What Makes a Walkable City?- a look at Canada’s largest city

The Walkable City: Neighbourhood Design and Preferences, Travel Choices and Health (58 page pdf, Toronto Public Health, April 2012) Today we look at Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) which has many of the challenges faced by other large American and Canadian cities which have evolved to a car-oriented end state that discourage walking [...]

The Challenge of the Future for the Cities of the World

Planet Under Pressure – A major international conference focusing on solutions to the global sustainability challenge  (Mar. 26-29, 2012, London, UK) Also discussed here: Sustainable Cities: Meeting the Challenge of Rapid Urbanization the Focus of “Planet Under Pressure 2012″ (Andrew Burger, Triple Pundit,  Mar. 28, 2012) And here: Planet under pressure / Navigating the Anthropocene [...]

Assessing Air Quality near Major Roads in Ontario, Canada

Environmental Guide for Assessing and Mitigating the Air Quality Impacts and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Provincial Transportation Projects (78 page pdf, Environmental Policy Office, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Jan. 2012) Also discussed here: Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Transportation (Dianne Saxe, Envirolaw, Mar. 1, 2012) Although it is considered still a “draft”, the [...]

Car Addiction and Climate Change Mitigation

The implications of climate change for the future of the car (64 page pdf, Dr. Mayer Hillman, World Transport Policy and Practice, pages 18-29, Jan. 2012) Today, we review a thoughtful article and the need to stabilize climate change by reducing carbon fuel use, in the context of a global look at the future for [...]

What is the Basis for Transit Policy in the USA?

Policy and Planning as Public Choice Mass Transit in the United States  (300 page pdf, David Lewis and Fred Laurence Williams, United States Department of Transportation, 1999) Today’s focus is a comprehensive policy report from the Department of Transportation of the USA which builds the case for subsidizing transit by looking at its benefit/cost ratio [...]

Really Narrow Streets and Sustainable Cities

Thinking Small: The Narrow Streets “Movement” (Old Urbanist, Mar. 29,2011) Also discussed here: In praise of Really Narrow Streets (StreetsBlog, Jan. 4, 2012) And here: Recipe for Florence (New World Economics, Jun. 17, 2007) And here: (Narrow Streets Los Angeles, Dec. 3, 2011) Today we look at  some articles about cities with really narrow streets, [...]

A Syndemic Approach to Healthy Sustainable Cities

Built Environment and Public Health: A Syndemic Perspective (17 page pdf, Michael McGeehin, 4th annual summit of the Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative, “Incorporating Public and Environmental Health into Sustainable Solutions”, Nov. 8, 2010) The focus of today’s review is on a recent urban summit linking the built environment to health and a presentation that [...]

Decarbonizing Europe

Energy Roadmap 2050 (20 page pdf, Communication From the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and The Committee of the Regions, European Commission, Dec. 2011) Also discussed here: Towards a competitive low-carbon energy sector  (European Commission, Dec. 19, 2011 And here: EU’s “Energy Roadmap 2050” Published (Zachary Shahan, [...]

Turning Parking Lots and Urban Highways into Parks

In Madrid’s Heart, Park Blooms Where a Freeway Once Blighted (Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, Dec. 26, 2011) Also discussed here : Parks in, Cars not out? Is that going to be our future? (World Streets, Dec. 27, 2011) And here: Madrid Rio (8 slides) Today,  the focus is on an article which reviews the [...]

Jane Jacobs and the Sustainable City

Defining principles: Remembering Mrs. Jacobs, The Power of Jane Jacobs’ “Web Way of Thinking” (Michael Mehaffy, World Streets, Dec.23. 2011) Also discussed here: Jane Jacobs Although born as an American and having made significant contributions to the New York City landscape, Jane Jacobs is often fondly viewed by Canadians as one of their own and one [...]

Planning the Ideal Town

Planning the Perfect Place – From Scratch(Tim Halbur, Planetizen, Nov. 28, 2011) How would you design a town if you started from scratch? This is the question and challenge that faced Claude Lewenz after he decided that his native USA was not ready and decided to go to New Zealand to live. Today we review [...]

Freeways: divide and pollute cities today – greenspace tomorrow?

Are freeways doomed? -Several cities are tearing down highways, creating bold new public spaces — and building a future without cars (Dream City, Nov. 30, 2011) A number of cities in the USA have seen the light and replaced expensive, ineffective, polluting freeways that divide communities with parks and tourist vistas that unite them. The [...]

Making Paris Mobile in a Cleaner Environment

The greening of Paris ( Manisha Gutman, The Hindu,Feb. 3, 2008) Paris received an award recently for its Mobility Plan which was aimed at replacing its car culture with other and less polluting forms of transportation, including innovative bicycle and car sharing schemes, extensive information communication systems making known the availability of the alternatives and [...]

