True Sustainability = Renewable Energy + Electric Transportation + Walkable Urbanism
LandscapeArchitecture.org propose serious solutions to our growing global crises
The future of the landscape architecture profession lies in taking a leadership role in the stewardship of the environment, and planning walkable, urban communities.
When asked in the December 1999 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine, leading landscape architects stressed environmental protection, and our sprawling land development practices as the most important issues facing the profession.
"The most important issue of the 21st century will be the condition of the global environment." -Ian McHarg
"The most important issue facing landscape architects and all environmental planners and designers in the 21st century will be precisely the integration, perhaps by shotgun, of current economic / political thinking with ecological reality." -Garrett Eckbo
"Without question, urban sprawl - unplanned, scattered, and disruptive development bursting out from thus desolated cities into the open countryside. Precluding and remedying this phenomenon can and must be a central thrust of our future endeavors as a profession, for we are uniquely qualified to deal in a positive way with this increasingly evident problem." -John Simonds
"One of the great prospects for the 21st century is the continuation of currently tentative global trends towards preserving and building more livable, more sustainable communities. It means continuing to move away from the single-purpose, bits-and-pieces mind-set marking our current norms, to work with more integrative approaches to human settlements." -William J. Johnson
"Landscape architects should be in the vanguard of the environmental movement, discovering ways to help design environments that at the most fundamental level 'do no harm' - and beyond that, in ways large and small, contribute to the renewal of the earth and of the human spirit." - Catherine Howett
The only way to design environments that 'do no harm' and are sustainable is to design environments that don't require everyone to own and drive a car.
Cars cause of a multitude of problems at many levels of society. They are causing massive damage to the planet and us along with it. We as a profession need to realize this, and that the only real solution to our problems is to design dense, walkable environments where cars are not necessary for everyone.
WE HAVE the knowledge and creativity to design great environments without cars. We have the influence to persuade our clients to build compact communities. By joining with the other design professions, we have the power to demand that new, state-of-the-art train systems get built all over America, instead of more highways and roads. Trains solve problems and encourage compact land development, while cars encourage sprawl and an enormous amount of environmental and community destruction.
URBANISM is a large part of the solution since it has worked out the details of compact town planning, and has started the transition of the land development industry, and the outdated zoning laws. Urbanism should be encouraged and embraced, and incorporated into every landscape architecture practice world-wide. Building compact towns and restoring our cities is a large part of the solution to our current problems, and lays the foundation for the building of a new modern train system across America.
THE MONEY we now spend on highways, roads, parking lots, and airports is more than enough to build the greatest train system in the world! As more and more trains get built, the problems will begin to disappear. If we continue to build more roads, our problems will persist and grow to environmentally devastating proportions.
Urbanism promotes the creation and restoration of compact, walkable, mixed-use cities, towns, and neighborhoods that are a pleasure to live in. It promotes the increased use of trains and light rail, instead of more roads and highways. Currently, there are over 500 new urbanist projects planned or under construction in the United States alone, half of which are in historic urban centers.
Sprawling land use patterns and auto-dominated transportation choices are the largest contributor to global warming and dwindling oil supplies. Major changes to transportation and land planning are the most important solutions. Landscape architects are at the center of the planning and design for this transformation. Green transportation is at the heart of the solution:
National / Regional
Regional / Local
Local
THE PROBLEMS
We are facing a convergence of the most serious crises in the history of the planet:
> Climate Change threatens the survival of the human race > Peak Oil - World oil supplies are running out while our oil use is increasing > Energy Security - Increasing global conflicts over the remaining oil -- "It's a fight to the last drop" > Traffic congestion is rapidly paralyzing America and the rest of the world while wasting millions of barrels of oil daily > Rapidly growing sprawl is devouring prime farmlands and pristine wilderness areas, and increasing traffic congestion nationwide
Creating Livable Communities While Providing Solutions to Climate Change and Peak Oil
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While these problems seem impossible to solve,
THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF SOLUTIONS THAT SOLVE THEM ALL AT ONCE: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 SOLUTIONS that are feasible, safe, and sustainable:
1. A permanent moratorium on all new major road construction and expansions. Every additional dollar spent building and widening roads digs us deeper into our dangerous oil / auto addiction, and increases global warming.
