economics paper

Gujarat will soon have more people living in cities than in villages for the first time in history. It is known as “The Urbanized State of India”. Per capita GDP is almost twice the national average, and Gujarat has the fastest growing economy in the country.

This rapid urbanization and industrialization have had some adverse impacts on quality of life and the environment. Inconsistent regulatory measures and enforcement have resulted in haphazard growth, and unplanned urban development. This has led to poor air and water quality, inadequate wastewater management, intermittent energy supplies, and degradation of ecosystems and habitats. Rapid expansion of electricity generation, mostly using coal, has increased greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to localized pollution problems and wider climate change.

The state government is conscious of the need to act on climate change, and is the only Indian state with a Climate Change Department. It has been proactive in promoting renewable energy projects as a means of meeting demand, without adding significantly to emissions. In 2009, Gujarat became the first state to announce a comprehensive solar energy policy, capitalizing on the second largest amount of solar radiation of all India’s states, with an average 300 sunny days per year, providing up to 6kWh/m²/day.3

A holistic approach to sustainability is essential, to integrate the potential of individual solutions. Master planning is the overarching tool that addresses the needs of multiple communities with appropriate solutions, to significantly improve the quality of urban life. It extends beyond cities’ physical layout and development, to include energy and water supply, transport systems, as well as working and living conditions. Successful master planning will optimize urban centers, and reduce their total ecological footprint. It will also plan and provide for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing as part of the overall urban development strategy. The Government of India defines EWS as the category of people below a set income threshold. Holistically integrating sustainability into urban planning is key to addressing the challenges of increasing urbanization and industrialization, which will further strain the sustainability of Gujarat’s cities.

Urban planning issues

Planning provides the framework for all energy and water management, but there are specific urban planning issues to address in Gujarat. Unplanned and informal urban development is prominent in Gujarat; for example, unplanned settlements to accommodate migrant workers rapidly have emerged near Amroli, Uttraran, and Mota Varacha, north of Surat municipality.

Three specific challenges were the focus for the UII’s planning inputs:

• Master planning challenges – macro-level planning, that sets an overall strategy to create a cohesive vision for future growth. Issues include integration of land use and infrastructure development, coordination of transport systems, resource conservation and environmentally-sensitive urban design.
• Infrastructure planning challenges – urban development often takes place without core infrastructure improvements, exerting additional pressure on existing systems. This results in chaotic development patterns and environmental hazards adversely affecting the long-term quality of urbanized areas.
• Professional and technical capacity challenges – a lack of urban planning professionals is a major concern, affecting successful development and administration of planning policies and actions. The planning process is further hampered by a lack of integrated city information databases. Data is not currently standardized, and is only available haphazardly.

Energy issues

Gujarat has the second highest per capita electrical consumption in India, and demand will increase with growing urbanization, industrialization and improved standards of living. Energy conservation and efficiency improvement programs are therefore essential to minimize emissions, as well as to contain the growth in energy demand.

The UII’s discussions with the four cities revealed that their awareness and perceived impact on energy efficiency is focused on municipal buildings, street lights, and pumping water and sewage. However, energy use in non-municipal buildings offers many opportunities for improvement, and will be increasingly important as the cities expand. Discussions therefore identified energy efficiency in buildings as the key issue on which private sector input can stimulate transformation, beginning with awareness of its importance, and including financing models for energy conservation.

The UII identified three broad challenges requiring solutions:

• Regulatory challenges – current regulations, or their enforcement, provides an insufficiently strong framework for energy efficiency in the cities and their buildings.
• Lack of knowledge and skills – the current level of knowledge about energy efficiency solutions is limited in depth and breadth among the many stakeholders involved in energy efficiency. A lack of awareness, understanding and skills inhibits implementation of energy efficiency solutions.
• Implementation challenges – barriers exist to implementing energy efficiency projects, even where the potential is well understood. Financial barriers are particularly significant because incentives tend to be split between owners, occupiers and other stakeholders, and the first cost of investment is a deterrent to action.

