planted city

WalkScore ranks the ‘Top 25 Most Transit Friendly US Cities’ 

From Triple Pundit:

The rising gas prices are forcing everybody to take a second look at how they commute. Now WalkScore is helping people do this. They recently released a report of the most transit-friendly cities in the United States.

Cities were graded on how commuter-friendly they are, not just by ranking the quantity of transit available but also how convenient it is to citizens. Walkscore calculated the Transit Score of over 1 million locations in the largest 25 cities and used a combination of algorithms and heat maps to come up with the ranking.

These rankings will help people who are looking for a new home to pick a city with good transit systems.

The scores will also help city officials figure out which transit lines are weak in their cities so they can make improvements.

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Triple Pundit)

From Inter Press Service: 

Berlin is a big capital city of a country famed for making excellent automobiles, but it can no longer afford roads and is now moving people by transit, bike and especially through walking.

Berlin is not alone. Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Bogotá, New York City and other major cities simply cannot afford the cost, the pollution, the noise and the congestion of more cars. They are embracing a new concept called EcoMobility - mobility without private cars. 
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EcoMobility is defined as moving people and goods in urban areas using combinations of walking, cycling (including electric bikes) and wheeling (roller blades), public transport, and light electric vehicles. 

The concept is being widely embraced by cities looking for affordable and effective forms of sustainable transport. 

“Cities should focus more on moving people rather than moving vehicles,” said Stephen Yarwood, mayor of Adelaide, Australia. 

The fact is, cars are not very good at moving people. A standard 3.5-meter-wide city street has a maximum capacity of 2,000 people in cars per hour. The same road can carry 14,000 cyclists or 19,000 pedestrians each hour. 

Light rail in the same space can move 22,000 people, and a double lane of bus rapid transit will move 43,000 people, said Manfred Breithaupt, director of the GIZ Sustainable Urban Transport Project, a German NGO. 

The transportation sector is one of biggest contributors of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, responsible for 25 to 30 percent of the emissions causing climate change. 

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Infographic credit: City of Münster via Lunchover IP)

From TriplePundit:

Resilient cities, those that are working to transition towards a low-carbon economy while also preparing to avert the worst of climate change, are gaining interest and attention from policy makers, city councils and others worldwide. In fact, today, leaders from the public and private sector, supported by ICLEI (see below) and the U.S. Green Building Council, are launching a National Leadership Speaker Series on Resiliency and Security in the 21^st Century.

“The battle to prevent catastrophic climate change will be won or lost in our cities…” (C40 Cities Initiative)

Cities account for up to 80% of GHG emissions globally and are home to more than 50% of the world’s population (headed to 60%, 5 billion people by 2030). As I mentioned in my previous post, if we refocus our efforts on the right solutions soon enough, we can mitigate the worst of climate change while actually improving our city economies and growing corporate profits.  Hunter Lovins and I recently published a book entitled Climate Capitalism to share stories of cities and companies around the world who are profiting from that transition to the low carbon economy. Furthermore, the longer we wait the more we will have to pay for adaptation.

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The Top 10 Resilient Cities Are….

10.) Tokyo, Japan

9.) London, UK

8.) New York, USA 

7.) San Francisco, USA

6.) Paris, France

5.) Vancouver, Canada

4.) Stockholm, Sweden

3.) Barcelona, Spain

2.) Curitiba, Brazil

1.) Copenhagen, Denmark

You can check out the runners up and why each city ranked where it did here.

From co.Exist:

What can those of us who recognize the overwhelming scientific evidence regarding the existence of climate change and humanity’s role in it do to help? Some, myself included, have started to feel incredibly betrayed by our governments and almost useless in helping our species right the ship before it’s too late.‬

‪But I believe there is still hope. Not anytime soon at the international levels, nor at the federal level in Western countries (like the U.S. and Canada) where the federal governments refuse to take action on climate change. What we need is a Plan B. If national and multi-national commitment to climate action is unobtainable, we need to focus on actors who are prepared to provide bold leadership into the low-carbon economy. We have no choice. ‬

‪So who are these actors? First and foremost, we need to reconsider the role of cities. Cities now house more than 50% of the world’s population and represent up to 80% of global emissions. Cities are not bound by federal or multi-lateral agreements (or in this case lack thereof) like federal governments. We can already see examples of cities taking leadership: in 2005, former Seattle mayor Greg Nickels launched what became the U.S. Mayors for Climate Protection Center. More than 1,000 U.S. mayors have now signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, committing to reducing their cities’ emissions below 1990 levels.‬

Of course, U.S. cities are far from alone in taking leadership on climate change. ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) represents some 1,200 cities around the world (U.S. included) who are also promoting climate action. The C40, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, has brought together some of the largest metropolitan cities around the globe to develop best practices for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The Covenant of Mayors in Europe has more than 3,000 participating cities committed to meeting and exceeding the EU’s regional reduction target of 20% by 2020.‬

