The Sustainable City

The classic definition of the term sustainable city describes a society which improves the overall quality of life for the individuals who call that urban center their home. To improve the quality of life, a sustainable city must incorporate ecological, economic and social values without lowering the standards of what citizens expect from any of these societal standards. The overall projective of becoming a sustainable city is to improve the quality of life to ensure that future generations can enjoy the urban center to the same standards or better than what is available today.

There are many associated difficulties with turning an unsustainable city around to function in a more progressive manner. Urban sprawl throughout the majority of developed communities has definitely left its mark on our landscapes making the change to becoming sustainable a difficult task. Land consumption continues to remove the valuable wetland, forests, agricultural and grassland areas for commercial and residential development. Being from the east, it is all too common that you see a massive 400 series off ramp being constructed through an area in which magnitudes of species used to call their home. Low density development has generated societies that are made of inefficient and expensive infrastructure. This lifestyle has led to our reliability on automobiles in order to maintain our functioning urban lives as the distances between zones and infrastructure is no longer “walkable.” 

As was discussed in class, the sustainable city must be one that was planned not one that was developed. The planning aspect to a city is fundamentally the most important process. Neighbourhoods must be designed to be walkable containing all the everyday necessities; grocers, entertainment, heath/wellness, social and recreation. These basic concepts were lost in the suburbia movement and were ignored when developers starting adding housing and strip malls to keep up with the exploding population during the infamous baby boomer era. Housing costs should attract a range of buyers rather than segregating the middle and lower class citizens. Growth is not a bad thing when thinking globally but it should be done so in a way that it will benefit our lives rather than negatively impacting them. Variation in land use is important to the sustainable city. Land use should not be limited to ash fault, concrete and sidewalks. A sustainable city should include open spaces, farmland, parks as well as esthetically and important environmental areas. These spaces are crucial to developing a city incorporating the natural beauty of the area which in turn encourages citizens to enjoy the space they are a part of more thoroughly. Here is a link to a prime example of a walkable neighbourhood. LINK

Existing cities can be upgraded to become sustainable but as I’ve stated before, a lot of communal work, effort, time and money is required. The way I see it, what choice do we have? The standard cookie cutter suburban municipality is not going to work once we run out of cheap fuel. Alternative efforts for societal living and development are going to be the only option. Communities will be forced to spend more face time interacting with each other. I think the social gains are one of the more interesting outcomes of a city becoming sustainable. The removal of such norms as the underpaid zombie checking you out at Thrifty’s will benefit everybody, who wants that job anyways… We will be forced to become familiar with “Bob” the produce stand guy in the village or trading veggies with your mates. A movement back to the way cities once functioned will bring more than social benefits. The whole buy local mentality will be the only alternative thus increasing economic gains as well. I live in the Cook St. village downtown Victoria. We have everything here within a 2 block radius. I love it. From multiple grocers, food stands, world class pizza, multiple coffee shops, Beacon Hill Park, the beauty of Dallas Rd and the coast. Personally speaking, I don’t want to ever leave this community. Its walkability is in the 90’s and that is an underestimate because anything downtown Vic is a maximum of a ten minute walk away. More villages and cities should take notice of this community because they could definitely learn something from it. Lastly, the multitudes of environmental stewardship will provide us with clean energy, fresh air and the notion that our great grand kids will still be able to play outside in the heat of the summer enjoying what we have here today. Again, becoming sustainable doesn’t need to happen overnight; small gradual changes will one day become the achievement we desire. However, there is a part of me that is deeply concerned with the reality that it is indeed too late for gradual change. If that is the case, I don’t know what to think suggest or say. Honestly speaking, I spend a lot of time thinking we’re f***ed! However, below is a video that generates some hope. Check it out!