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Urban renewal: Now you’re walking
Neal Peirce, Seattle Times
WASHINGTON – Could it possibly be that Washington, D.C., for years bashed by politicians, its population shrinking and, at one point, almost bankrupt, has become a model of how the entire nation might smartly develop in the 21st century?
I never thought I’d see the day. But Christopher Leinberger, one of America’s top real-estate analysts and now a Brookings Institution fellow, makes a startling case for it in his just-published book, “The Option of Urbanism” (Island Press).
Leinberger’s case is about walkability. It’s about dramatic reinvestment – about $8.2 billion worth – pouring in the city’s downtown since 1997. Complementing monumental Washington, there’s been a rush of new cinemas, theaters, quality restaurants, trendy retail stores and a wildly popular sports arena, all helped along by a downtown business district providing special security, marketing and planning.
But the success story is not exclusively a downtown one – the entire Washington citistate of 5.3 million people is now booming. And it’s starring specialty is what Leinberger calls “walkable urbanism” – places with a mix of destinations people want, from shops and parks to pubs and entertainment, accessible on foot.
(17 December 2007)
A Cutting-Edge Architect’s Eco-Friendly Home (video and audio)
Janaia Donaldson, Peak Moment via Global Public Media
As an organizer in the American Institute of Architects, Chris Stafford has long promoted sustainable design. As a natural builder, he worked with straw bale and clay in Greece and Saudi Arabia. For his Port Townsend home, he considered site, size, materials and energy. The 1500 sq. ft home uses mostly non-toxic materials (and fewer of them), foam insulation, metal roofing, solar hot water for space heating, photovoltaics for electricity, and an innovative rainwater collector for landscape irrigation. Episode 86.
(11 December 2007)
Europe’s cities take the lead on cutting emissions
Mark Rice-Oxley, Christian Science Monitor
Outpacing global efforts, they’ve set targets even more ambitious than those on the table at this week’s climate talks in Bali.
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Woking, England – With solar-powered streetlights and energy-efficient power generators, this town 25 miles southwest of London is at the vanguard of a promising movement accelerating emissions-cutting programs.
From the metropolises of London and Stockholm to hamlets like Güssing in Austria, communities are showing that you don’t necessarily need international treaties or global rules to force climate change action.
“Our aim is for the cities to push the governments to act on climate change,” says Pedro Ballesteros Torres, manager of the European Commission’s Sustainable Energy Europe campaign. “If we want to tackle climate change we have to be local.”
Woking officials indeed see the town of 100,000 as a shining example of the power of alternative energy.
(12 December 2007)
Cities Rise to Climate Challenge (special section)
Guardian
More than a dozen articles on what cities around the world are doing about global warming.
(6 December 2007)