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Action at the municipal level requires investment in R&D and innovation. Increasingly, cities around the globe are turning to the private sector for solutions, rather than waiting for federal and multinational funds and legislative support. New York City, led by Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to the low-carbon economy, has one of the largest EV fleets in North America. Cities like Portland, Oregon are creating their own eco-districts and purchasing localized energy systems. Barcelona’s mayor just announced the launch of a Smart City Campus to bring other cities, the private sector, and the NGO community together to pilot new smart grid and smart city technologies. ‬

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Sustainable Cities)

An Urban Planning Classic: William Whyte’s ‘The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces’

Atlantic Cities says that it’s:

Probably one of the most well-regarded films about urban planning is now available online in its entirety. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, a 1979 documentary by William H.  “Holly” Whyte, explores the successes and failures of public spaces in New York City. It was made as part of a research effort spearheaded by The Street Life Project in conjunction with the Municipal Art Society of New York.

Whyte had contributed to the city’s comprehensive plan in 1969, and became interested in how the city governed public space usage as a result. Through the film and an accompanying book, Whyte and his team chose a variety of public spaces like plazas, streetscapes, playgrounds, even entire neighborhoods like Harlem, and set about observing and recording how and why people use them.

From the Economist:

Chicago and New York are just two of the ten American cities—the others are Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle—who are members of the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group (mercifully renamed the C40), which now comprises 58 cities around the world. Roughly 297m people, less than 5% of the Earth’s total, live in the 40 charter-member C40 cities. But they account for 18% of the world’s GDP and 10% of its carbon emissions. In total, cities house more than half the world’s population, and account for two-thirds of its energy consumption and over 60% of its greenhouse-gas emissions.

These cities’ plans vary. One particular strength of urban, as opposed to national or even state climate-change policy, particularly in a country as vast as America, is that cities are different; what works in one may not in another. Missy Stults, who until recently was climate director for ICLEI-USA, an NGO that works with local governments on the subject, says that for climate-change plans to work, “the actions you take have to be local”, tailored to the particular needs of each city. Portland’s plan, for instance, calls for 90% of its citizens to be able to walk or bicycle “to meet all basic, daily non-work needs” by 2030: a laudable and achievable goal there, but far more difficult in sprawling cities such as Los Angeles or Houston. New York’s PlaNYC pays more attention to wetlands and coastal issues than CCAP does, because New York has more coastline and waterways than Chicago.

But there are shared goals as well. All ten American C40-city plans have some sort of transport-policy aspect, whether public, such as switching to hybrid or electric taxis and buses, personal, such as encouraging cycling, or both. They try to reduce the amount of rubbish going to municipal landfills by encouraging composting and recycling; some push for converting waste into usable energy. Many propose more efficient outdoor lighting, which accounts for almost one-fifth of energy consumption across C40 cities and is mostly old and inefficient. And most plans push for retrofitting homes and offices to make them more energy-efficient—especially crucial in densely built cities such as New York, where buildings account for 75% of greenhouse-gas emissions.

These measures are not only environmentally sound. By and large they also save taxpayers money. This makes their benefits far more tangible than simply contributing to a good outcome in the distant future; and a much easier sell.

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Christian Science Monitor)

From e360:

Berlin is just one of many cities worldwide where beekeeping is enjoying a surge in popularity. Globally, a renaissance of beekeeping is underway as urban dwellers seek to reconnect with nature — and earn some money. In Hong Kong last year, expert product designer Michael Leung brought together local beekeepers and artists to form “HK Honey,” a company that markets honey from the city’s rooftops, rare green spots, and suburbs. In Britain, according to a recent report in The Guardian newspaper, membership of the British Beekeeping Association has doubled to 20,000 in just three years “as young, urban dwellers transform a rather staid pastime into a vibrant environmental movement.”

This renaissance taps into a culture of urban beekeeping with particularly deep historical roots in European cities. Paris at the turn of the twentieth century boasted more than 1,000 hives, and after a long decline following World War II, that number has resurged to almost 400. Some hives even claim expensive real estate, like that atop the historic Paris Opéra. For all of Germany, the beekeepers’ association reports the first increase in memberships in years, to over 40,000, following a long decline in both beekeepers and number of colonies.

In the U.S., where the number of colonies decreased from 6 million after World War II to 2.4 million today, thousands of young people are re-discovering this ancient skill. Beekeeping is still banned in many cities by “No Buzz Zones” for fear of people getting stung. But places like Detroit and Chicago are showcases of a movement to make it an integral part of the urban economy and ecology. Chicago’s city hall is home to more than 100,000 bees. With its rich patchwork of urban farms and open lots, Detroit is investigating beekeeping as a new tool for community development and economic growth. New York, where beekeeping fines once topped $2,000, lifted the ban last year, legalizing what many people had been doing for a long time.

Check out the rest of the article here.

(Photo credit: Impact Labs)

From the Guardian:

There are beehives all over our cities, on office rooftops, in parks and allotments, and in school grounds and urban backyards. Some of our most famous landmarks host hives; Buckingham Palace, Tate Modern and Fortnum & Mason.