Is Urban Intensification the Best Way to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Dense downtown living more carbon intense due to higher consumption: a case study of Helsinki (10 page pdf, Jukka Heinonen, Riikka Kyr¨o and Seppo Junnila, Environ. Res. Lett., Sep. 26, 2011) Today’s review article (partly) turns on its head the assumption by urban planners that intensification of the urban population is a worthy objective from [...]

Congestion Pricing and Land-Use Planning

Congestion Pricing Works Best When Partnered With Land-Use Planning (ScienceDaily, Sep. 23, 2011) Today, an interesting paper is reviewed that concludes that congestion pricing is more effective in discouraging car trips when combined with land use planning that makes it easier for people to take transit. The road to improved air quality, as a result [...]

What is the Optimum Population for a City?

Are 20th Century Models Relevant to 21st Century Urbanization? ( Phil McDermott , New Geography, Sep. 23, 2011) Today’s review article examines the trend toward urbanism world-wide and, in particular, the growth or large mega cities over 5m population. Smaller cities of around 1 m seem to be multiplying faster and offer advantages from an [...]

Mid-Town Freeways, Sprawl and Quality of Life

A Distant Mirror: 40 Years of Urbanism in Vancouver (Nicholas Kevlahan, Raise the Hammer, Aug. 2, 2011) Vancouver is the only major city on the continent that does NOT have a freeway through its centre. Result? It has developed into an urban planner’s dream with high population density and a quality of life that is [...]

Suburban Sprawl, Road Building and Vehicle Emissions

Lock-in Effects of Road Expansion on CO2 Emissions: Results from a Core-Periphery Model of Beijing ( 39 page pdf, Alex Anas and Govinda R. Timilsina, Working Papers, State University of New York at Buffalo, Jun. 9, 2010) By applying a traffic speed model to the megacity of Beijing, today’s review article examines the relationship between [...]

Sustainable Urban Transportation Principles

Cars and cities: Time for a paradigm change (World Streets, Apr. 20, 2009) Today’s focus is a 2009 post from Australian Jeff Noteworthy who points out 10 characteristics of a modern city undergoing a paradigm shift toward sustainability, removing the bias toward unsustainable support of roads built and used solely for vehicles. To see Key [...]

Building Resilience in Cities Adapting to Climate Change

Financing the Resilient City- A demand driven approach to development, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation (48 page pdf, Jeb Brugmann, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, June 3, 2011) A pollution-free city facing change must adapt. Today’s focus is on a report from Resilient Cities: World Congress on cities and adaptation to climate change [...]

Mapping Environmental Security

2010 Environmental Performance Index (Environmental Performance Index, Yale University) Today’s focus is on a global mapping project begun at Yale 5 years ago to display 25 indicators of health and the environment for all the reporting countries of the world- the map below shows the relative CO2 emissions. Maps such as these can be very [...]

How Can Large Cities Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

How urban societies can adapt to resource shortage and climate change (22 page pdf, David Satterthwaite, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A (2011) 369, 1762–1783, May 2011) The focus today is on an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in cities and how they can be reduced while maintaining a high quality of life. One suggestion is [...]

How gas prices affect where you live

The Effect of Gasoline Prices on Household Location (32 pge pdf, Raven Molloy and Hui Shan, Federal Reserve Board, Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2010-36, Washington, D.C., June 2010) Today’s focus is on an analysis of the impact of gas fuel costs on where home buyers chose to live. The report’s general conclusion was that [...]

A New Look at the Ecological Footprint

Development of Ecological Footprint to an Essential Economic and Political Tool (17 page pdf, Hans P. Aubauer, Sustainability, Apr. 12, 2011)   The concept of a single measure of sustainability, the basis for the Ecological Footprint, is analyzed in the article reviewed today.  The various deficiencies are addressed by combining the EF with three other [...]

Does Better Urban Design Beat Better Car Design when it comes to Emissions?

Cities: A Smart Alternative to Cars: Creating compact communities—and eliminating the need to drive everywhere—may be the best way to slash greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles (Business Week, Feb. 11, 2008)   Today’s review articles focus on the reasons why curbing sprawl by developing compact communities lessens the need to drive and, as a result, [...]

Urban Vulnerability to Climate Change

Conceptualizing urban vulnerability to global climate and environmental change (Abstract, Patricia Romero Lankaoa, and Hua Qina, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Feb. 10, 2011)   The focus of the review article today is on the lack of action by many large cities world-wide. The author suggests that a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of urban [...]

