Sustainable Urban Development

With Massachusetts State spending on affordable housing and open space at a historic low, when considered as a percentage of the total budget, the production of dwelling units and the conservation of land have become the responsibility of local government, but cities and towns do not build housing, except in rare circumstances. As well they do not routinely buy expensive tracts of open land,

Urban sustainability is the idea that an urban area can be organised without excessive reliance on the surrounding countryside and be able to power itself with renewable sources of energy. The aim of this is to create the smallest possible environmental footprint and to produce the lowest quantity of pollution possible, to efficiently use land, compost used materials, recycle it or convert waste-to-energy, and to make the urban area overall contribution to climate change minimal. Therefore allowing the next generations and future generations to have the required resources without compromising them. However sustainably needs to focus also on other issues such as crime and economic factors.

All in all the industrial revolution had a positive effect on society, accomplishing things many do not realize and creating a turn of events that would put the USA as the world power. New farming methods meant better diets, which lead to lower death rates. Efficient and useful inventions, as well as machinery, made it easier for people to work, and made more job opportunities, as well as enjoyment in the workplace. More and easier ways of travel became commonplace, such as railroads. In addition, as cities began to grow, streetlights provided safety at night, and our economy grew greatly. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because it caused children to be used as workers and made school

In the constantly changing economy of cities, the growth of city housing is oftentimes neglected. In “Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification” Timothy Williams recounts how gentrification has evolved over the years. Mentioning how cities have changed in order to appease the younger professionals, Williams shows how the city itself is in jeopardy due to the tax increases. Slowly loosing their faithful residents as well as historic culture cities face a big deal. Williams gives quotes from faithful residents, “…long time homeowners are victims of the success story”, (Williams 346). In “Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification”, Williams uses his credible quotes and modern statistics to generate the reader’s emotions, with desire to change how city officials go about gentrification in culturally infused cities.

Midyear Essay Rewrite The expansion of trade led to the urbanization of Europe in the late Middle Ages through the development of towns, guilds, and the rise of education. Urbanization is the process by which cities form and expand. As trade expanded, a city's popularity could grow and more merchants would want to travel there to receive more business and customers.

Between the 18th century and the end of the Industrial Revolution, English cities began to see a rapid increase in urbanization and development. Great Britain, proud to show their economic splendor, hosted the Great Exhibition of 1851. This was a showcase of British industrial power, and was the first of a chain of World Fairs that let the wealthier countries show their wealth for all to see. It can be seen on document six, a map of the city of Manchester, that between 1750 and 1850 there was massive growth, industrialization, and restructuring including new railroads and canals. Document 8, an excerpt from Manchester in 1844, describes how the town of Hyde only had 800 total residents at the beginning of the 19th century, while in 1843 there

In today’s society the landscape of the city is constantly changing to accommodate for technological innovations, greater populations, and economic opportunity. As the skyline of cities across America are changing at a rate faster than ever seen before, one immense community is being left in the dust. The suburbs of America have refused to change, allowing a great resemblance of what they looked like 50 years ago. The stubbornness of the suburbs to change has led to many issues economically and environmentally. In her essay, “Seventy-Five Percent”, Ellen Dunham-Jones puts forth that 75% of construction in the past decade occurs in the suburban landscape. Yet, in today’s society much of the architectural community contains a strong bias against the suburbs. However, with over half the country’s

Like most cities, Alexandria, Virginia faces a series of environmental challenges ranging from climate change and rising energy costs to problems of air quality and traffic congestion (Eco-City Alexandria, 2007). City officials recognize the need for a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to effectively address environmental issues, but Alexandria’s real challenge is pulling together all of their respective plans, programs, and policies and then coordinating them across existing city departments (Eco-City Alexandria, 2007). Like many communities, Alexandria has launched new environmental policies, plans, and programs related to: water quality, parks and open spaces, land use, solid waste, energy and green buildings, transportation,

