The Month of May in Cincinnati celebrates cyclists & cycling in all forms – ushering in hundreds of events hosted by local bicycling advocates including the City of Cincinnati, Queen City Bike, Mobo Bicycle Coop and many other bike friendly businesses such as Park + Vine. This year, wheels are spinning, and gears are shifting [...]
The city of Lincoln, Nebraska has strived to become a top green community within the Midwest region. One way that Lincoln has successfully shifted toward sustainable thinking is through its implementation of the Cleaner, Greener Lincoln Initiative. The Cleaner, Greener Lincoln Initiative has encouraged “green” living within the city of Lincoln and has been implemented [...]
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 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 [...]
In the past decade, Florida has protected more critical natural lands than any other state in the US. Together, Florida Forever and Preservation 2000 form the largest public land acquisition program in the country. These environmental organizations have helped expand protection of important ecosystems from 7.4 to 9.9 million acres. In my last post, Defining [...]
Against all odds, municipalities, all over Greece, are in a race to propose projects for bioclimatic upgrading of public open spaces such as streets, squares, and parks. The “Bioclimatic upgrading for open public spaces” program is funded by the NSRF development program and guided by the Centre for Renewable Energy and Save (CRES). Its main [...]
Climate change is seen as the major problem of our generation, and confronting it will mean action on how energy is sourced and the levels of demand. In 1990, the United Kingdom signed an agreement for reducing emission levels at least 80% by 2050. The Northern Ireland government has set a bold target in relation [...]
Throughout history, geological features have shaped our greatest cities. From the rivers that bound the island of Manhattan to the mountains that form Rio de Janeiro, challenging terrain has created many of our densest and most beautiful cities. So, what can a city like Orlando do to control its outward growth? Because Central Floridian cities [...]
The nongovernmental organization “Our Park” is behind a successful story of synergy between private and public actors, as well as participatory design, for the creation of an open public space in the heart of Athens, Greece. For over a year, “Our Skate Park” in downtown Athens has set a useful and optimistic precedent in urban [...]
As a child in elementary school, you become subjected to such plays on words as rethink, reuse, and recycle. To you, as a child, it is fascinating and mind-numbing how the words work together. As the years fade though, so does the fascination with this play on words. Your once favorite buzz word recess has [...]
After years of relentless growth, Shanghai, China is entering a new phase of environmentally sustainable development. Issues such as urban farming have become hot topics of discussion. Ever-increasing urban density, competition for scarce land and a rising demand for food from the burgeoning middle class, Shanghai will need to ensure that the opportunity to produce [...]
“Texas leads the country for installed wind power, and is one of the largest wind energy producers in the world.” – Terrence Henry, As Tax Credit Hangs in the Balance, Texas Sets Another Wind Record As the environmental harm caused by the use of coal as the main source of electricity production becomes more and [...]
On the surface, the iconic 200-year-old urban grid of New York City’s Manhattan Island towers over the surrounding hinterland. John Randel Jr., who surveyed & engineered the future of NYC urban growth from 1818-1820, used hand drawn maps that effectively mapped out today’s modern metropolis. But New York City, like all cities, also carries a [...]
With the trend of de-industrialization common to many American cities, the 93,500 square-foot Peer Foods meatpacking plant was in danger of being abandoned when it was sold in 2010 to a unique social enterprise. Enter the The Plant, an ambitious effort to convert this huge facility into a vertical farm and business incubator. By recruiting [...]
What is sustainability? Without using Google, that may be hard to answer, even for experts. Surely achieving something that one barely understands could prove to be evasive in success. Regardless of this, a multitude of world class cities set out to achieve the unknown. Nottingham, like many British towns, finds itself locked in the pursuit of [...]
Increasing renewable energy generation is fundamental for sustainable development. Over the last 10 years, interest has grown in the potential for communities to take a more active role in renewable energy development. Community renewable energy is associated with sustainable rural development and more locally appropriate projects. There is currently much interest in the scope for [...]
Want to grow your veggies and eat them, too? While, until recently, the idea of combining urbanity with gardening seemed like a strong contradiction, urban gardens have started popping up in central city spaces around the world. One of the pioneering urban gardening projects is Prinzessinengarten in Berlin, Germany. Since summer 2009, this central Berlin [...]
The Mayor, urban planners, and economists agree: creative industries are key to Berlin’s economic development. In a city that doesn’t rely on larger industrial facilities, that holds a special position due to its historical heritage, that was perceived as an island for decades – music, film, and new media industries have started to settle; building [...]
In spirit of the burgeoning backlash to the North Carolina legislature’s contentious support for fracking, as presented in my previous article, this piece will review the state’s particular advocacy for “Save the Outer Banks.” A polemic released in July of 2008 spells out with retrospectively astonishing accuracy the threats to North Carolina’s coast; ones that [...]
Everyone wants to recycle, but what would you do if it was mandatory? California Bill AB 341, directed by CalRecycle, will go into effect on July 1, 2012 and will require commercial recycling within California state limits. The Town of Mammoth Lakes is providing education and outreach in an effort to help the community adjust [...]
