The benefits of urban agriculture are not limited to the provision of food, with many advocates citing
community empowerment, environmental justice, public health, and education and training as primary goals.
~ Columbia University
communities in the aftermath of natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, seasonal flooding and water shortages. Coastal cities, for example, are grappling with ways to safeguard public transit and other vulnerable infrastructure. Designing for better public health
is a central tenet of sustainability, as well. Active Design Guidelines for promoting physical activity, which first gained traction in New York City before becoming a national trend, intend to get us moving. Banishing the core bank of elevators from central locations, architects substitute invitingly light and airy stairwells. Evolving cityscapes make it easier for commuters to walk and bike. Tyson’s Corner, outside of Wash-
ington, D.C., has made sidewalk construction integral to the overhaul of its automobile-centric downtown area. Memphis recently added two lanes for bikes and pedestrians along Riverside Drive overlooking the Mississippi River, while Detroit’s HealthPark initiative has many of the city’s public parks serving as sites for farm stands, mobile health clinics and free exercise classes.
Clean Energy The ways we make and use energy are currently being re-envisioned on both large and small scales. Solar coopera- tives have neighbors banding together to purchase solar panels at wholesale prices. Startup companies using com- puter algorithms map the solar produc- tion potential of virtually every rooftop in the country. However, while solar panels and wind turbines are rapidly becoming part of the new normal, they are only part of the energy revolution just getting started. In the past several years, microgrids
have proliferated at hospitals, military bases and universities from Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, to the University of
18 NA Twin Cities Edition
California at San Diego. These electrical systems can operate in tandem with utility companies or as self-sufficient electrical islands that protect against power outages and increase energy effi- ciency, sometimes even generating rev- enue by selling unused electricity to the grid. While still costly and complicated to install, “Those barriers are likely to fall as more companies, communities and institutions adopt microgrids,” says Ryan Franks, technical program manager with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
Local Food
What started with a few farmers’ mar- kets feeding urban foodies has given way to a growing local food movement that’s beginning to also reach into low-income neighborhoods through mobile markets, a kind of farmers’ market on wheels, and an explosion of urban gardens and city farms. Ohio City Farm (
OhioCity.org) grows food for in-need residents on six acres overlooking the Cleveland skyline. In Greenville, South Carolina, the Judson Community Garden is one of more than 100 gardens in the downtown area, notes Andrew Ratchford, who helped establish it in a neighborhood four miles from the nearest supermarket. Giving residents an alternative
to unhealthy convenience store fare is just one of the garden’s benefits, Ratchford says. “We’re seeing neigh- bors reestablish that relationship just by gardening together.”
Waste Reduction While cities nationwide have long been working to augment their recycling and find more markets for residents’ castoffs, many are becoming more sophisticated in repurposing what was formerly considered trash. Reclaimed wood flooring in new homes and urban compost-sharing services are just two
natwincities.com
examples characterizing the evolution in how we dispose of and even think about waste. We may still be far from a world
in which waste equals food, as de- scribed by environmental innovators William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their groundbreaking book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Nevertheless, projects certified as cradle-to-cradle are cutting manufacturing costs and reducing pollution. For example, carpet maker Shaw Industries Group, in Dalton, Georgia, reports savings of $2.5 million in water and energy costs since 2012, when it improved energy efficiency and began using more renewable material in its carpet tiles. Shaw is spending $17 million this year to expand its recy- cling program. Stormwater runoff is a pervasive issue facing older cities. Many are now taking a green approach to sup- plementing—if not totally supplanting —old-fashioned underground sewage systems. Along with creating new parks and public spaces, current public spaces are often reconfigured and required to do more. Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland, among others, are instituting carefully planned and built green spaces to soak up rainwater and cut down on runoff into sewer drains— taking motor oil and other pollutants with it. Using revamped sidewalk, parking lot and roof designs, plus rain gardens designed to filter rainwater back into the ground, municipalities are even successfully reducing the need for costly underground sewer system overhauls. The proliferation of rooftop gardens in places including Chicago, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C., and new green roof incentives in many cities nation- wide further exemplify how what’s considered livable space is expand- ing. Altogether, eco-cities’ new green infrastructure is saving cities billions of dollars and improving the quality of life for residents by adding and enhancing public parklands and open spaces, a happy benefit for everyone.
Christine MacDonald is a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C., whose specialties include health and science. Visit
ChristineMacDonald.info.
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