“Every profession bears the responsibility to understand the circumstances that enable its existence.”― Robert Gutman
In trying to find material and an understanding about the issues of sustainability, smart growth and affordable housing I came across the preceding quote by Robert Gutman author of “Neighborhood, City, & Metropolis: An Integrated Reader in Urban Sociology”, which I thought encapsulated my efforts in writing this paper. This paper is not so much an attempt to make an argument for one aspect or another of the three E’s of sustainability, nor is it an attempt to argue about the effects of smart growth regulations on affordable housing, but rather it is an effort to understand what these key elements are and how they may or may not actually relate to each other. As such this paper is a survey of sustainability, smart growth and affordable housing and how regional governments may or may not impact the three issues, their relationship to each other and their effective application.
Sustainable Development:
My knowledge prior to this class about sustainability was that it was an attempt or effort to protect the environment from the encroachment of unchecked suburban sprawl. My assumptions were that it was a product of the 1970s counter culture hippie movement and a return back to nature. However, during the process of studying this subject I have since come to learn that sustainability is much more than just about the environment, but rather also about the economics
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.
During my interview, Dr. Owens let me know that the U.S. Census Bureau stopped collecting data on income, and referred me to the American Community survey. Furthermore, she gave me feedback on my index for gentrification, and made the suggestion to exclude race and ethnicity since affluent racial minorities can contribute to gentrification. By specifying the factors investigating and listing my assumptions, I give the a general idea of why I think that these factors are important to the operationalization of gentrification, and support my choices with what has been done in past studies. In the discussion section, I reason why this study is significant and how it could lead to subsequent policy changes. By outlining ways in which different audiences can benefit from this study, I show that in addition to extending the existing research, my study has the potential to make societal impacts across various fields. If this proposal were to become a dissertation, this section would be more extensive and would draw upon the results found after collecting all the
Urbanization is inevitable, whether we want it or not. Opposers are constantly bickering about the political and moral consequences of gentrification. This topic is indeed mind boggling and complex. However, there is a need to observe this multi-faceted phenomenon in a different angle. Change is the force of diversity, safety and
The concept of sustainability is about the capacity of the environment to continue to support our lives and the lives of other living creatures into the future. There are a number of programs to restore the river to maintain communities, fisheries and navigation, to ensure long-term sustainability.
Furthermore, it also represents a great compromised to those who advocate for it, because while communities might be facing the changes done by it, there would still be parcels of land entrusted to community stewardship. Right now Austin is currently just doing single plots of land, but what if other trusts invested in whole city blocks or neighborhoods? Such in areas like Detroit, where housing is affordable and in need of community investment that will give back, whole areas could be possibly saved from losing their character and identity in the process. This is in a way, responsible gentrification because individual communities themselves as well as their residents taking control of their communities and not outside speculators. According of Melora Hiller the executive director of the Community Land Trust Network, other cities such as Baltimore, Maryland are forming trusts to turn vacant homes for the homeless, so not only are these helping the alleviate the fears of lower income people they are also helping to fight back against a social issues that have long been ignored. Therefore, this source was very informative for my paper, because it helped to shape my part of my solution for gentrification, which is we need more individuals and communities to take
Gentrification has been a controversial issue both in urban planning and politics primarily due to the displacement of poor people by the rich folks (Shaw & Hagemans, 2015). Many individuals have viewed gentrification as an illegal act that should be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, another group of people believe that gentrification is the way forward to promoting growth and development. With such contrasting ideas, this paper is going to take a look at gentrification from a positive and negative perspective, its effects, and how it can be prevented or contained. Apart from this, the paper will also address the following questions.
The ability to comprehend what smart growth stands for is initially the need to be acknowledged. Smart growth is collected of unusual strategies to assist maintaining the area we live in. Certain patterns are the wellbeing, normal atmosphere, creating our district where we live convenient to live in, and make community different. This would determine the nurture growth on economic and would create our neighborhood more powerful, and our habitat more healthy. I believe it’s influential for citizens to get involved in their neighborhood. The person we pick to govern the city we live in is the main key because they would be the ones making the decisions for our neighborhood and our district. The growth and any changes made for the community
Smart growth is choosing a better way for communities and cities to grow without hurting the environment. “For example, the recently emerged concept smart growth is inviting communities and metropolitan areas to address sprawl and purposely choose to develop in more environmentally sustainable ways. The concept recognizes that growth will occur and focuses on economic, environmental,
In today’s society, it may seem that gentrification can eliminate poverty and increase neighborhood opportunities. Low-income residents and property owners will be the first to be altered by gentrification. In an email to the editor at the Atlantic, Freeman, the director of the Urban Planning program at Columbia states “ Gentrification brings new amenities and services that benefit not only the newcomers but long term residents too. Full service
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.
There are three pillars that make up overall sustainability: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on all human needs being met and a society functioning properly indefinitely. Economic sustainability is achieving a certain level of economic success indefinitely. It also involves having an extremely low percent of people living below the poverty line, which relates to social sustainability. Environmental sustainability is described as, “the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014) Achieving environmental sustainability will positively affect the social and economic aspects. These three categories are directly related to each other, and to truly reach complete sustainability each of the group’s needs must be met. There are many ways for individuals, groups, companies, and societies to help make a difference in reaching this goal. Environmental issues are currently very prominent in the US and other countries. There are countless activists and researchers doing everything they can to make a difference. Most businesses, like
Sustainability is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations” (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future 1987). The concept of sustainability comprises of four pillars: environmental; economic; political and social; as can be seen in the image below. Environmental sustainability is the use and management of the environment in a way that it does not deplete our finite resources. Economic sustainability is a long term sustainable economy that supports its community and political sustainability is the collaboration of different bodies of government to achieve a sustainable future. Now social sustainability is hard to define as it encapsulates many different factors; however to be very broad it is to achieve social justice. The real objective for sustainability is that all four pillars work together equally in a precautionary principle;
Sustainability development has three components: environment, society, and economy. If you consider the three to be overlapping circles of the same size, the area of overlap in the center is human well-being. As the environment, society, and economy become more aligned, the area of overlap increases, and so does human well-being. Therefore, education for sustainable development (ESD) is the use of education as a tool to achieve sustainability. Simply put, ESD is a way to make the world a safer, healthier, and more livable place for us and future generations (McKeown, 2002, pgs 7-9).
Every living being are directly or indirectly depend on natural environment. Sustainability helps to balance financial, social, and environmental factors to facilitate responsible business decision making over the immediate and long term. . Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Oxford University press 1987, p.43). Sustainability is also being protective and aware of use of natural resources and development that meets the need of present and everything that is need for our survival and well being depends, directly or indirectly on our natural environment. According to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainability is
The starting point of both of these books is about sustainability that is rather well-matched with capitalism and supportive of capitalism without threatening a wage-labor scheme of producing products for profit. John Ikerd 's book Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense tries to challenge, "the inherent lack of sustainability in the neoclassical paradigm ” and advocates a new way to effectively introduce sustainable capitalism. According to Ikerd (2005), neoclassical economics are the reason behind the absence of sustainability in the United States, especially within the agricultural sector, and the American economy more broadly. In his book he explains the idea of developing ‘new economics of sustainability’ in view of standards of living frameworks that are self-sufficient and fit for regeneration. Ikerd (2005) claims that sustainability is considered to be the most obvious aspect by those firmly associated with the earth (on the same page) for which, in his view, he is appropriately qualified, having