speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph and adds safety measures within a select area in order to change driver behavior. The ultimate goal of the Neighborhood Slow Zone program is to lower the incidence and severity of crashes. Slow Zones also seek to enhance quality of life by reducing cut-through traffic and traffic noise in residential neighborhoods.
Neighborhood Slow Zones are established in small, self-contained areas that consist primarily of local streets. Signs and gateways announce the presence of a Slow Zone. The Zone itself is a self-enforcing, reduced-speed area with speed bumps, markings and other traffic calming treatments. Implementing Neighborhood Slow Zone safety treatments can result in the loss of some on-street parking.
DOT creates slow zones in response to applications from communities. After each round of applications, DOT selects appropriate location(s) and works with the community to devise a plan to install the Slow Zone. Slow Zones must be approved by the local Community Board.
New UN-HABITAT initiative brings people’s perspective to green urban development
In an effort to bring a more inclusive approach to green housing provision UN-Habitat has launched i-HOUSE, a new initiative promoting coordination and knowledge-sharing in the field of sustainable urban development.
The initiative, and its accompanying global network, was announced at a recent expert group meeting on sustainable housing at UN-Habitat’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya which more than 20 leading urban academics and practitioners from around the world attended.
Speaking at the event, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director, Dr Joan Clos highlighted the pressing need for better coordination of efforts in designing and implementing green buildings and sustainable building activities.
i-HOUSE will have a specific focus on low-income housing and slum upgrading in developing countries, as well as housing provision in post-crisis and humanitarian context.
In addition, a knowledge-sharing platform called i-BUILD will bring the expertise and best practice of experts working in the field to one place where it can be accessed by their peers. I-BUILD will be hosted on the Urban Gateway, UN-Habitat’s online portal for sustainable urbanisation.
http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=10675&catid=5&typeid=6&AllContent=1
Madrid Park Reconnects Once Divided Neighborhoods
Even on a chilly Thursday afternoon in December, the old men, engulfed in cigar smoke and reading newspapers, were sitting around chess tables under tall pines. Nearby, a young woman had strung her line between the trunks of two mulberry trees to practice tightrope walking.
Behind her, hypnotized toddlers stared into a small oval fountain full of swirling water, and cyclists pedaled across new bridges with cement roofs that are shaped like upside-down canoes and also across a new steel forked bridge, an elegant nod to industrial-age steelwork, with a great view of the royal palace on its hill.
The park here, called Madrid Río, has largely been finished. More than six miles long, it transforms a formerly neglected area in the middle of Spain’s capital. Its creation, in four years, atop a complex network of tunnels dug to bury an intrusive highway, also rejuvenates a long-lost stretch of the Manzanares River, and in so doing knits together neighborhoods that the highway had cut off from the city center.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/arts/design/in-madrid-even-maybe-the-bronx-parks-replace-freeways.html?_r=1
Adoption in Florence of the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City
The UCLG World Council held last 11 December 2011 in Florence (Italy) decided to adopt the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City at the proposal of the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights. ... + info
The Charter-Agenda was adopted the day after the International Day on Human Rights, which the Committee celebrated organizing a round table on "Local Governments and Right to the City" on 9 December. More than 40 local government representatives participated in the debate to discuss about how to foster local policies aiming to take forward the recognition, respect and fulfilment of human rights in cities.
http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/committees/cisdp/Upload/general_docs/uclg_global_charter_agenda_hr_city.pdf
City Taglines Adopted in 2011
Atlantic Cities collects the new slogans cities adopted in 2011 to help define their city and improve business and tourism.
From the obscure "Every City Has a Soul" (Downtown Las Vegas, NV) to the lovable, "Small Town, Big Heart" (Burton, MI) to the discontinued "Experience Our Sense of Yuma" (Yuma, CA), Mark Byrnes reviews the new city slogans of 2011.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2011/12/city-slogans-2011/815/
Cities Face Tough Choices as U.S. Slashes Block Grants Program
It is no secret that these are hard times for cities, with tax collections down, state aid dwindling, unemployment high and foreclosures pitting many blocks. So, as he sat in his office here, Mayor Ed Pawlowski of Allentown echoed the question mayors around the country are asking: Why has Washington cut one of the main federal programs for cities by a quarter in the last couple of years?
