Sustainable Cities: Crash Course Geography #49

Summary

The video script explores 'climatopias,' futuristic urban designs addressing climate change, focusing on sustainable urban settlements amidst environmental threats. It delves into environmental planning as an interdisciplinary field, aiming for sustainable development with a quadruple bottom line: positive outcomes for people, planet, profits, and community. It discusses challenges like gentrification, urban pollution, and the importance of retrofitting existing structures for sustainability. The script emphasizes the role of citizens and cooperatives in shaping sustainable urban futures.

Takeaways

• 🌿 **Climatopias**: These are futuristic, sustainable urban designs aimed at addressing climate change, focusing on creating sustainable urban settlements amidst environmental threats.
• 🏙️ **Urban Sustainability**: It's crucial to consider not just infrastructure but also the community and social aspects that make a city thrive, both currently and in the future.
• 👥 **Community Involvement**: Strong communities are vital for guiding urban challenges, especially with the pressures of climate change and its uneven distribution of vulnerability.
• 🛠️ **Environmental Planning**: An interdisciplinary field that includes urban planning, geography, economics, and agriculture, focusing on building sustainable communities.
• 🌱 **Ecological Design**: Efforts to mimic nature in building design, including the use of passive solar elements and creating structures that function like living machines.
• 🏡 **Smart Growth**: A planning approach that controls urban sprawl and promotes walkable neighborhoods with mixed housing and commercial areas.
• 🏘️ **New Urbanism**: A neighborhood-scale approach that can lead to gentrification if not managed properly, highlighting the need for equitable economic opportunities and housing protections.
• 🌤️ **Urban Heat Island**: A phenomenon where urban areas absorb and retain heat due to the prevalence of asphalt, concrete, and steel, affecting health and biodiversity.
• 🌱 **Green-Grey Divide**: The stark contrast between wealthier, greener neighborhoods and poorer, concrete-dominated areas, impacting health, mood, and environmental quality.
• 🔄 **Retrofitting vs. Fresh Development**: The tension between reusing old materials and spaces and fresh development, with retrofitting offering significant environmental and economic benefits.

Q & A

What are climatopias?

Climatopias are utopian urban designs that attempt to address climate change, envisioned by architects and designers to create sustainable urban settlements in the face of environmental threats.

Why is it important to consider people when designing for climate change?

It's important to consider people because urban spaces need strong communities to guide and direct challenges that come from living in high density, especially with the added pressures of climate change.

What is environmental planning?

Environmental planning is an interdisciplinary field involving urban planning, geography, economics, and agriculture, focusing on building sustainable communities that are better places to live, work, and play.

What does the term 'quadruple bottom line' refer to in the context of sustainable development?

The quadruple bottom line refers to the goal of achieving positive results for people, planet, profits, and community in sustainable development.

How does zoning play a role in environmental planning?

Zoning is used to designate where different land uses can take place, such as rezone areas of cities to create walkable neighborhoods with mixed housing and shops, reducing the need for people to drive across the region.

What is ecological design and how does it relate to environmental planning?

Ecological design is an effort to build buildings and cities that mimic nature, using elements like passive solar design for heating and cooling. It's a key aspect where physical and human geography mix in environmental planning.

What is new urbanism and how does it relate to sustainable neighborhoods?

New urbanism is an approach to sustainable neighborhoods that focuses on creating areas people are drawn to, often at the neighborhood scale, but it can lead to gentrification if not managed properly.

What is the grey-green divide and how does it affect urban areas?

The grey-green divide refers to the stark contrast between wealthier areas with tree-lined streets and poorer areas with concrete and asphalt. It affects mood, health, biodiversity, and contributes to the urban heat island effect.

Why is environmental justice important in urban planning?

Environmental justice is important because it ensures that all people, regardless of race, gender, age, class, or politics, are entitled to protection from environmental hazards.

What is the difference between greenfield and brownfield development?

Greenfield development is a project on a blank slate of land, while brownfield development is done on previously used land, such as former factories or parking lots. Brownfield development can help save biodiversity and minimize habitat fragmentation.

How can citizens get involved in creating sustainable cities?

Citizens can get involved by participating in public planning meetings, joining cooperatives or co-ops to manage resources collectively, and advocating for sustainable practices in their communities.