Sustainable Nation
eBook - ePub

Sustainable Nation

Urban Design Patterns for the Future

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Sustainable Nation

Urban Design Patterns for the Future

About this book

PROSE Award Finalist 2019
Association of American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence As a follow up to his widely acclaimed Sustainable Urbanism, this new book from author Douglas Farr embraces the idea that the humanitarian, population, and climate crises are three facets of one interrelated human existential challenge, one with impossibly short deadlines. The vision of Sustainable Nation is to accelerate the pace of progress of human civilization to create an equitable and sustainable world. The core strategy of Sustainable Nation is the perfection of the design and governance of all neighborhoods to make them unique exemplars of community and sustainability. The tools to achieve this vision are more than 70 patterns for rebellious change written by industry leaders of thought and practice. Each pattern represents an aspirational, future-oriented ideal for a key aspect of a neighborhood. At once an urgent call to action and a guidebook for change, Sustainable Nation is an essential resource for urban designers, planners, and architects.

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Information

Publisher
Wiley
Year
2018
Print ISBN
9780470537176
eBook ISBN
9781118415351
Edition
1
Topic
Architecture
Subtopic
Urban Planning & Landscaping

Part One
Our Default World
Fearful

Photograph depicting a satellite view of the earth captured during night.

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”
—Marie Curie1
This chapter provides the starting point for Sustainable Nation: a distilled, but not simplified, snapshot of the issues and opportunities the world and the country now face. Using the tight editorial focus of Sustainable Nation to filter our now-daily information overload, this chapter summarizes and frames the data and emotions of many of today's biggest issues in just 22 pages.
The exhibits are organized into global and national threats, barriers, and progress, and grow in relevance and emotional impact with each additional spread. The findings provide a remarkably complete picture of the threats we face, the barriers to overcoming them, and our progress to date. These overlapping and contradictory findings fight one another for primacy and urgency, putting one's mind on high alert in search of productive next steps.
The Tocqueville Effect: Social frustration increases as social conditions improve.
One nondata anomaly bears highlighting: although the world is far from perfect, there is no better time to be alive than today. Incredible progress has been made on seemingly unsolvable global problems such as poverty, disease, and even climate change. Despite this progress (some would say because of our progress), we are less satisfied with where we stand. All of this points to the importance of individuals coming to terms with and understanding where we are—not as a record of deficiencies, but as the dynamic starting point for all that follows.

Global Threats to People and

Planet Merit Our Empathy

Poverty and inequality limit men and women worldwide from achieving life's potential.
Human-induced climate change threatens vulnerable populations and drives extinctions.
Geographical maps depicting average lifespan (2016), percentage of people living on $1.90/day (2011), and gender inequality index (2015).
A plot (top) depicting global CO2 level. A table (middle) depicting long-term climate risk index. A bar graph (bottom) depicting red list of threatened species (2016).

Pessimism And Inequality Are

Destabilizing National Threats

Less trust, more fear, and social isolation threaten the bonds of democracy.
The American Dream is threatened by persistent inequality and spiraling health costs.
A graphical representation (top) where public trust in government (%) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–100 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1960–2020. The curve line representing most of the time/ just about always. Figure (middle) depicting the percentage of what America fears, a 2015 study surveyed a random sample of 1,541 adults. A graphical representation (bottom) for American time use survey, where average hours/day is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–3.0 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 2003–2015. Blue and green curves are denoting leisure and screen time, respectively.
A graphical representation (top) for poverty status, where below poverty level (%) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–50 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1960–2015. Six different curves are denoting all races, American Indian and Alaska native, Asian and Pacific Islander, black, Black, hispanic, and white, respectively. A table (middle) depicting relationship between parental and child income. A graphical representation (bottom) for projected annual total compensation and compensation net of health insurance premiums, where real 2018 dollars (thousands) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–80 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1996–2040. Blue and green curves are denoting compensation (wages+non-wage benefits like health insurance) and compensation net of health insurance premiums, respectively.

Ineffective Governments And Closed Or

Rigged Markets Are Top Global Barriers

Fragile governments, corruption, and underdevelopment retard global growth.
The private sector is key to meeting the needs of new billions while stranding carbon.
Geographical maps depicting fragile state index (2016), corruption perceptions index (2015), and adult literacy rate (2015).
Geographical map (top) depicting global competitiveness index, infrastructure rank (2011–2012). A graphical representation (middle) for global population estimate, where population total (billions) is plotted on the y-axis on a sale of 0–12 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 2000—2050. A geographical map (bottom) depicting current coal, oil and gas reserves traded on the world's top six stock exchanges (2013).

