In Holland, houses and other structures are being equipped to float in case of flooding. The houses are connected to electricity and plumbing through flexible pipes. While it is troubling that climate change has created the need for this kind of innovation, it is also promising to consider the different applications for these techniques.

Quoted from “Dutch Architects Plan for a Floating Future” feature on NPR: Zevenbergen’s company has already built floating greenhouses and has designs for floating roads. It even has plans for houses that not only float, but also move.

Environment & Urbanization is a journal that focuses on urban environmental issues in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It offers free English translation to French-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-speaking researchers from these regions in order to bring their work to a wider audience. It is sponsored by the International Institute for Environment and Development (iied) and edited by David Satterthwaite.

E&U sample papers and popular downloads (including an article by Gabriel García Márquez)

Interview with David Satterthwaite on “The Humanitarian Impact of Urbanisation” in IRIN

The Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) at Columbia University focuses on the advancement of sustainable development in urban areas, with an emphasis on rapidly growing cities in the developing world. They are currently working on a project in Ruiru, on the border of Nairobi, Kenya.

Photo by Nicole Volavka

Quoted: The mission of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) is the creation of physically and socially sustainable cities….CSUD will send students and faculty to cities in developing countries to work with local officials, universities and community-based organizations to develop environmentally and socially sustainable strategies for urban development, land use and transportation that target the neediest residents of urban centers and to research the impacts of implementing such strategies.

A Wall Street Journal article about the effects of pollution from China on air quality in North America. This highlights the interconnected nature of global development and its impact on the environment.

Quoted: Nations can impose the strictest of environmental standards – but that does not stop the pollution seeping in from other nations. Plumes of “man-made sulfates, smog, industrial fumes, carbon grit and nitrates” collect over manufacturing powerhouse China and then move with prevailing winds around the globe. On some days, almost one third of the air pollution in cities like Los Angeles can be traced back to China…

A great article on sustainable home design by Abigail Goldman of the LA Times, published on July 29, 2007. Goldman highlights simple and affordable ways to cut carbon emissions and lower energy bills.

Quoted: “Forty percent of America’s carbon emissions comes from buildings — almost half — and utility bills are a major factor in household bankruptcy,” said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. “You can reduce your utility bill by 50% or 60% relatively easily. That’s one-fifth of the total carbon emissions today. It’s a huge part of what we have to do.” Making those eco-friendly changes at home has become simpler and more affordable.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) Vulnerability and Adaptation Project works to prepare nations around the world to mitigate and manage the effects of climate change through informed policy.

Quoted: National development policies that take the changing climate into account will provide an essential foundation for enabling effective action on adaptation.  WRI’s Vulnerability and Adaptation (V&A) project tackles questions of how policy design can respond to the range of challenges raised by climate vulnerability.

The Merton Rule website provides a thorough description of the rule (see below) and how it is influencing the move toward low-carbon planning in the United Kingdom. It includes a list of boroughs that have adopted Merton Rule policies, as well as resources (e.g., documents, case studies, and events) for other communities interested in following suit. The site is a great source of information on environmental planning, which fits in well with Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s call for all new houses to be carbon neutral by 2016.

Quoted: The ‘Merton Rule’ is the groundbreaking planning policy, pioneered by the London Borough of Merton, which requires the use of renewable energy onsite to reduce annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the built environment.

Carbon-neutral housing in England! These towns look promising, both eliminating emissions and integrating nature into the built environment. They are also planned to be within close proximity to public transportation. I wonder how this compares to refurbishing existing buildings and plots in more densely populated areas, in terms of net ecological impact?

Quoted: The houses will be built using timber, solar thermal panels, double glazing, insulation and biomass boilers that do not use fossil fuels.

The Mayors for Climate Protection website (www.coolmayors.org) offers a variety of resources for reducing CO2 emissions in cities throughout the world. It also includes profiles of the growing list of U.S. mayors who have signed on to this initiative.

Quoted: Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels launched The US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement on February 16, 2005, the day the Kyoto Protocol went into effect in 141 countries, without US participation. The agreement calls for Seattle and other U.S. cities that have signed the agreement to meet or beat the goals of the Kyoto protocol, which call for a 7 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Close to 300 cities have signed the agreement.

Amory Lovins, Chief Scientist at Rocky Mountain Institute, gave an excellent a five-part lecture series on “Advanced Energy Efficiency: Concepts and Practice” at Stanford University in March 2007. The series was organized around the following topics: Buildings, Industry, Transportation, Implementation, and Implications. Embedded above is the first video in the series. The videos from each lecture are available on Google Video and Stanford iTunes.