Sustainable Approach to Cities:
Transport
Place
Growth
Muminovic Milica
FAD University of Canberra, Australia
milica.muminovic@canberra.edu.au
http://radovic.sd.keio.ac.jp/tag/milica-muminovic I http://colaboradovic.blogspot.jp/p/phd-projects.html I http://derivetokyo.tumblr.com/
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What is
sustainability
any alternative?
1930 the population 2 billion
1995 5.8 billion
2012 7 billion
1950 29% in cities
1990 50% in cities
2025 ?
more than 50%
of population
live in cities…
Population density map of the world showing not only countries but also many subdivisions
(regions, states, provinces).
people/km2
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/wpc.php?utm_expid=49399927.scuhn054Q5WXvFD9uRG9Xw.2&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldometers.info%2Fwm3cm.php
Do we fit?
Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the
resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the
Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.
Moderate UN scenarios suggest that if current population and
consumption trends continue, by the 2030s, we will need the
equivalent of two Earths to support us. And of course, we only have
one.
+
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/world_footprint/
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/
Living in the endless city (2011)
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics
a reminder…
history is not a linear progress!
http://bretcontreras.com/wp-content/uploads/evolution1.png
The past
belief that human progress has been in general, throughout all history, upwards and onwards
however…
many examples of collapse
Harappa culture
Indus valley
3500-4500 years ago
destruction of forest and removal of topsoil
affected rainfall, fertility of soil, rising population
Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mohenjo-daro_Priesterk%C3%B6nig.jpeg
what are we
to sustain?
sustainability
BUT
=
not only
energy efficient
life
places
people
https://axiansnetworks.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/ibm-ecosystem-infographic-building-asmarter-city-and-state.jpg
do we really
need cities?
cities and culture
“I am a lover of learning, and trees and open
country won’t teach me anything, whereas men in
the city do”.
(Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus, 230 d 3-4)
interaction, socialisation, creativity, discovery,
possibilities, work, cultural development,
intellectual creative energy, diverse activities,
communities and mixed communities, anonymity,
surprise/familiarity, excitement……….
City-locus of collective memory
Importance of monuments and sense of place
Cities need monumentalism in order to posses the
dignity and expressions of greater social ambitions
Analogous city
Aldo Rossi (1931-1997)
“That magnification of all dimensions of life, through
emotional communion, rational communication,
technological mastery, and above all, dramatic
representation, has been the supreme office of the city
in history. And it remains the chief reason for the city’s
continued existence. “
Lewis Mumford (1895-1990)
“city is a settlement with the soul”
Oswald Spengler
Der Untergagn des Abendlandes (1918)
Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)
1
“We ... here propose a first definition of the city as a projection of society on the ground ...
What is inscribed and projected is not only a far order, a social whole, a mode of production, a
general code, it is also time, or rather, times, rhythms.”
2
...” another definition which perhaps does not destroy the first: the city is the ensemble of
differences between cities.”
3
And ... “another definition, of plurality, coexistence and simultaneity in the urban of patterns,
ways of living urban life.”
Henri Lefebvre (1901-1991)
how did
we get here?
The cities: problems
“Most of great architects of 20th century were
anti-urban, because cities were so awful. Frank
Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Gropius
dreamed of sun, air and light. They wanted to
plant cities in gardens, as did visionary planers
like Ebenzer Howard.”
(Rogers, 2000: 57)
“ The aim was to decongest crowded cities
and simultaneously create integrated, mixed,
high-density communities where work, home
and social life would create a functioning new
community, not dormitory town…”
(Rogers, 2000: 66)
http://scodpub.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/garden-cities-by-ebenezer-howard/
20th century
-response to alienation and health of growing cities
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/research/826_10.jpg
positive aspects of urban
+
healthy conditions of
rural areas
=
Garden City
Contemporary City for Three Million People
A Superhighway
Apartments where the elite of Contemporary City lives
Contemporary City for Three Million People
the concept of the street:
no more “corridor streets”
narrow roads filled with traffic
streets are elevators, rising up instead of spreading out
Le Soleil et l'Ombre (sun and shade)
http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/le-corbusier-unitedhabitation-in.html
La Ville Contemporaine
http://thecharnelhouse.org/2011/04/02/at-the-intersection-of-nature-and-architecture-modernism%E2%80%99s-response-to-the-alienation-of-man-2/
New concept of the street
house with the garden becomes ideal!
