Cities Sustainable Webcast of 6/29/2010

City Sustainable

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The following is my excerpts and notations taken during a live webinar from the Bentley Company, an engineering firm performing services in civil engineering, community development and municipal sustainability. This 30 minute webinar was presented on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 from 2:00 to 2:30pm. Further information can be viewed at Bentley.com .

“The City Sustainable” with Jennifer Jarratt and John Mahaffie

There are going to be some very big changes happening to all cities in the near future that involve issues of sustainability. The movement of cities and communities will be as a result of people trying to live with the Earth and not trying to overpower it. Melbourne, Australia and Copenhagen, Denmark are examples of their citizen’s movement to becoming a Zero-Carbon city. In the United States, Greensburg, Kansas has taken steps to rebuild that city after a tornado destroyed that town. Greensburg has partnered with city planners and community citizens to rebuild to a “green” standard that would encompass carbon emissions, energy efficiency and other sustainable models and systems. Detroit, Michigan may be another example although this may be too soon to tell.

Detroit is a city that represents a city that is at the end of its era. Houses within neighborhoods are being bulldozed due to the changing economics of the area. Detroit is at a point in its history where decisions need to be made; decisions that could point the direction to a sustainable model. Because of the changing dynamics now being experienced, Detroiters will have an increasing voice in their civic affairs and directions toward sustainability.

Sustainable communities will gravitate towards replacing existing systems that involve: waste recovery, use of clean fuels, living patterns that contribute to the common good, business and social models that are not “growth-oriented” and therefore focused on quality of service, decisions based upon the establishment and promotion of “the good life”.

Sustainable communities will be those communities where people will want to go to, move to, and work there. Future sustainable communities will need a wide transformation make-over of present models of living. These changes will need an active input from individuals as well as political institutions. The move to sustainable communities will also need the use of technology to make efficient any new or remodeled systems. Changes are necessary in the way we, as individuals and members of society, conduct our affairs. In the U.S., we have a history of personal property and ownership. Younger generations of Americans have become a generation of people who share – willingly. This same concept of sharing will impact on how we purchase and use tools such as lawnmowers, ladders and more. Sustainable communities will have to redefine the concept and meaning of ownership. Privately-owned buildings with flat roofs will be seen as resources for urban agriculture. Sharing of transportation vehicles will also be considered to reduce the cost of living and lifestyle.

Effect of Motivation and Planning on Sustainable Communities

Research shows that in this sustainable model, retail shop owners as well as community dwellers will be key players in the communities their occupy. Moving communities toward these models will involve some triggering mechanisms such as those involving; Crisis (economic, social, environmental, etc.), Costs of present landfills and technology to use them, and individual and public reason. The nation of China may be in a position to move toward sustainable communities due to their history of “central planning” – the carryover from their socialist/communist governmental cultures. The Chinese people may be able to leap-frog over other countries of the world to this end but will be dependent on their nation’s economic advantage.