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“By keeping just one hive you are immediately introducing 50,000 pollinators into an urban area and that can have a huge impact on the environment. I like the idea of doing something as an unfettered individual when most of the time we can’t seem to affect any of the sad things that are happening to the earth,” she says.

After a ban was overturned in 2010, more than 100 people have hives in parks, above restaurants and at work in New York. “It is a special way to connect with nature,” says 27-year-old lawyer Vivian Wang, who keeps hives 12 storeys above mid-town Manhattan.

In Melbourne, Australia, the city beekeepers’ association is full to capacity with 160 members and has had to turn away potential new recruits.

Check out the rest of the article here.

Infographic: ‘Women and Bicycles’

Earlier in the week I highlighted that one of the key strategies for increasing bike ridership in cities is to make cycling more appealing to women. The idea is that as cities improve the safety of getting around by bike women and other risk adverse members of society (e.g. seniors, kids) will feel safer, start riding and make cycling an increasingly mainstream transportation choice. Key to this effort is increasing safety through infrastructure improvements (e.g. separated bike lanes).

Fortunately, North American cities are tuning into this idea. An article in the New York Times explains that while the ‘Number of Female Cyclists Lags in New York, with Safety as a Concern’:

city officials in Portland have been able to greatly increase the number of female cyclists. In 1992, male cyclists outnumbered female cyclists four to one; by 2006, the ratio shrank to two to one. City officials credit a program that offers clinics for women on bicycle maintenance that has drawn roughly 800 people since it began seven years ago and organizes female group rides in the summer. But Roger Geller, Portland’s bicycle coordinator, said that the rise in female cyclists could largely be attributed to creating safer lanes for all riders.

That’s not to say that there is no progress is NYC though. In a letter written in response to the NYT article, NYC’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan points out that:

The gap between male and female bike riders is a concern for cities across the nation, but in New York this gap has narrowed every year since 2003, and female bike ridership is actually increasing at a faster rate than male ridership.

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The risk of serious injury or death to commuter cyclists in New York City has dropped by 75 percent in the last decade. The fact that cycling has become safer over the last 10 years is indisputable, but we need to make more progress. Innovations like protected bike lanes are bringing even better safety results for everyone who bikes, walks or drives on our streets.

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Canada, the transportation authority has drafted its:

first-ever regional cycling strategy - a document released in June that outlines ways to improve the safety and comfort of Metro Vancouver’s cycling network, especially for women.

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TransLink hopes to make women feel more comfortable and safe in bike lanes - and regional planners hope that, by increasing the number of women on bikes, safety will improve for all cyclists.

Studies of cycle-savvy cities in northern Europe show that the greater the number of people on bikes, the less the chance of cyclist injuries or deaths. It’s called “safety in numbers,” and TransLink hopes to drastically increase the number of both male and female cyclists to improve safety for all. (The Province)

Ride on!

(Graphics credit: New York Times)

From Reuters:

Painting black tar roofs with a white, solar-reflective coating is a low cost, quick and tangible way to reduce the risk of power grid ‘brown-outs’, save millions of dollars in energy costs, and curb climate change. The statistics are as simple as they are staggering: A roof covered with solar-reflective white paint reflects up to 90% of sunlight as opposed to the 20% reflected by a traditional black roof. On a 90°F day, a black roof can be up to 180°F. That heat has a major impact on interior building temperature, potentially heating your room to between 115 – 125°F. A white roof stays a cool 100°F. Plus the inside of the building stays cooler than the air outdoors, around 80°F in this example, reducing cooling costs.

White roofs also reduce the “urban heat island” effect in which temperatures rise in dense urban areas because of the proliferation of heat-radiating, black tar surfaces. For example, the Urban Heat Island effect causes New York City to be about 5 degrees warmer than surrounding suburbs and accounts for 5 to 10 percent of summer electricity use.

In New York City alone, 12% of all surfaces are rooftops. It’s estimated that implementing a white roof program in 11 metropolitan cities could save the United States 7 gigawatts in energy usage. That’s the equivalent of turning off 14 power plants, and a cost savings of $750 million per year.

Recently, former President Bill Clinton wrote in Newsweek, “Every black roof in New York should be white; every roof in Chicago should be white; every roof in Little Rock should be white. Every flat tar-surface roof anywhere! In most of these places you could recover the cost of the paint and the labor in a week.” The former president regularly touts the white roofs as one of those win-win scenarios that could also help create jobs and stimulate the economy.

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If we were to coat 5 percent of rooftops per year worldwide, we would be finished by 2030. This would save the U.S. 24 billion metric tons in CO2. That happens to be exactly how the world as a whole emitted in 2010. So, in essence, this would be like turning the world off for an entire year — while also saving some money on the energy bills while doing it.

Check out the rest of the article here. You may also be interested in checking out the White Roof Project and Cool Roofs NYC; two efforts focused on “greening” New York’s rooftops. 

(Photo credit: Beyond Oil NYC)