2. A huge increase in funding for Amtrak, and the rapid construction of a new nationwide train network. This should connect every city, town, and neighborhood with an efficient, state-of-the-art electric train network comparable to what is currently operating all across Europe and Japan. This should be built to transport both passengers and all the cargo now moved inefficiently by trucks. Trains are by far the most energy efficient form of transportation that greatly reduces global warming, saves lives, and encourages compact, walkable communities. US High Speed Rail Association
3. A permanent moratorium on the building of any additional sprawl. Sprawl is probably the single largest contributor to oil addiction and global warming due to it's very design (or lack of). Sprawl forces everyone to drive many miles daily for everything, which in turn requires constant road expansions, encouraging more cars and driving, and more sprawl. Its a vicious cycle consuming ever more oil, and spewing out more pollution, making global warming continually worse.
4. A major focus of federal, state, and local governments on New Urbanism, Smart Growth, and Transit Oriented Development - the revitalization and densification of all existing cities and towns across America into walkable, mixed-use communities, with pedestrians and bicycles given top priority over automobiles, and a serious focus on bicycles and trains as the major forms of transportation.
The installation of Paris style (Velib), city-wide bicycle rental programs in the 200 largest cities in America. In addition, the placement of small neighborhood schools located so children can walk or bike to them, and the provision of millions of affordable housing units within walking distance of train stations. A big part of this is the construction of LEED Certified green buildings, and the retrofitting of existing buildings to similar standards.
5. The tripling of minimum vehicle miles per gallon standards for all vehicles produced in America - accomplished by a quick and complete conversion of all automobile manufacturing facilities to the building of only hybrid, solar, and fully electric vehicles.
Government and institutional car purchases made each year should be switched to buying only hybrids and fully electric cars. It is estimated that the entire U.S. government purchases well over 7 million new vehicles each year - the sum total of Federal, State, & Local Government agencies, municipalities, counties, universities, the US Postal Service, highway patrol, sheriff, police and fire departments, etc. - more than enough demand to change entire assembly lines at car factories.
The real solution is to stop making cars altogether by a phased retooling of the auto industry into manufacturing trains, wind turbines, and solar panels (much like during the second world war when they switched to building military equipment).
6. A moratorium on new airport construction and expansions, as well as an end to aviation subsidies.
7. A moratorium on the construction of any new coal fired or nuclear power generating plants. Contrary to industry proponents who say nuclear is a "clean energy" solution to global warming - nuclear power is far from clean. The waste it produces is the most toxic substance known to humankind, remaining deadly radioactive for many thousands of years, with no safe way to store or dispose of it, and no way of preventing it from being made into weapons.
8. The rapid construction of new solar and wind power generating capacity all across America, from large-scale installations to smaller neighborhood and roof-top units. Also, the immediate installation of new hydropower generating capacity in the form of coastal wave and tidal energy capture.
9. The installation of full roof solar panels on every building in America.
10. The installation of hundreds of acres of organic farms throughout every city and town in America. In addition to this, the planting of millions of trees across America.
More information and solutions below
WAYS TO PAY FOR THESE SOLUTIONS
-The $900 billion + spent so far on the Iraq war could have paid for a lot of this (experts predict this war will end up costing over $2 trillion!) -A portion of the $480 billion United States annual defense budget -The hundreds of billions spent annually on road construction -The hundreds of billions spent on airport expansions -The hundreds of billions spent constructing nuclear and coal fired power plants -The $300 billion each year spent subsidizing the oil industry -A new 'waste tax' imposed on waste and inefficiency -A new carbon tax on the burning of fossil fuels
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What we need now more than anything is unified leadership and committed, focused, emergency action on a massive scale to save the planet before it's too late. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
