Tag: environment
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Miami in the Anthropocene
Book Review The concept of the Anthropocene—the epoch where human activity fundamentally altered Earth’s systems—has dramatically reshaped how we think about urban planning and design, particularly in cities facing existential climate threats like Miami. In Stephanie Wakefield’s book “Miami and the Anthropocene: Rising Seas and Urban Resilience,” she explores how different “imaginaries” of Miami’s future…
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Resilience Matters
Podcast Recap For the past ten years, Island Press has been publishing a compilation of articles surrounding resilience. As a partner of the Booked on Planning Podcast, we have covered this publication for the past three years of the show, this year with the opportunity to interview the editor, Laurie Mazur. While typically centered around…
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Multisolving: In Action
By Chapter 9 of Multisolving by Elizabeth Sawin readers have learned all the major concepts of multisolving and the connection to systems with this approach. When put into action there are numerous considerations and many expected results. The process can become cyclical, with much of the work happening behind the scenes or below the surface.…
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Multisolving and the Role of Feedback Loops
In Chapter Five of Elizabeth Sawin’s book Multisolving, she asks readers to reflect on effective balancing feedback operating in either their life or work and what brings the system back into balance when destabilized. In my last post I discussed the idea of reinforcing feedback loops, a change in one direction creating more change in…
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Multisolving: Flows
Continuing on with the reading reflections in Elizabeth Sawin’s book Multisolving, Chapter Three is on Flows, processes that move and are measured in units of stuff per unit of time. As she mentions in the book, we tend to focus only on stocks and ignore the flows, to our detriment. If we ignore them too…
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Is Renewable Energy Better for the Environment?
I saw a post on social media recently that showed the massive battery system required to power a Tesla and listed out all the environment downsides that go into the extraction. The article estimated that it takes 7 years of driving the electric vehicle before it starts to pay off the environmental harms caused by…
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Accidental Ecosystems
Book Review Our urban spaces are teeming with life, though we often overlook it. This life isn’t merely human but encompasses an array of flora and fauna, insects and animals, all contributing to a vibrant and complex urban ecosystem. In one of my favorite podcast episodes this year, my co-host Jennifer and I talked with…
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Urban Tree Benefits
This weekend I planted my third tree, but the first in the boulevard (space between the street and the sidewalk). I had been waiting to get this done, with busy schedules and a summer heat wave delaying the project. As a city planner I was well aware of boulevard or street tree programs which provided…
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The Eco City
Similar to my last post on sustainable cities, an ecocity is one that strives for sustainability and a healthy environment for its citizens and is modeled after the structure and function of natural ecosystems. Cities that strive for this label provide transportation networks for all travelers (transit, bike, pedestrian, and cars), integrate greenspace into the…
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Key Factors in Building Sustainable Cities
What makes a city sustainable? To me a sustainable city depends on a number of factors including land use patterns and growth, transportation, building reuse, energy and building code adoption, and green energy production. The most sustainable city would be one with a dense, urban fabric that supported public transportation as well as bicycle and…
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The Planning Lady 