The Annapolis city government has aimed to reduce emissions by 75% by the year 2025 as well as achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050 (Savidge 2010). In order to achieve these goals, the city government has committed to reducing energy usage by 10% in public facilities by 2017 and 15% by 2020 (Savidge 2010). The city government also plans to achieve 25% of their energy from renewable sources as well as providing greener and more energy efficient upgrades to public facilities and city transportation (Savidge 2010). The Annapolis community has aimed to reduce emissions by 50% by the year 2025 as well as achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2050 (Savidge 2010). The community has been and will continue to actively encourage locals to purchase green and renewable energy, use alternative forms of transportation, increase recycling and reduce trash production, and to preform energy efficiency upgrades (Savidge 2010). Such efficiency upgrades could take place in the form of financing home energy improvements, energy efficient mortgages, energy smart schools, or zero interest loans for energy conservation and “green energy projects (Roseland 2012).” Mark Roseland published a paper on sustainability “solutions for citizens and their governments” that outlines the benefits that simple energy efficient upgrades can achieve (Roseland 2012). He states examples where residents can save over $1000 each year on oil, gas, and electric bills while reducing their emissions through local

The viewers were given an overview of the existing issues and shown some examples of projects aimed at solving these issues in various cities across America. One issue profiled was the change in ethnic composition of suburban residents which was discussed as visits to Muslim-American, Latino and Asian-American communities took place. Showing various aspects of these communities in real time and comparing them to the beliefs about these same communities which were clearly untrue or changed has made the case for why suburban developments as intended are not a sustainable plan going forward. That set the stage for the final message as the need to revise the vision for new development and redevelopment with an emphasis on defining a sustainable vision which is both economically viable and incorporates the changes witnessed since the developments were built. Then the film showcased some regional best management practices that have addressed and solved a few of the developmental and infrastructure problems back in 2008, and also profiled Long Island as the first modern suburban

The implementation of gentrification as an economic strategy exhibits a break from the liberal urban policy present in the United States up until the 1970s, as well as a restructuring of the relationship between capital and the state. This departure from liberal urban policy occurred due to the development of a new neo-liberal urbanism¬– an urban form where the state becomes a partnered agent of the capitalist market rather than a regulator. This transformation was made possible through the disempowerment of original liberal urban policy. Public policy constraints on gentrification were replaced by a subsidized private-market shift of the urban built environment. As a result, neo-liberal urbanism has fueled gentrification through a systematic partnership of public planning with private capital.

Urbanization also known as urban sprawl takes place when people migrate from cities and urban areas to less populated rural areas. This sounds harmless, however urban sprawl has created detrimental environment, social, and health effects. Although this issue is prevalent everywhere in the United States, urbanization is especially common in Pennsylvania. This is a pressing public administration issue because without limitations on urban development, American’s will slowly destroy and urbanize all the available farmland. Tom Hylton, a Pottstown, Pennsylvania native and author of Save Our Land, Save Our Town and creator of the documentary, Saving Pennsylvania, dissects the effects of urban sprawl and land use in Pennsylvania.

A sustainable city is when harmony is reached between the environment, economy and society. Environmentally, sustainable cities are ecologically friendly by using alternative sources of energy such as solar or wind power. Economically, governments should share a similar decision-making process with institutions and with the public by having a common belief in what should be done by improving sustainability. Sorensen, Marcotullio, and Grant (2004), find that a good decision making process consists of planning and control at the municipal and national political levels which would allow local level functions to become reinforced. Socially, sustainable cities are classless, meaning that there are no social divisions which serve as limits; leading to a more equal society. One of the many ideas would be using mixed housing to remove the class divisions between people. Also, city streets would be walkable, with businesses and services located at close proximity to promote a healthier lifestyle and serve as an alternative to using cars for transportation. The writers differ in their analysis when examining the approaches to improving sustainability in cities. This section will analyze four important ideas on how cities can become more sustainable.

An emerging issue is that of urban sprawl. While some aspects of urban sprawl has been seen since ancient times, this phenomenon has started gaining the most momentum in the past century, aided by the advancement of technology, especially with the rise of mass produced automobiles, houses and highway systems. Many people unknowingly contribute to this environmental problem, as is the nature of it. Urban sprawl deals with the growth of the suburbs, the area between the urban and rural areas of a city. Most of America’s largest cities and states, in terms of population, are prime examples of urban sprawl. Opponents of urban sprawl usually cite the government as a major cause of sprawl. The government may be a major catalyst of

Urbanization, which is becoming a buzzword during the last few decades, is enlarging at a booming speed. It is predicted that 93 percents urban growth will occur to the year 2020, in the developing world (Elliot J.A, 1999). Generally speaking, more than half of the people around the world have been moved to cities, which led to a series of “matters” connected with people’s life that changed in a dramatical way. In this period, sustainable development, another buzzword during the past few years, came into people’s view and gradually became the mainstream of society development. Its definition is to make the development continue in a long term, which means allowing appropriate economic growth and industrialization without