Please be sure to read and bring a copy of the reading that was assigned two weeks ago, “New Models for sustainable growth in emerging market cities” to Wednesday’s class.

Link to reading is under Assigned Readings (April 6) and is also  here: SRP_07_Cities

Also, draft research summaries are due Wed.

1. The focus of the urban sustainability index is to examine environmental sustainability in different cities. Its main goal is to measure the cities development by analyzing their commitment to sustainable practices, and developing sustainable urban populations.
2. The three components of this index are efficiency in resources, environmental cleanliness, and basic needs. I believe each one of the components is achievable if we bring awareness to cities around the globe. Resource efficiency can be achieved by new technology. Conserving and recycling water and energy is essential for the quality of life of an individual. Basic needs such as access to clean and consumable water, as well as other fundamental priorities in urban areas is important for our health and well being. Environmental cleanliness takes effort from all of the citizens that inhabit the city. Bringing awareness by promotion and ads can also help this cause. A clean environment can decrease the amount of pollution in a city or area.

A new growth area in urban agriculture?

Brooklyn warehouse-based Aquaponics-greenhouse

1. The Urban stability index is a tool that is proposed to address discrepancies between the increase in GDP and the decrease in resources.  It addresses 5 areas of stability: Needs of citizens, efficiency of resources, cleanliness of environment, built environment and commitment to future stability.
2. The index has 18 components are Water supple, housing, health education, power, water demand, water recycling, % GDP from heavy industry, air and industrial pollution, waste treatment and management,  urban density, mass transit and public green space usage, building efficiency, green jobs, and investment in environmental protection.
   1. Access to water seems like it should be achievable, but we consistantly see news stories about more and more cities having water shortage.
   2. Building efficiency is achievable, AND it will create a lot of job opportunity as well as space for innovation technology.
   3. Mass Transit usage is great here in NYC, and Bike lanes/jogging is becoming more commonplace.  I think people will see the benefits of alternate methods of travel.

1. The urban sustainability index is a proposal to measure the performance of cities in five sustainability categories which include: how well the cities are meeting the needs of their citizens, resource efficiency, environmental cleanliness, built environment and lastly their commitment to future sustainability.

2. The three components that I want to discuss and to analyze if they are achievable are: basic needs, built environment and commitment to future sustainability.
Basic needs are the measurements of the water access rate, the living space (square meters per capita), doctors per capita and student-teacher ratio in primary school. These four indicators can easily be measured through data obtained by several government agencies and are available online.

Built environment: Is the measure of urban density (persons per square kilometer), mass transit usage, public green space and building heating efficiency. The first can be measured through the city demographics information obtained from the city’s council. The second can be obtained by using the population number and information provided by mass transit authorities. The third is a physical measure of space which can be calculated by government engineers. And finally the fourth is obtained by the heating and ventilation agency affiliated with the department of buildings of the city.

Commitment to future sustainability is a measure of the number of environmental professionals pre capita, and the amount of environmental sanitation funds per GDP. The first can be obtained by collecting information from private and public groups of professionals who deal with the environmental issues. The second can be obtained by the city’s budget in the sanitation department and using the nations or city’s GDP available from the department of finance.

Please read the new article posted under “Links to Weekly Readings” and post your responses to the two questions by 5:00 PM Tuesday, April 5.