“It’s just insane,” an exasperated-sounding Mayor Pawlowski said.
The shrinking federal program, called Community Development Block Grants, was devised by the Nixon administration to bypass state governments and send money directly to big cities, which were given broad leeway to decide how to spend it. This year the federal government is giving out just $2.9 billion — a billion dollars less than it gave two years ago, and even less than it gave during the Carter administration, when the money went much further.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/us/cities-struggle-as-us-slashes-block-grants-program.html?_r=3&ref=us
Biggest Transportation Failures of 2011
Atlantic Cities offers a review of ten of the worst urban transportation failures to take place in American cities in 2011.
From Florida's rejection of high-speed rail funding to Los Angeles' non-Carmaggedon to the Expiration of commuter tax benefits, Eric Jaffe explores the biggest transportation failures in 2011.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/12/2011s-biggest-transportation-failures/809/
Call for Submission: Good Ideas from Successful Cities: Municipal Leadershp on Immigrant Integration
Cities of Migration is looking for outstanding examples of city leadership on immigrant integration. We want to know more about how local governments can facilitate the settlement and integration of newcomers, and promote immigrant and city success.
http://citiesofmigration.ca/good-ideas-in-integration/municipal/submit-a-good-idea/
Collaborative practices for inclusive urban regeneration
Co-production of public services, jobs and enterprises could improve service quality and reduce governmental spending at the same time. Today many national and local governments rediscover this idea, especially in Europe where cities have been hit hard by the economic downturn. That is why current collaborative practice of urban regeneration put an emphasis on core elements such as: effective partnership working, integrated approach to problem solving and strong involvement of local communities. Read the article "Collaborative practices for inclusive urban regeneration" written by Hans Schlappa and Peter Ramsden and published in the URBACT Tribune dedicated to Local Support Groups.
http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/news-and-events/view-one/news/?entryId=5109
The Extreme Future of Megacities
Megacities are the future of our planet. Author James Canton offers several visions and strategies to begin planning for them.
In "prescient article" in the journal Significance futurist James Canton argues that cities will diversify as they get larger, writes Michael Batty on his A Science of Cities blog.
Megacities will become the primary form for future urbanization, Canton argues. The growth of the new megacities may ultimately only be constrained only by the ability of a single government to manage them. Canton lays out several possible models for the new megacities, such as Chaos City (think Mogadishu) to Gang City (think Afghanistan), Fortress City (think Dubai) and the Smart City.
From Canton's article:
"By 2040, most of the world's population will be living in megacities, writes Canton. A megacity is a city containing at least 10 million people. Megacities already exist. There are as many as 26 of them on the planet today...
"The Smart City is coming and the megacity will bring it soon. The actual development of artificial intelligence as an incentive to meet the challenges of the Smart City will set the stage for the future. Nine billion people will be the largest concentrations of human density in the history of civilisation. Some find it almost impossible to imagine it all turning out well... What planners, policy-makers, leaders and social scientists should be doing today is getting ready with new models of planetary management. Our lack of readiness for the future is endemic in our civilisation. But it would be good to get this forecast right and prepare for the megacity future."
http://www.planetizen.com/news/redirect_new.php?id=53412-0
The public transport authority of Toulouse receives the best network of the year award
On November 29th 2011, the public transport authority of the Greater Toulouse, Tisséo-SMTC, received the Pass d'Or 2011 from the French transport magazine Ville, Rail et Transports, rewarding the best network of the year.
Already awarded the national AGIR INNOVATION prize earlier this year, the president of Tisséo-SMTC Pierre Cohen saluted the work of the public transport operator of Greater Toulouse. He stated that “today, with the widest scope and the lowest density in France, the Toulouse agglomeration has significantly developed its metro, tramway, bus and on-demand network, its fare policy, partnerships with other local authorities and innovative services and solutions”.
To reach the level of public transportation traffic of the largest French cities, the budget of Tisséo-SMTC has doubled, the monthly subscription for people under the age of 26 was lowered to 10 € and a new tramway line was opened.
