the trust for public land focuses on FOUR STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE-SMART CITIES. CONNECT
Even in Chattanooga—which has become a magnet for outdoorsy types—most residents still depend on cars to get around. Creating better networks of walking and biking routes encourages people to ditch driving, reducing carbon emissions as well as the health care costs associated with lack of exercise. “A resident might ask, ‘So what if my city has a beautiful rail-trail—how do I get there from my house?’” Daley says. “It’s about advancing from a simple spine to a network that looks more like veins and capillaries.” In Kirkland, Washington, the Climate-Smart Cities
team helped design an ambitious network of connec- tor trails to feed into the regional Eastside Rail Corridor. Planners used transportation data to determine where access points and greenways can maximize connections between schools, residential hubs, and businesses—includ- ing Google, whose Kirkland campus is a major employer. Fully implemented, the plan would reduce the city’s carbon emissions by hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.
ABSORB
Like many U.S. cities, Chattanooga relies on a combined wastewater and stormwater system that allows runoff from the streets to mix with raw sewage. Treatment plants can handle only so much: during heavy rains, any overflow is sent—unprocessed—straight into the Tennessee River. With more intense storms predicted in the years to come—and new federal regulations imposing stiff fines on pollution—urban communities need new ways to reduce the amount of rainwater going down the drains. Rather than spending billions on new treatment plants, cities are looking to the ground they walk on: every opportunity to replace asphalt with porous pavement or thirsty plants reduces the burden on the sewers. The Trust for Public Land helps cities incorporate this
green infrastructure into schoolyards, playgrounds, and parks—like the Stringer’s Ridge pump track. Specially selected vegetation in the right spots can help filter and absorb runoff before it ever reaches the aging sewers.
34 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2015 COOL
Materials like concrete and steel absorb and radiate heat, causing late-afternoon temperatures to soar as much as seven degrees Fahrenheit higher than surfaces covered in greenery. At night, that difference can jump to more than 20 degrees. With some studies predicting a tenfold increase in heat- related deaths by the middle of the century, mitigating this heat island effect is an issue of equity as much as climate science: vulnerable populations—such as the elderly and lower-income households without air-conditioning— bear disproportionate risk. But green space such as parks, tree canopies, and
even small rooftop gardens can help cool the urban land- scape. In Los Angeles, The Trust for Public Land is work- ing to transform the city’s 900 miles of unused alleyways to provide some respite from the heat. The “green alleys” replace dark pavement with light-colored, permeable paving, as well as drought-tolerant plants for greenery and shade.
PROTECT
In coastal and river cities, climate-savvy planners must contend with the prospect of rising seas and higher storm surges. Placing parks and green space where they can act as natural buffers helps shelter vulnerable communities, while also providing a place for people to get outdoors. Planning for this kind of flood protection can mean
conserving natural landscapes, such as bluffs, sand dunes, wetlands, or even barrier islands. Or it can mean creating something new: smart city parks built to flood—so that surrounding neighborhoods don’t. In Newark, for example, Riverfront Park was still under
construction when Superstorm Sandy hit. But it emerged relatively unscathed from the ensuing floods, because its landscaping and durable boardwalk were designed with ris- ing water in mind. Now open to the public, the park offers nearby residents the best of both worlds: a connection to the river when conditions are good, and protection from it when the weather turns ugly.
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