Adapting to Climate Change in Australia

Climate Change- Science and Solutions for Australia (168 page pdf, Editors: Helen Cleugh, Mark Stafford Smith, Michael Battaglia, and Paul Graham, CSIRO, April 2011) The report reviewed today come from CSIRO, Australia’s lead agency for climate (and other areas of scientific research) which describes the adaptation needed for a range of climate impacts in this [...]

How Should Cities Plan to Reduce Health Impacts from Climate Change?

Preparing a People: Climate Change and Public Health (6 page pdf, Catherine M. Cooney, Environ Health Perspect 119:a166-a171, Apr.1, 2011)   Today’s focus is on the need for cities to plan in advance for the health impacts from climate change that goes beyond the stress from heat waves which have been well documented in North [...]

The Impact of Cities on the Environment

The environmental impact of cities (22 page pdf, Peter Newman, Environment and Urbanization, Oct. 2006)   Today’s review is of a paper by Prof Newman, recently the environment commissioner for Sydney, Australia. The paper compares three methods of estimating urban impacts: population impact method, ecological footprint and sustainability assessment, concluding that the latter offers the [...]

Resilience, Intensification and Sustainable Cities

Cities in search of resilience (Phil McDermott, Cities Matter, Feb. 3, 2011)   Today’s review comes from Auckland, New Zealand, just after its major earthquake and the earthquake and tsunami which affected much of northern Japan. Both events had major destructive impacts on cities in these countries despite advanced disaster preparativeness. One thinks of New [...]

Neural Network Modelling and Residential Building Energy Consumption

Analysis of a Residential Building Energy Consumption Demand Model (13 page pdf, Wei Yu, Baizhan Li, Yarong Lei and Meng Liu, Energies 2011, 4(3), 475-487, Mar. 10, 2011)   One of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions world-wide is the fuel used to heat (or cool) residences. Today’s review article uses advanced neural network [...]

Vulnerability of Communities to Climate Change Impacts

Assessing the Impacts of Local Knowledge and Technology on Climate Change Vulnerability in Remote Communities (29 page pdf, Christopher Bone, Lilian Alessa, Mark Altaweel, Andrew Kliskey and Richard Lammers, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2011, Mar. 4, 2011)   The article reviewed today looks at the vulnerability of a community to environmental change, [...]

What Causes Sprawl?

Do Large Residential Subdivisions Induce Further Development? A Spatially Explicit Hazard Analysis of Land Use Change in Charlotte (Bev Wilson &Yan Song, Journal of the American Planning Association., pages 5 – 22, December 2011 Also discussed here: Sprawl Breeds Sprawl (Angie Schmitt, Streetsblog, Feb 8, 2011) Today’s article looks objectively at what causes sprawl (development [...]

New Urbanism and Sustainable Cities

Urban Design, Environmental Consciousness, and Sustainable Communities: Can New Urbanism Reduce Driving in Auto Friendly Los Angeles? (30 page pdf, Working Paper *09-01,Center for Sustainable Suburban Development University of California, Riverside, 2009) Today’s review article examines the question of human behaviour, specifically what best encourages behaviour in support of the “New Urbanism” – the design [...]

Designing Liveable Cities

Cities for People (44 min video, Creating Tomorrow’s Liveable Cities- Urban Planning in Cold Climates, Economist Conferences, London, UK, Jan. 19, 2011) Also discussed here: Designing Streets as Public Places in Cold Climates (50 min video, Montreal Urban Ecology Centre, Feb. 16, 2010) Prof. Gehl leads us around the world pointing out the special features [...]

Smart Growth, Driving Less and Cleaner Air

Growing Wealthier -Smart Growth, Climate Change and Prosperity (98 page pdf, Center for Clean Air Policy, Jan. 2011) Also discussed here: Growing Wealthier (Summary) (4 page pdf, Center for Clean Air Policy, Jan. 2011) Key Quotes: “Transportation-related activities account for 71 percent of US oil consumption38 and nearly one-third of annual CO2 emissions in the [...]

How Does Air Pollution Shape Cities?

Why Are the Western Ends of Cities Generally Wealthier than the Eastern Ends of Cities? (Neatorama, Dec. 31, 2010) Discussed here: Why are the East of Cities usually Poorer?(The Januarist, May 31, 2010) And here: Sector model (or Hoyt model) (Wikipedia) And here: Concentric zone model (or Burgess model) (Wikipedia) Today’s review articles look at [...]

Short-Lived Pollutants and Climate Change

Tackling short-lived pollutants offers big benefits (Options, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis/IIASA, Nov. 2010) Also discussed here: Climate Change Strategy to Curtail Short-lived Pollutants (Pollution Free Cities, Dec. 15, 2010) And here: The Impact of Short-Lived Pollutants on Arctic Climate (25 page pdf, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, Norway, Jan. 19, 2009) And here: [...]