Does Local Economic Development Work?
Writing in City Journal, academic Mario Polèse calls local economic development strategy an "urban-development legend". He reviews the prevailing economic development strategies employed over the last century -- up to and including the prevailing "Creative Class" approach associated with Richard Florida -- and concludes that these "grand theories do little to revive cities," and often end up doing damage to the local economy the theory seeks to stimulate.
The author of the article is Mario Polèse is a professor at the Centre Urbanisation Culture Société at Montreal’s Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Polèse writes harshly about economic development agencies: "Local business-development corporations remain a staple of city strategies. But no methodology exists for verifying that the jobs they purportedly created wouldn’t have emerged anyway. This fuzziness, in fact, is one of their political strengths. Once funded, even temporary initiatives tend to become permanent."
Polèse looks at several examples, including Philadelphia:
"On a corridor wall in Penn's Wharton School building was plastered a huge input-output table of the Philadelphia economy, which would help planners make the right choices. The direct and indirect employment effects of any investment could be precisely predicted. It was all very scientific.
The unfortunate results of that optimistic epoch were large industrial complexes, often in petrochemicals or steel, which created jobs but little subsequent growth. It turned out that input-output models were essentially static, limited to one-shot income and employment effects. Over the long term, in fact, investing in supposedly strategic industries frequently had a negative effect on growth; for example, those large plants tended to be unionized, which pushed up local labor costs and drove employers away."
http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_4_urban-development.html
Live Podcast on Urban Sustainability
Coming up January 19, 2012 on http://www.BlakelyCityTalk.com --a conversation with Peter Newman world re-known expert on urban sustainability on his views for the coming year 2012
New measures for cleaner air in London in 2012
Within the London Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy, a package of measures to improve air quality in London has been launched to cut harmful pollution coming from road transport, to benefit Londoners' health and to clean up the city ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The measures have been delivered by Transport for London. The package includes changes to London’s Low Emission Zone rules, a vehicle age limit for licensed black cabs and minicabs, and a new campaign in early January to curb engine idling across the capital.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said: “Delivering cleaner air is key to my goal of creating a better quality of life for Londoners. 2012 is also an historic year during which the eyes of the world will turn to London and I want people to experience a cleaner, greener city before, during and after the Games.”
Research commissioned by the Mayor's office has suggested that poor air quality contributes to an equivalent of around 4,300 premature deaths in London annually, with many people, especially children and older people, having their quality of life adversely impacted by it. Londoners also identify improving air quality as one of their environmental priorities. Implementing the measures in the Mayor's strategy is expected to reduce PM10 emissions (tiny airborne particles generated principally by road transport) in central London by about a third by 2015, compared to 2008 levels. These new measures will play a significant role in the delivery of these targets.
http://www.polisnetwork.eu/publicnews/156/45/New-measures-for-cleaner-air-in-London-in-2012/
The Case Against Skyscrapers in Delhi
Planners and development experts explain why modeling Delhi after cities like Singapore, Hong Kon and Mumbai is misguided and dangerous.
"Before thinking of going vertical, it's important to look at the carrying capacity of the land. How can we build 200 units per acre when our infrastructure is inadequate, power supply is erratic and water is insufficient ? If you have a building with 200 units filled with people, when they all head out of the house and get into their cars, do we have the roads to support them?...
While cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai have been cited as examples for why Delhi should go vertical, Aromar Revi, director of the Indian Institute for Human Settlement, says that, unlike Delhi, these are island cities with a paucity of space. "Delhi, on the other hand, has a large amount of space."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Unshackle-land-go-for-high-density/articleshow/11346969.cms
Want Your City to Thrive? Get More Bandwidth
Jobs of the future will be located in areas with some of the fastest bandwidth in the world -- and American is in sorry shape, writes columnist Thomas Friedman in The New York Times.
Friedman asserts that the revolution of information technology combined with globalization is leading to greater innovation and creativity across the globe: "The best of these ecosystems will be cities and towns that combine a university, an educated populace, a dynamic business community and the fastest broadband connections on earth. These will be the job factories of the future."
