Coursera week 4: future urban visions

Lecures this week were given by:
  • Lena Neij, Lund University on visioning cities
  • Another by Lena on smart sustainable cities
  • One by Fouad Khan, from Luc Hoffman on WWF earth hour city challenge
  • WWF delivered a short clip on the importance of sustainable food
The reading on virtual cities can be found here

The key points were:

Lena Neij- visioning cities
  • Strong visions are needed for a city in order to motivate groups into action
  • The 1st step needed to set visions is to set a definition for sustainability
    • by asking the population, and by using big data, you can come up with a tailor made approach to sustainability
    • you do this by discussing with stakeholders
  • Visions are also useful as they accelerate near changes
    • e.g. a project for green roofs will be installed as they accomplish things in the
      • reduce impacts of acid rain
      • insulate buildings
      • improve air quality
      • increase bio-diversity
  • Visions from 1 city can inspire others, encouraging development and implementation
  • The plan to reach the vision is discussed with stakeholders
    • uses back casting
      • looking at the final goal, and working backwards to get to where we are now
      • makes it easier to achieve all design criteria
  • Visions can be tested through experimentation
    • e.g. in 2009, Times Square cut off traffic to the area and set out temporary cafes and seating areas to see how the area would be utilised as a social area instead as for transport.
    • e.g. western harbour developed its programmes at each stage
      1. tough energy laws
        • they were off putting and were ignored
      2. lax energy laws
        • they did not fit with the vision
      3. tough voluntary laws
        • companies set their own criteria, but they must fit another set of rules
Lena Neij - smart sustainable cities
  • Smart sustainable cities connect business, industry, and all other infrastructure through the use of ICT
    • called the internet of things
      • the infrastructure is actually connected through embedded technology and big data
    • improve resource efficiency
  • Smart cities create a shared economy
    • shared use
      • there is no owner, there is universal access
    • co-learning
      • the implementation of ULLs tests the effectiveness of a smart city
    • crowd funding
      • smart cities show the public where their money is actually going
  • benefits
    • real time feedback and evaluation
    • more experimentation
    • the process is constantly adapting, so it is likely sustainable
Fouad Khan- WWF earth hour city challenge
  • the earth hour city challenge is a global research project into the best ways to reduce the carbon footprint of cities
  • it requires cities to disclose their carbon commitments, and the motions they have put in place to achieve them
  • the data collected can be used in many ways
    • define the most effective methods of carbon reduction
    • define different 'types' of city
      • types of city are based on physical and human geography
      • 2 main categories
        • c - based on non-renewable energy e.g. London
        • f- based on renewable energy e.g. Malmo
          • these categories are used to identify the next step in the city's development
WWF food
  • 16% of the average Swede carbon footprint is from food
  • to reduce this, programmes have been put in place
    • no meat Monday
    • organic food tax breaks
    • local produce only markets
  • Kristianstad
    • biogas generators
    • public transport based on biogas


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