After raising the question of how to achieve social equity and inclusiveness in urban planning, within our previous post, Global Site Plans’ The Grid and the Center for Social Inclusion turned to Twitter and #thegrid for a thought-provoking conversation on the topic. From this fast-paced one hour chat, four emerging trends appeared: 1. Access to [...]
Dan Solomon, Mithun | Solomon Dan Solomon, CNU co-founder, author, and Principal at Mithun | Solomon, opened the session by saying that in the context of new urbanism concepts being introduced to developing countries, “We can’t exactly declare victory, but we’ve made our presence strong.” Overall, he explained the urban planning struggles in China. He [...]
The University of Cincinnati campus has grown significantly in recent years – earning national distinction for its campus transformation – achieved through successful visioning and leadership in the last decade. This growth, which has elevated the rankings and reputation of the university 17 points (to the top tier of national universities in 2011), has likewise [...]
The Charter Awards are annual awards given to projects submitted by students and professionals by the Congress for the New Urbanism at the annual Congress. A group of carefully chosen individuals sit on a jury and decide which projects to honor. This year’s jury chair was Doug Farr, CNU-A, President and Founding Principal at Farr [...]
Founding principal at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company and Congress for the New Urbanism cofounder, Andrés Duany, discussed the post-recession future of new urbanism. His major theme was “Lean Urbanism,” or a harmony between “green” building (though not necessarily LEED certified as he often joked), sustainability, and economic efficiency. He envisioned a future that chose to [...]
Following another dry winter in the Sierra Nevada Region, wildfire risks are on the rise in Northern California and the season has just begun. A study released by UC Merced found that fire risk in California will double over the next forty years, and potentially triple in the Sierra foothills by the end of the [...]
Climate change has now become the problem the world cannot ignore. Addressing future global warming, and adapting to it now, will require making fundamental changes to the way we live. How we produce, distribute and use energy is key to this. Decentralised energy allows the financial costs and energy losses associated with the long-distance national [...]
Global Site Plans, branding for environmental design, specializes in branding for small and medium-sized architecture, engineering, environmental non-profits, landscape architecture, and urban planning companies. Global Site Plans’ expertise lays in environmental design sector website design, branding, internet marketing, social media, social marketing, and content services, for all your online and print media needs. Every weekday [...]
Alternative energy is a highly sought after field that can make great strides in improving the sustainability of communities throughout the globe. Wind, biofuels, hydroelectric, and solar power are all forms of alternative energies that are becoming increasingly viable as well as powerful sources to be used in everyday life. Amongst these popular forms of [...]
Tourists and residents flock to Florida’s metropolitan areas to enjoy bustling theme parks, cities that spill into the ocean, and shiny downtown high-rises. Still, just beyond the city limits, the Sunshine State remains much like it was only a few decades ago: ranches, rural communities, and endless acres of citrus groves. Like any other demographic, [...]
“There is growing concern for the issue of sustainability — whether the Earth’s resources will be able to meet the demands of a growing human population that has rising aspirations for consumption and quality of life, while maintaining the rich diversity of the natural environment or biosphere.” – American Planning Association (APA) Communities across the [...]
Global energy demand continues to grow and tidal wave energy generation devices can provide a significant source of renewable energy. Technological developments in offshore engineering, and the rising cost of traditional energy, means that offshore energy resources will be economic in the next few years. Tidal wave energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy [...]
The amount of wind power in the world is increasing quickly. The background for this development is improved technology, decreased costs for the units, and increased concern regarding environmental problems of competing technologies such as fossil fuels. The amount of wind power is not spread equally over the world, so in some areas, there is [...]
In recent years we have begun to feel the effects of climate change the world over. In America, hurricanes like Superstorm Sandy and Katrina brought urban areas to their knees, killing people, destroying communities, and causing untold billions in damage. In this context, urban analyst and historian James S. Russell’s book The Agile City calls [...]
In the neighbourhood “Polderwijk“ of Zeewolde, The Netherlands, more than a thousand homes, schools and a churches are sustainably heated with green heating that is produced with the production of electricity from biogas. The project is a partnership between the municipality, a local energy company (Essent) and a farm (Van Beek) located 5 km from [...]
Do you have a unique specialty in the field of environmental design? Do you currently live in a town or city that has not/or is currently not being covered by another blogger? Have you successfully managed social media platforms? Do you have a passion for writing and want to learn how to successfully blog? If [...]
When you think of tough neighbourhoods and burroughs like the Bronx in New York, or St Ann’s in Nottingham, you don’t necessarily equate them with energy efficient living. If you consider it living at all, it is most certainly not energy efficient living. However, it is in Nottingham England that city council has made an [...]
In the course of the last decade, American river cities have sustained continued interest from policy makers and urban planners who have worked to create targeted opportunities for significant long-term investment and economic development. In Cincinnati, this reinvestment has received national attention in terms of how the city has been able to connect environmental design [...]
The housing industry is rekindling in Florida, giving us the opportunity to re-evaluate our approach to modern housing. Recent technology has brought numerous advances; however, the wisdom and building techniques that once created resilient and sustainable architecture have been lost. South Florida’s unique housing market began after Henry Flagler’s FEC Railway extended to South Florida, [...]
How can we encourage businesses to make the commitment towards sustainable building practices? Well, to start, at the very least, by showing them the savings that they could make if they invested in green design and technology for their business. Embassy Suites in South Lake Tahoe has this right idea in mind. The second largest [...]