"Therefore, the critical questions for America today have to be how we deploy more ultra-high-speed networks and applications in university towns to invent more high-value-added services and manufactured goods and how we educate more workers to do these jobs — the only way we can maintain a middle class."
However, the United States remains focused on "Getting 'average' bandwidth to the last 5 percent of the country in rural areas, rather than getting 'ultra-high-speed' bandwidth to the top 5 percent, in university towns, who will invent the future. By the end of 2012, he adds, South Korea intends to connect every home in the country to the Internet at one gigabit per second. 'That would be a tenfold increase from the already blazing national standard, and more than 200 times as fast as the average household setup in the United States.'", writes
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/opinion/friedman-so-much-fun-so-irrelevant.html
Washington : public spaces for the waterfront
A 1.7 hectare park is announced in place of a huge car park on the waterfront of Washington. This is part of a more overall project for the redevelopment of over 20 hectares along the Washington Channel. The consultation with the community put in evidence the desire to preserve views towards the Canal as well as promenade and leisure areas. The selected strategy thus plans for a greater urban density but a quota of at least 50% of public spaces. Four public parks should be created by four different landscape architects’ studios.
http://dirt.asla.org/2011/10/26/developer-financed-community-designed/
2012's Big Urban Projects
Will Doig takes us through some of the biggest projects to look out for across the nation this year, proving that cities are neither as cash-strapped nor as unimaginative as we perhaps thought.
"There aren't a lot of urban parks that you’d get on a plane to visit, but if Chicago's plan for its Calumet region succeeds, we'll be on the first flight to O'Hare. Calling it ambitious would be like calling the Sears Tower tall. At 140,000 acres, the Millennium Reserve Initiative would be the biggest open-space project in the country, transforming a huge swath of underused, postindustrial land into a playground of wildlife corridors, parks, gardens, organic farms and more than 50 miles of hiking trails.
The city is hoping it’ll be a boon to tourism and build on Chicago's already well-deserved reputation as a leader in big green urban ideas. The first phase, the Calumet Core, begins in earnest in 2012 with the restoration of 15,000 acres of open space."
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/the_bold_urban_future_starts_now/singleton/
Cruises and urban policy: the CTUR project
We have kept you regularly informed about the CTUR project with which AIVP has been closely associated since its launch. The Final Report is available. It notably reveals that the economic impact of cruises is more often than not under-exploited and could be vitalised by an integrated and targeted policy. This strategy can be based notably on the creation of a cruise cluster, on training, and on the cooperation between port cities. Cruises can also constitute a tool for urban regeneration provided that a logistics strategy to optimise the flows of passengers be developed and that new terminals be multifunctional.
http://urbact.eu/en/results/results/?resultid=32
Why Your City's Urban Canopy May Be Failing
Trees are an increasingly important part of the urban infrastructure. However, a lack a awareness about how to plant and nurture large trees in urban environments dooms many trees to lackluster performance and a short life.
"Often, cities plant new trees in a few cubic metres of poor-quality soil, with predictable results," writes author Wendy Stueck.
Although significantly more expensive, new technologies offer cities the option to improve the urban canopy by allowing large trees to thrive in urban environments: "Over time, working with American landscape architect James Urban, the company developed the Silva Cell, a system designed to help nurture big trees in urban environments based on research that shows larger trees provide exponentially greater benefits than smaller ones... Silva Cells are a modular system that puts tree roots under buried decks, with a layer of aggregate and pavement over top. The system provides drainage and irrigation and puts roots below the decks, so they don’t push up and buckle pavement. It also ensures plentiful volumes of unpacked soil – about 15 to 20 cubic metres in a typical installation, compared with 1.5 to 3 cubic metres for a tree planted in a conventional pit."
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/an-urban-canopy-to-nurture-a-citys-growth/article2286701/?service=mobile
European Study: Cycling, Not Electric Cars Are Key To Emissions Reduction
Emissions would be reduced 25% if Europeans adopted the Danish cycling habit, a new study reports. The ECF warns politicians it would be a mistake to invest heavily in technological solutions like electric cars.
If European Union nations adopted the Danish cycling habit, the EU would meet its Kyoto Treaty emissions goals, according to a new study by the European Cycling Federation. Easier said than pedaled.