Designing a Sustainable City with Local Farming and Waste Management

  Optimizing Urban Material Flows and Waste Streams in Urban Development through Principles of Zero Waste and Sustainable Consumption (29 page pdf, Sustainability 2011, 3(1), 155-183, Jan. 11, 2011) Also discussed here: Zero Waste Australia Today’s review article caught my attention because it focussed on urban farming and waste reduction and the large contributions to [...]

Sprawl and Property Taxes

Sarasota’s Smart Growth Dividend- Doing the numbers proves that compact, centrally located, mixed use development yields the most property taxes (APA Planning Books, Dec. 2010) From the heartland of where many think of by the term “sprawl”, Florida, comes a very interesting analysis comparing the tax revenues from suburban sprawl and box stores to the [...]

Urban Physics

A Physicist Solves the City (New York Times Sunday Magazine, Dec. 19, 2010) Today’s review article goes right to the heart of what makes a city sustainable pollution free and healthy. It describes the work of a physicist who turns his attention to describing urban characteristics with the same approach used in physics. As a [...]

Why You Should Never Google “Climate Change”

The Psychology of Climate Change (Sustainability Forum, Sep.30, 2010) The article under review today caught my eye with its use of a modified Venn diagram (note the red ball’s stability on and the curved line). These diagrams seem to allow for a better understanding of an issue than the simpler and more usual pros and [...]

Planning Mobility for Cities in the Future

Megacities on the move (65 page pdf, Forum for the Future, Dec. 2, 2010) Also discussed here: Report calls for radical redesign of cities to cope with population growth (Guardian, Dec. 2, 2010) And here: Time to start work on the urban mobility systems of 2040 (Forum for the Future, Dec. 2, 2010) And here: [...]

Planning for Air Quality

Planning Information Sheet: Influencing Air Quality with Comprehensive Planning and Ordinances (16 page pdf, Design For Health, University of Minnesota, August 2007) Also discussed here: Designing communities for health: tools and resources (Kaid Benfield’s Blog, Nov. 29, 2010) The report reviewed today comes from a program called “Design for Health” in Minnesota and deals specifically [...]

Climate Change Strategy to Curtail Short-lived Pollutants

To Fight Climate Change, Clear the Air (New York Times, OpEd, Nov.28,2010) On the eve of yet another international climate conference (COP 16 in Cancún, Mexico) the author of today’s review article made a good point: instead of waiting more decades for countries to agree on what steps to take to reduce carbon emissions through [...]

Role of Cities in Post-Kyoto Climate Change Financing

  Cities in a Post-2012 Climate Policy Framework (96 page pdf, ICLEI Global Reports, 2010) Also discussed here: ICLEI report on ‘Cities in a Post-2012 Climate Policy Framework’ (UCT Centre of Criminology, May 10, 2010) And here: World Mayors Council on Climate Change The report reviewed today examines the role of cities in combating climate [...]

Do Gains in Eco-efficiency outweigh Consumption?

Image via Wikipedia Is Eco-Efficiency a Sufficient Strategy for Achieving a Sustainable Development? The Norwegian Case (16 page pdf, Sustainability 2010, 2, 3623-3638, Nov. 24, 2010) From the nation whose Prime Minister (Bruntland)brought us the concept of “sustainable development” comes an article which examines the extent to which the environmental impact of consumption outweighs gains [...]

The Political Divides of Pollution-Free Cities

Image via Wikipedia Hard truths about why conservatives and libertarians hate urbanism (Market Urbanism, Nov.20, 2010) Also discussed here: Why conservatives don’t seem to like urbanism (Greater Ottawa, Nov. 22, 2010) Today’s review article looks at the apparent contradiction between views held by conservatives and the pollution-free cities that could be achieved by curbing sprawl [...]

Air Pollution in the World’s Megacities

Image by SEDACMaps via Flickr Urban Air Pollution in Megacities of the World (6 Page pdf, Atmospheric Environment, 30,5, 1996) The article reviewed today was written 14 years ago and assesses the capability of most of the megacities of the world at that time. How much progress has been made? Key Quotes: “A study of [...]

Health and Urban Poverty

Meeting the Health Challenge of Urban Poverty and Slums (62 minute streaming video, Woodrow Wilson Center, Jul. 20, 2010) Also discussed here: Urbanization and Health: challenges and promises (23 slide pdf, Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, Jul. 20, 2010) Today’s review article looks at the health challenges of the urban poor, noting [...]