The document discusses concepts of urban sustainability and resilience. It defines sustainability as meeting present needs without compromising future generations, and resilience as a system's ability to absorb changes and persist. The document outlines strategies for building sustainable cities based on European models, including compact urban form, low-carbon transport, urban greening, and local renewable energy. It also discusses critiques of sustainability and differences between European and US approaches.

1. PLAN 4003: Urban Form & Design
Week 14: Urban Sustainability & Resilience
Anuradha Mukherji
Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

2. DEFINING SUSTAINABILITY
“development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”
-Brundtland Report
UN World Commission on Environment and
Development
‘Our Common Future’(New York: Norton, 1987)

3. CRITIQUES
• Accepts conventional notions of economic growth as path to human
welfare
• No analysis of global power relations
• Highly anthropocentric definition of sustainable development
• Dependent on difficult-to-define concept of ‘needs’

4. DEFINING RESILIENCE
“ability of a system to absorb changes and to
persist”
(Holling 1973)
-Context of ecological systems

5. Compact City Forms – Urban limits, high density, infill development
Low Carbon Transport/Mobility – Public transit, walking, biking
Urban Greening – Creating ecological corridors
Local Renewable Energy Sources – Solar panels, wind farms
STRATEGY FOR BUILDING SUSTAINABLE
CITIES
(Lessons from European Cities)

6. Not through skyscrapers and excessive high-rise
Building patterns of pre-dominantly low-rise structures at human scale
History of limited land base and and compact cities
Policies aimed at strengthening urban core:
Industrial reuse, urban redevelopment
Growth along transit corridors
Limits on building outside designated development areas
Strong role of municipal governments in developing new areas
Investment in transport and infrastructure to support compactness
COMPACTNESS & DENSITY

7. BUILDING PATTERN IN AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Mi Chiel @ 2013 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

8. EASTERN DOCKLANDS, AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Marc Rauw @ 2010 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

9. EASTERN DOCKLANDS, AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Marc Rauw @ 2010 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

10. Priority to transit on streets – protected & dedicated bus & tram lanes
Reduce interference of autos with transit movement
Single ticket good for all transit modes (bus, tram, underground metro)
High frequency of service
Integration of transit modes through coordination of routes
Cross-national travel by high speed rail
Investments in new routes along with new developments
All part of the city no more than 600 meters from a tram station
Car sharing companies and strategies
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT/MOBILITY

11. TRAMS IN ZURICH
This image is attributed to Andreas Praefcke @ 2007 (CC BY 3.0)

12. TRAM STATION IN ZURICH
This image is attributed to Ronald Zh @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

13. ZURICH HIGH SPEED RAIL TRANSIT HUB
This image is attributed to Roger Price @ 2008 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

14. CAR2GO (CAR SHARING, ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING), AMSTERDAM
This image is attributed to Mariordo @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

15. BIKE SHARING, PARIS
This image is attributed to Coyau @ 2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Commitment through modest investment, planning and design
Bike lanes along all major streets
Separated bike lanes with separate signaling & priority at intersections
Extensive bicycling parking facilities (trains, public buildings)
Minimum bicycle parking and storage standards at new developments
BIKE ORIENTED

16. SOLAR POWERED BICYCLE PAY STATION, BOULDER, COLORADO
AUTOMATED BIKE SHARING PAY STATION, PARIS
This image is attributed to Tyree303 @ 2013 (CC BY-SA 3.0) and Mariordo @ 2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

17. PEDESTRIAN ORIENTED DESIGN
Creating walkable cities through compact, dense and mixed-use
Mixed use provides shops, services, cafes at walking distances
Outdoor space – people socialize & interact, children play, democracy plays out
Continued attention to the issue – expansion of pedestrian areas
Gradual conversion to pedestrian uses, politically difficult to do at once
Copenhagen: 2-3% of downtown parking converted each year
Good public transit and alternate modes of travel a critical factor

18. PEDESTRIAN ZONE, COPENHAGEN
This image is attributed to Furya @ 2010 (CC BY 2.0)

19. Urban greening strategies – green roofs, preserving forests, ecological
corridors
Closed loop cities – input and output of energy cycles
CHP Systems – Combined heat and power (using heat from electric
generation), incentives and benefits to companies
Solar energy integration in design of homes, schools, other buildings
Financial & technical support for renewable energy at multiple levels
URBAN GREENING & RENEWABLE ENERGY