Danes average 600 miles per year, the "EU average is just under 120 miles per person per year, while in the UK it is a mere 46 miles, less than 8% of that in Denmark."
According the study, there are "21g of carbon emissions per passenger kilometre travelled for a bike (22g for electric-assisted bike), as against 271g for people in a car and 101g for a bus," according to "Julian Ferguson of the ECF, one of the report's authors."
The ECF is urging politicians to focus less on technologically complex solutions to emissions, such as electric cars, and instead think about the potential for increased cycling, especially given that around a third of motorised journeys within the EU are 1.25 miles or less..."
"Things like e-cars will need a massive investment in new infrastructure. But that's almost part of the problem. Politicians like having those massive, awe-inspiring projects", warned Ferguson.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/12/cycle-like-danes-cut-emissions
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have concluded that 1,100 deaths would be avoided each year if Midwesterners ran half of their short-distance errands by bike rather than by car. An additional $7 billion in health-care costs would also be saved. The benefits were based on a presumed reduction in air pollution particulates and ozone, which increase the risk of heart attack, strokes, and asthma. The researchers also factored in the health benefits of increased exercise.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/11/02/141937325/secret-to-a-long-healthy-life-bike-to-the-store San Francisco's Performance Parking Pilot Less Successful Than Hoped
In San Francisco, a performance parking pilot program has not had as big an impact as many thought it would. According to Michael Perkins, "Even with high rates, popular blocks still fill up, and other blocks remain under-filled even at low prices."
SFPark, the federally supported performance parking program, has been active since 2010, adjusting prices at parking meters around the city to try to influence drivers' behavior. So far, the effect has been less than anticipated:
According to Perkins, "This performance parking experiment is demonstrating that on high-demand blocks, drivers are very insensitive to price increases. The experiment is also showing that parking demand is highly localized, with price differences of as much as 100% continuing even through two adjustment cycles."
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/13019/prices-affect-parking-less-than-san-francisco-expected/
ICLEI South Asia and IHCN-F working together for sustainable cities
ICLEI South Asia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation (IHCN-F) to jointly work for sustainable development in Indian cities.
This partnership seeks to promote, advocate and facilitate links between the sustainable development of the Indian cities and the management of their cultural, natural and environmental heritage by building capacity through sharing knowledge and supporting local governments.
The Tea Party vs. Urban Planning
Anthony Flint reports on a number of planning initiatives stopped in their tracks by protesting Tea Party members, who are strongly opposed to "smart growth communism."
A growth management program in Florida, that state's high-speed rail project, a comprehensive plan in Virginia -- these and other planning initiatives have been stopped or slowed by Tea Party protests:
"What's prompting the ire is anything from a proposed master plan to a new water treatment plant, rules governing septic tanks, or a bike-sharing program. What’s driving the rebellion is a view that government should have no role in planning or shaping the built environment that in any way interferes with private property rights."
Those engaged in planning have been dedicated, in the tradition of Jane Jacobs, to bringing all parties to the table to make enlightened decisions, writes Flint. So how to incorporate the Tea Party into the process, particularly when they believe "...that planners have draped the public process with the trappings of citizen input, while in fact all the decisions to promote smart growth have already been made"?
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2011/12/how-tea-party-upending-urban-planning/718/
ICLEI and UNISDR partner to make cities more resilient
ICLEI and UNISDR joined their forces and expertise in a pilot project supporting selected cities from the Africa and Southeast Asia regions in testing a Local Government Self-Assessment tool (LG-SAT) developed within the framework of the Making Cities Resilient campaign and the Hyogo Framework for Action.
The project includes ICLEI Members such as Johannesburg and Cape Town (South Africa), Makati, Dagupan and Quezon City (Philippines).
The results of the tool testing will refine the LG-SAT for the roll out of the tool to all campaign cities in 2012.
For more information on the Making Cities Resilient Campaign please visit www.unisdr.org/campaign
The Largest Urban Park In America Coming To Chicago
A new park in Chicago aims to turn 140,000 acres of under-used and post industrial land along the Second City's southern rim into the country's largest urban park. Governor Pat Quinn hopes to add private funding to the $17m allotted by the state.