Communication and traffic
exchange is very important for cities
diversity of exchange
the problem begins with railways and roads=
illusion
movement
speed
ever wider areas
urban developments
benefits without the cost
http://domz60.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/huge-highway-full-of-cars.jpg
(Rogers, 2000: 95)
BUT>>>
Traffic and sense of neighbourhood
Light traffic
2000 vehicles per day
200 vehicles per peak hour
Study of San Francisco Streets
3.0 friends per person
6.3 acquaintances
Don Appleyard
1976
density of friendships and people’s
sense of neighbourliness
Moderate traffic
decline
8000 vehicles per day
550 vehicles per peak hour
1.3 friends per person
4.1acquaintances
with increase in traffic
(Rogers, 2000: 102)
Heavy traffic
16 000 vehicles per day
1900 vehicles per peak hour
0.9 friends per person
3.1 acquaintances
Street is for car…
OR…maybe
where
do we go from here?
personal position
against the ruling value system, one which is behind
development patterns that threaten ecological and cultural
diversity
free-market, universal democracy, one-style-suit-all human
rights, unavoidability of dependence (on technologies,
pharmaceuticals, know-how, intellectual property - even
entertainment “industry”).
practices of “false ideological universality, which mask and
legitimise a concrete politics of Western imperialism, military
interventions and neo-colonialism”
(Zizek, 2005:128)
cities are units of human accountability to the planet
in the times of rampant globalisation it is equally important to
remember the other side of the dialectical couple which constitutes
responsible development, that of cultural sustainability.
we have to have locally relevant (if not fully locally derived) criteria
for the assessment of what constitutes quality
(Radovic)
personal position
Radical Realism
1. We believe that in 21st century we should not speak about sustainable design any more. We have to
make it clear: there are only environmentally and culturally responsible design, and practice which
continues to treat our environment irresponsibly.
2. We act by challenging the established unsustainable practice, by thinking and working in the ways which
are radically different from the business as usual, from those practices which - we all know - are
causing dramatic environmental and cultural degradation.
3. That approach we call radical realism, and it is manifested in
thinking,
making and
living architecture/design.
That approach is realistic because it is radically different from those damaging practices.
-In terms of thinking, radical difference comes from reaffirmation of place in its totality, by consciously and
forcefully re-connecting the natural and human components of our milieu.
-In terms of architecture, that critical difference comes from bringing back together the artificially separated
knowledges and processes of design, construction and use, resulting in a holistic approach towards
architecture, and
-In terms of lives, that means reducing to an absolute minimum the separation between the natural and
human at all scales – from the broadest scale of society, to the level of each single person.
complex
creative approach(s)
local solutions
complex approach
The Metabolizing City
how
do we do it?
Sustainability demands:
(1) creative thinking
(2) technology
but technology to enable shift from consumerism
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/florida-sustainable-city-inches-forward/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
http://www.acfonline.org.au/be-informed/sustainable-living/creating-sustainable-cities
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120503-sustainable-cities-on-the-rise (Tianjin-China)
sustainable city is a just city/human rights
(Rogers, 1998:23)
multi-scalar
approach
Sustainable cities: Metabolism
cities= ecological systems
city’s ecological footprint
an area, scattered throughout the world
and vastly greater than the physical
boundary of the city itself, on which a city
depends.
resources and sites for disposal of waste
and pollution
Circular metabolism
consumption/ re-use
need for comprehensive holistic urban planning
(Rogers, 1998: 30)
Proposal
increasing density
which was rejected
however the problems of industry have
changed
(Rogers, 1998:32)
compact city
“a dense and socially diverse city where
economic and social activities overlap and
where communities are focused around
neighbourhoods.”
(Rogers, 1998:32)
zoning represents simplistic and easily
managed legal and economic packages
developers
(Ibid)
public transport
integrated
hierarchy/ networks
(Rogers, 2000: 114)
various
scales
from neighbourhood to the
city
(Rogers, 2000: 184)
decentralisation
Shelton, Barrie (1999), Learning from the Japanese City-West meets East in Urban Design
(London: E&FN Spon) 210.
public
democracy= expecting increase
in diversity and quantity of public
spaces
however
there is erosion (caused by
traffic)
public-private spaces/ shopping
malls/ enclosed controlled streets/
gated communities…
space
increasing density
types/ relationship to the
street
not only numbers
structure
(Rogers, 2000: 180)
Architecture
typology
public-private interface
people matter
Urban Design:
making better
for people
place
economy/political forces
process
questions
scale
aesthetics/function
physical/social
who? public/private
rational/scientific/artistic
top-down/bottom-up
The culture of cities
Cities are driving
environmental crisis
(Rogers, 1998:4)
Urban Sprawl- Phoenix, Arizona
http://i.imgur.com/FDHvn.jpg
not to simplify
Complexity
Singular and multiple
Relationships
Challenging the measurable
thank you!