20. EUROPEAN GREEN BELT
This image is attributed to Smaack @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Old forest area along eastern European borders
Multinational movement to conserve & protect
Connects national parks, nature parks, biosphere reserves

21. Economic & planning frameworks facilitate urban sustainability in EU
Energy prices very high in Europe relative to US, carbon tax in Denmark
Parliamentary government structure gives voice to small green parties
Government role as market stimulators, innovation promoter expected
Land not tied to sense of personal use (individual right) and freedom
Strong desire to live within city centers, history of urban culture
Importance given to the public realm & the value of public spaces
KEY DIFFERENCES WITH UNITED STATES

22. Climate change and resource degradation threatening cities
Cities consume 75% of world energy, emit 80% of GHG
Energy sources needed for growth, global oil supplies dwindling
Need to look at alternatives – next generation of innovations needed
Cities that quickly adapt to the changing dynamics of fossil based resources
will prosper
Reducing oil use – political necessity, environmental & health impacts, greater
equity & economic gain, reducing dependence on foreign fuel
Diversity of land use systems & transport, multiple sources of renewable power
Reducing ecological footprint and improving quality of life
RESILIENT CITIES

23. CLIMATE SCIENCE
1. Linked to Green House Gas (GHGs)
2. Four principle GHGs: Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxides,
Fluorinated gases
3. Increased emissions since the industrial revolution
4. Agreement:
Human activities changing composition of atmosphere
More GHGs will change global climate
5. Disagreement:
How much will it change
At what rate it will change
What and where the exact impacts will be

24. GLOBAL POPULATION INCREASE
This image is attributed to El T (Public Domain)

25. CITIES WITH ONE MILLION INHABITANTS
This image is attributed to Anwar Saadat @ 2007 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

26. THIRD REVOLUTION – HUGE URBANIZATION
- 1900 – 10% of world population in cities
- 1950 – 30% of world population in cities
- 2010 – 51% of world population in cities
- 2050 – 67% of world population in cities
(projected)

27. URBANIZATION TRENDS
- Urbanization and industrialization go hand in
hand
- Concentration in cities create market efficiency
– labor, specialized firms, access
- Cities generate land use change, impacts on
the environment – air, land, water
- Costs – congestion, pollution, migration and
unemployment

28. INDUSTRIALIZATION – YANGZHOU, CHINA
This image is attributed to Vmenkov @ 2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

29. TRAFFIC CONGESTION – HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM
This image is attributed to Ngo Trung @ 2010 (CC BY 3.0)

30. URBAN POPULATION CONCENTRATION – KATHMANDU, NEPAL
This image is attributed to Pavel Novak @ 2005 (CC BY-SA 2.5)

31. MEGACITIES
Urban Agglomerations
More Than 10 million Inhabitants
Largest City – TOKYO – 34 million population
Massive Environmental Footprint

32. MEGACITY – TOKYO, JAPAN
This image is attributed to Lux Tonnerre @ 2008 (CC BY 2.0)

33. MEGACITY – GUANGZHOU, CHINA
This image is attributed to chensiyuan @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

34. MEGACITY – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
This image is attributed to Patriotmissile @ 2007 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

35. MEGACITY – NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
This image is attributed to Francisco Diez @ 2009 (CC BY 2.0)

36. MEGACITY – SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
This image is attributed to Ana Paula Hirama @ 2011 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

37. MEGACITY – SHANGHAI, CHINA
This image is attributed to Peter Morgan @ 2005 (CC BY 2.0)

38. Dhaka, Bangladesh – Urban Growth, According to UN Annual Growth Rate in Asia-Pacific is 2.3%
This image is attributed to United Nations Photo @ 2010 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

39. MEGACITY – MANILA, PHILLIPINES
This image is attributed to Alex Robinson @ 2013 (CC ?)

40. MEGAPOLITAN
Clustered networks of giant metropolitan regions
11 Regions Identified in US
Largest Megalopolis – Washington DC to Boston
– 14% of nation’s population

41. MEGALOPOLIS – WASHINGTON, DC to BOSTON
This image is attributed to NASA (PD-USGov)

44. GLOBAL CARBON
FOOTPRINT
The biggest footprints – US & China