Illinois hopes that the park will be "the first viable, large-scale attempt to protect and enhance the Lake Calumet area through an integrated, cooperative approach to land and resource management," said the Sierra Club.
If completed, the park will be easily larger than Central Park, which is a mere 843 acres, and Lincoln park, currently Chicago's biggest at 1,200 acres. The largest urban park deserving of the name in the contiguous United States is Phoenix's South Mountain Park, at more than 16,000 acres. Enclosed by the Phoenix-Glendale sprawl, the dusty stretch of rocks and rolling brush is home to rattlesnakes and lizards.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2011/12/plan-americas-largest-urban-park/754/
Exchange of practices in crisis management
Following the dramatic event that took place in Liège (Belgium), Tuesday December 13, 2011, the European Forum for Urban Security invites its members to share their practices on crisis management, and particularly when confronted to incidents of this type.
What type of emergency services can a city put in place for its population?
How to reassure the population about the fact that an attack of this kind is an isolated incident?
How to avoid a collective psychosis? How to respond to rumours?
How to avoid the stigmatisation of part of the population in the wake of an incident of this type?
What communication policy is best? We invite you to share your experience around these questions: contact@efus.eu
Kuala Lumpur's Sprawl Creating A Mini Los Angeles
In a recent report about Malaysia, the World Bank has said that the capital's urban sprawl is transforming it into a "mini Los Angeles" rather than a densely populated Asian City.
Although considered more livable than Jakarta and Bangkok, the report outlines ways that urban planners in Malaysia could enhance investment and economic growth in the country. Chief among the recommendations was a return to the "tight fitting, heritage house style," abandoned recently in favor of more sprawling motorization of housing.
The World Bank believes that 'smart cities' are crucial for retaining local talent and attracting foreign skilled labor that is able to contribute to innovation. Despite these criticisms, the report did note important initiatives that Malaysia has taken towards building the infrastructure for a 'smart city,' particularly in addressing shortages in public transportation.
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2011/11/22/kuala-lumpur-a-southeast-asian-los-angeles/?KEYWORDS=urban+planning
Sustainable town tested in Japan
A former Panasonic manufacturing site 50 kilometres west of Tokyo is being used to develop Japan's first sustainable town.
Nine companies have united to build Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town – essentially a 1000-home "model town" for energy-conscious families of the future.
All going to plan, when the Fujisawa SST is completed some time in 2014, carbon dioxide emissions from its households will be reduced to about 70 per cent of a similar-sized town.
Photo-voltaic solar panels and gas-powered fuel cells fitted to every home will provide 70 per cent of the electricity used by each household, with the rest sourced from the main grid.
Panasonic says its "HIT" PV panels boast the world's highest energy conversion efficiency rate – at 17.9 per cent – for a residential solar panel system.
Energy from the solar and fuel cell systems will be stored in lithium-ion battery storage cells – essentially custom-sized packs of AA long-life batteries which need replacing after about 10 years.
The use of solar, natural gas, grid-sourced and battery-stored electricity will be managed by an advanced computer system that can be accessed and viewed by the home's inhabitants.
Energy-efficient appliances – tilted-drum washing machines, which prevents clothes from sticking to the sides when drying, heat pumps, air conditioners, refrigerators, LED lights – will also be provided by Panasonic to ensure precious watts of electricity are conserved and used only when and where they are needed.
The company estimates water consumption by each household would also be reduced by about 30 per cent.
The town will also integrate charging stations for electric vehicles and solar-powered public lighting.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/6193448/Sustainable-town-tested-in-Japan
“ZERØ EMISSION CITIES – Dream or Goal?” Conference 2011
The second conference entitled “ZERØ EMISSION CITIES – Dream or Goal?” was held on 22 November 2011 at the Vienna City Hall. The topic of a future zero-emission city is currently not only mobilising experts, but is also attracting attention across all classes of the population, “as a smart city is only created with the help of smart citizens”. This was also the conclusion of this year’s well-attended conference, which featured prominent keynote speakers and discussion panels.
http://tinavienna.at/congress-zero-emission-cities-2011/
 |