Urban Planning for the Future

Sustainable Cities Blog #1

Katherine Bennett

Upon first glance, urban planning may seem to encompass the areas of development relegated to the seemingly simple tasks of deciding where to locate the next high-rise apartment or where to break ground for a new intersection. On the contrary, urban planning envelops a multitude of disciplines and has continued to evolve in the modern era in order to fit the needs and desires of urban dwellers. Some of these planning details now include stormwater management, climate change readiness, food sourcing, and connectedness.

Climate change is an ever-looming specter on the horizon. It’s inevitability and already destructive forces (take a look at the 2017 hurricane season) are causing urban planners, as well as their financiers, to take a second look before implementing their urban designs. For example, in cities that are particularly susceptible to climate change, such as those bordering the coast, urban planners are evaluating ways to make their cities more durable to the impacts of climate change. Some of these changes include implementing green roofs, like the one pictured below. These green roofs have the capacity to not only absorb excess rainwater but also provide extra habitat for creatures like birds and insects, like honey bees. Not to mention green roofs can also provide great rooftop parks and green space for a building’s residents. 

Cities that do not take initiative in creating more sustainable and hardy cities may risk financial assets and aid. Moody’s Investors Service released a report in December 2017 which suggested that “cities failing to plan for the effects of climate change” and do their part to reduce those effects “could see adverse impacts on municipal bond ratings.” This would make it increasingly difficult to gain funding for other city projects. 

Yet another emerging “green” technology that is likely to provide invaluable to future cities is the use of vertical farming. This unconventional farming practice uses “substantially less space” than a typical farm. One California company, Plenty, announced the opening of a 100,000 square-foot vertical farm, equipped with year-round lighting and a climate-controlled space, all for less water and less land than the average American farm, whose average size is 434 acres (that's over 18 million square feet!). All of this with similar, or even greater, yields to the traditional farm, minus the pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and GMOs that often accompany these large-scale agricultural operations.

Vertical farming would mean the fewer resources would be needed in order to produce fresh fruits and vegetables. Since a low minority of Americans currently eat the recommended amount of vegetables each day -- even less for impoverished communities -- vertical farming could mean that fresh food would be more accessible to the public, possibly without urban dwellers needing to leave the city.

With many of the new technologies and ideas entering mainstream society, there comes the need to see what is working for city dwellers, and what is not. Companies like Sidewalk Labs are implementing sensors and cameras in cities -- Toronto, in this case -- in order to gain insight into how urbanites use the city. This data can then be shared with urban planners to aid them in creating solutions for current developmental issues, from technologies to policy to investment needs. With these types of resident-focused research and technological developments, new infrastructure and city additions can add to the happiness and vitality of the community while also making it more sustainable in the process.

References:

https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/97220-how-urban-planning-changing-21st-century

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2017/11/04/its-called-vertical-farming-and-it-could-be-the-future-of-agriculture/#1a4599301175

https://theurbantechnologist.com/2016/02/01/why-smart-cities-still-arent-working-for-us-after-20-years-and-how-we-can-fix-them/