A Broken Congress And A Materialist

Culture Are Barriers To U.S. Progress

Special interests and gridlock lead to underinvestment and a tilted playing field.
Our material consumption makes us less happy than those with less stuff.
A graphical representation (top) for federal gasoline tax, where gasoline ($/gallon) is plotted on the y-axis on a sale of 0–.20 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1930–2020. A graphical representation (middle) for U.S. corn price and production used for fuel, where percentage of bushels produced is plotted on the y-axis on a sale of 0–50 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1980–2016. A graphical representation (bottom) for total infrastructure spending and federal funds effective interest rates, where total national capital spending (%) is plotted on the y-axis on a sale of 0–16 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1955–2015.
Figure (top) depicting median floor area per capita, where dark- and light blue squares are denoting multi- and single families, respectively. Figure (middle) depicting composition of municipal solid waste (2013). A geographical map(bottom) depicting Happiness rank (2013-2015), where the rank of Canada, United States, and Mexico are 6th, 13th, and 21st, respectively.

Public Policies Prompt Private Sector

Innovation To Advance Global Progress

The success of The Millennium Development Goals previews the Paris Agreement.
Fast global growth is driving renewable costs to below those of conventional technologies.
Figure (top) depicting the United Nations millennium development goals (2015). A plot (bottom) depicting effects of current pledge and policies on global temperature.
A graphical representation (top) for $/MMBTU by energy type, where price in $/MMBTU (Real) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0—250 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1950–2020. Five different curves are denoting LNG, Brent, Solar, U.S. Bitumous coal, and Henry hub, respectively. A graphical representation (middle) for electric vehicles, where $/kWh is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–1200 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 2009–2015. Light blue and dark blue curves are denoting modeled battery costs and cumulative EV sales, respectively. A graphical representation (bottom) for LED A-type, where $/kilolumen is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–180 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 2008–2015. Light blue and dark blue curves are denoting total bulb installation and LED cost, respectively.

While Work Remains, The U.S. Is Healthier,

Safer, And Better Off Than Ever Before

State and federal policies have saved and improved the lives of countless Americans.
The design of the built environment shapes our health, safety, and well-being.
A graphical representation (top) for observed seat belt use, where responders using seat belts (%) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–100 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1980–2020. A graphical representation (middle) for smoking rate and fire fatalities, where deaths (per million people) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–30 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1980–2015. Light blue and dark blue curves are denoting smoking rate and fire fatalities, respectively. A graphical representation (bottom) for the affordable care act, where % of uninsured (65 years) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–20 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1990–2015.
Figure (top) listing CO2 emissions, Denver, CO. A graphical representation (middle) for U.S. building operations, where number of operations (QBtu) is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–56 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 2005–2030. A graphical representation (bottom) for annual pedestrain fatalities, where % per 100,000 people is plotted on the y-axis on a scale of 0–2.5 and time on the x-axis on a scale of 1994–2016. Dark blue and light blue curves are denoting U.S. and Sweden, respectively.

Endnotes

1. Marie Curie, Pierre Curie: With Autobiographical Notes by Marie Curie (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1963), 83.

References

  1. Chapter cover image: Free-Photos via Pixabay.com/ Creative Commons CC0

Civilization Timeline

  1. The World Bank. (2016). World Development Indicators. Life expectancy at birth, total (years). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN; accessed August 31, 2016.
  2. Ancient History Encyclopedia. (n.d.). www.ancient.eu/.
  3. A&E Networks. (n.d.). History.com.
  4. Wikipedia. (n.d.). www.wikipedia.org/.

Global Threats

Average Lifespan

  1. The World Bank. (2016). World Development Indicators. Life expectancy at birth, total (years). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN; accessed August 31, 2016.

Poverty Data

  1. The World Bank. (2016). World Development Indicators. Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY; accessed August 31, 2016.

Gender Inequality Index

  1. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2015). UNDP Human Development Reports 2015. Table 5: Gender Inequality Index. http://hdr.undp.org/en...

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Foreword
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Part One: Our Default World
  9. Part Two: Our Preferred Future
  10. Part Three: Theory of Change
  11. Part Four: The Practice of Change
  12. Epilogue
  13. Glossary
  14. Index
  15. End User License Agreement