[Originally posted to Where]  A note accompanies this photo in Le Corbusier’s The Radiant City (1933):

“outside our apartments in the Radiant City: we come home from work and change; our friends are there waiting. High spirits, physical activity. And then we can go on to think about the ’serious’ things afterwards.”

I can see myself now, coming home after a long day’s work and running the steeplechase with my neighbors. :) Le Corbusier’s plans, while at times charmingly unrealistic, are also blamed for inspiring the spread of giant housing projects in cities around the world. But is there enduring value in his thinking?

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“[It] appears that we must recognise at least two principal meanings in the word ‘nature.’ In one sense, it means all the powers existing in either the outer or the inner world and everything which takes place by means of those powers. In another sense, it means, not everything which happens, but only what takes place without the agency, or without the voluntary and intentional agency, of man. This distinction is far from exhausting the ambiguities of the word; but it is the key to most of those on which important consequences depend.” John Stuart Mill, On Nature, 1874

[Originally posted to Where] Nature as a term can be inclusive and exclusive. It may include everything in existence or exclude products of human agency (cities, corn fields, art, technology, pollution) from the rest of the world (old-growth forest, boulders, elephants, fire, snowfall). The distinction is blurred when we think of tree farms, artificial lungs, and cloned sheep. Many words have dual meanings, but perceptions of nature can influence our place in the world. When nature is viewed exclusively, where does this leave humans?

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In 2005, the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) commissioned Arup engineers to design a demonstration eco-city to be built on Chongming Island across the Yangtze Delta from Shanghai. The island is currently the site of a migratory bird sanctuary. The plan calls for linking the city to the mainland with an 18-mile bridge-tunnel.

According to Arup’s description of the Dongtan Eco-City, it would “produce its own energy from wind, solar, bio-fuel and recycled city waste.” SIIC and Arup hope the city will become a model for similar cities in China and around the world. However, the plan has been criticized based on fears that the housing would be too expensive for local residents, turning the island into a suburb for wealthy citizens of Shanghai. It would also be interesting to determine the environmental impact of the bridge-tunnel and other new construction.

BBC feature: China’s eco-city faces growth challenge

Quoted from “Dongtan: Eco-City” on BBC News: The Chinese are well aware that cities have a massive impact on the environment so they’ve commissioned the British engineering company, Arup to create a model eco-city where half a million people will live and work without damaging the environment. Their electricity will come from wind and wave, their sewage will fertilise the surrounding farmland and their water will be harvested from the skies and recycled.

The European Union has provided the initial investment to station solar plants along the desert shores of the Mediterranean in northern Africa and the Middle East. They hope to significantly reduce their carbon emissions and increase the supply of drinking water in the desert region through a desalination process linked to solar energy production.

Although this process is currently twice as expensive as coal-generated power, plans are underway to reduce costs. Technological innovation and international energy standards could advance similar projects throughout the world. A recent article in Scientific American (January 2008) titled ‘A Solar Grand Plan’ describes a large-scale solar initiative taking shape in the United States.

This picture of a parabolic trough CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) plant in the Nevada desert, along with more pictures and information on the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC), can be found at the TREC-UK website.

Quoted from ‘How Africa’s desert sun can bring Europe power’ in the Guardian (December 2, 2007): Billions of watts of power could be generated this way, enough to provide Europe with a sixth of its electricity needs and to allow it to make significant cuts in its carbon emissions. At the same time, the stations would be used as desalination plants to provide desert countries with desperately needed supplies of fresh water.

Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is a successful “eco-community” built on reclaimed land in Surrey, England. It is mentioned in a World Resources Institute article on environmentally sustainable housing developments, titled Green Acres: Communities Reduce Ecological Footprints.

Quoted: The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is the UK’s largest carbon-neutral eco-community – the first of its kind in this country. BedZED was developed by the Peabody Trust in partnership with Bill Dunster Architects and BioRegional Development Group, environmental consultants.

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.

Quoted: The World Clean Energy Awards, announced in Basel, Switzerland, on June 15, recognize innovative, practical projects that move renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions into the mainstream. Developed by the independent transatlantic21 Association, the awards are intended to create benchmarks for clean energy in seven categories: construction; transport and mobility; products; services, trade, and marketing; finance and investment; policy and lawmaking; and NGOs and initiatives.

An article on building pollution and strategies for reduction from July 15, 2007. It details the extent to which the built environment in New York City contributes to CO2 emissions, and profiles various strategies for reducing these emissions based on interviews with experts working in the field.

Quoted: In fact, most big New York buildings, both commercial and residential, are wasting thousands of dollars a year on energy, the city says. Energy use by buildings accounts for almost 80 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, and residential buildings for about a third of that. These gases are released in creating the energy used to heat, cool and light the buildings, as well as to run myriad household appliances and gadgets.

Quoted: Remarkably, the age of a building seems to have no correlation with how energy efficient or inefficient it is. Some of New York City’s most efficient are old brick-and-mortar buildings “that just have amazingly good maintenance staff,” said Michael Colgrove, a senior project manager at New York State Energy Research Authority, whose goal is to make multifamily buildings more efficient.

Quoted: measures that he recommended for the building would cost about $30,000 in all: replacing the old boiler with an efficient unit, replacing the old beat-up windows with new double-paned windows, insulating the roof and installing motion sensors on the lights in the basement.