Week 9: Sustainability

This week we talked about sustainable housing.  Sustainability is the act of maintaining how the world is. We depend so much on our natural environment, whether it be directly or indirectly. The most important factor of sustainability is to make sure we have and will continue to have all the natural resources that the world has always provided for us. Suitability affects everything around us including social, economic and environmental factors.  This creates a harmony between humans and wild life.

A guest speaker came to our class and further discussed sustainability. He went into more detail about how to build sustainable houses, Energy Star Home and other green building ratings. One this that seemed very interesting was that in Germany, they are capable of getting and most likely have the same amount of cars as we do in the United States. However, more people in Germany ride their bikes as a mean of transportation than drive their cars. As a result, they are more fuel-efficient.

There are little changes everyone can do to help us sustain our environment. They are cost efficient as well and in the long run, saves you a lot of money. For instance, you can do something as little as changing the type of light bulbs you use.  If you want to make a greater impact, since we’re so dependent on cars for transportation, purchasing hybrid cars would help prevent pollution and climate changes. Small changes can sooner lead to a big difference. 

This is an article talking about how these climate changes such as global warming have a huge negative effect on our well being. These climate changes cause a huge risk for natural disasters. You may think you’re enjoying the warm weather now, but in reality, it is not normal nor is it good for our environment.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climate-change-poses-disaster-risk-for-most-planet

Week 8: Transportation Conflicts

In class this week, Ralph Buehler, PhD as an Assistant Professor in Urban Affiars & Planning, lectured us discussing the use and accessibility of public transportation in the United States, as well as overseas. One of his main points of significance is how the United States usage rate of public transportation is below many other countries across the world. Buehler mentions that the lack of biking and side-walk paths is a major part of the issue. But because the most destinations in the United States can only be accessible by an automobile, it generates many different problems for the environment and atmosphere. The dependence on foreign oil and high pollution rates has led to higher gas prices and an increase in greenhouse effects. Even with high gas prices, Americans tend to travel further than Europeans daily and parking is inexpensive and usually available.

This link leads to an article that explains the ten cities with the best public transportation and why. Cities such as Curitiba, Brazil and Hong Kong have highly regarded transit systems and known to have excellent public transpiration systems. Curitiba consists exclusively of buses running on dedicated lanes and remarkably, over 85% of the entire population uses this most of transportation. In Hong Kong, the public transportation system is all but what the residents need in the extremely crowded metropolis. But what these cities have in common that the United States do not is the availability of public transportation.

Sources: http://www.gadling.com/2010/11/04/top-ten-cities-with-best-public-transit-systems/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+weblogsinc%2Fgadling+%28Gadling%29

Week 7: Exclusive Public Space

William Whyte in his documentary titled "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - The Street Corner" focused on why some public spaces are more successful than others. Seven factors were discussed: "sittable spaces", provide seats (not literally), and people will come; street, sun, water, trees, food, and triangulation, which involves visual stimulation with the goal of attracting people to the scene. Providing  several choices in terms of seating even makes the space more successful. At the Seagram Plaza, where seating is in the form of fixed ledges and stairs, people tend to cluster at desirable spots such as the stairs leading up to the building entrance. On the other hand, Paley Park with its movable chairs allows people to find their own niches. 

For me however, the success of public spaces is determined by how much they appeal to the senses. People tend to develop a liking for things they can relate to. This is not a complete deviation from Mr. Whyte's idea, his seven factors can actually be related to the senses. For someone who frequents Paley Park, recalling the space would bring back the smell of food and its imagined taste on the tongue; visions of falling water droplets and refracted sunlight; the distinct, yet unobtrusive sloshing sound of water, and the feel of moisture on the skin at certain times of the year. For public spaces below street level, which Whyte categorized as less successful (with the exception of Rockefeller Plaza), one will notice that  the visual element (street) is missing. When the view is missing, sound loses certain qualities. That's two out of the five senses required to experience a space.

Having said that, are public spaces really intended for everyone? The word "public" might denote everyone, but we are all different with distinct needs. Therefore, we tend to go to places that appeal to us, and this applies to public spaces also. At the Seagram Plaza, biking was not forbidden, but there was a lack of bikers due to the presence of steps. Location, can also be used to screen visitors. Paley Park is tucked between two buildings, the most unlikely place to be associated with the word park. The Seagram Plaza for the most part keeps out tourist just by being away from the touristy areas of NYC. Green Acre restricts the use of cameras. One can conclude that being able to exclude certain people can also make a space successful.

One question I asked myself: Are public spaces becoming less successful in the 21st century as a result of distractions such as technology?

-O.I.