Wastewater issues

Existing water infrastructure in cities such as Ahmedabad and Rajkot struggles to cope with the load resulting from unprecedented growth. Storm water accumulates in some low-lying areas, or is channeled into sewage systems, even in water-deficient areas of the state. The quality of wastewater generated in the cities is another significant issue, with serious pollution problems in industrialized zones, such as Hazira, near Surat.

The UII identified three major barriers to successful wastewater management in Gujarat cities:

• Infrastructure capacity – the potential varies from city to city. Ahmedabad and Surat can segregate runoffs, and use that resource to recharge groundwater. In Rajkot, lack of a perennial water source and permeable soils require an alternative approach.
• Quality of treated water – in Ahmedabad, industrial effluent is channeled into the domestic system, complicating the process, and exerting pressure on existing infrastructure. The presence of industries within residential areas has an adverse effect on wastewater quality, especially in Surat, where industries release effluents into the domestic wastewater networks and natural streams.
• Economic viability – the financial responsibility for wastewater treatment systems generally lies with the public authorities. However, for whomever is responsible, the success and failure of the economic models used in various projects are not always adequately evaluated to help develop efficient wastewater management systems elsewhere.

There are a few proposed solutions to these issues.

Master planning solutions.

Solution  – Sustainability/smart growth pilot project

A pilot project for a specific area may include a town planning scheme, a redevelopment area, or transit-oriented development, and should apply the best practices in sustainable development and smart growth. The main project features will include:

• A mix of various land uses, such as residential, retail, public uses, and recreational facilities
• Integrated infrastructure and transport systems and a wide range of transport options
• An array of housing opportunities and choices incorporating sustainable building design
• Preservation of open spaces and environmentally sensitive areas
• Smarter and green infrastructure, incorporating solar-oriented design, energy efficiency, water conservation, native plants for landscaping, reduction and recycling of waste
• Community and stakeholder collaboration in development decisions
• Planning and provision for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing

Solution  – Master planning scope integration and long-term plan

A long-term master plan will identify sustainable urban growth patterns as a basis for developing adequate infrastructure for expected population and industrial growth. The plan will integrate sectoral plans for land use, transport, infrastructure, and environmental planning at regional, state and city level. It will build a bridge between cities’ current 5-year to 10-year planning work, and the longer 20-year to 50-year plans.

The master plan will be based on a consistent statement of goals, objectives, policies and programs. It will take an integrated approach to land use/zoning, transport/circulation, infrastructure, and natural resources. This will ensure that urban development starts with the expansion and upgrading of infrastructure and public services.

Solution  – Integrated mobility plan

An integrated mobility plan will provide long-term solutions that integrate regional, state, and city transport networks, and provide sustainable choices for businesses and citizens.

Gujarat’s cities would benefit from strengthening and extending existing transport networks and establishing connections within and among different transport modes. The plan will be coordinated at regional, state, and city level.

A key priority is providing cheap, accessible and efficient public transport systems, aiming for approximately 60% of residents using public transport, compared to only 15-18% in Ahmedabad currently4. The plan will examine encouraging public transport through tax incentives, employer transport benefits and similar programs.

The existing road network also needs to be improved, to enhance accessibility, and provide multiple options for efficient mobility. Provision for bicycling and walking will also be included.

The plans will aim to integrate the different modes, with easy, convenient linkages. For example, feeder buses transporting passengers from high intensity use areas such as high density residential or business centres, will help to increase the use of Metro Rail and BRT.

Solution  – Comprehensive parks and open space plan

A comprehensive plan in each city for parks and open spaces will support healthy urban living, and provide habitats for plants and wildlife. Well-designed public open spaces are particularly important for high-density areas in Gujarat’s cities. Areas need to be identified for preservation as open spaces when new development occurs.

A parks and open space plan will determine the per capita norms for green space, bearing in mind the World Health Organization recommendation for 9 square meters per citizen. The plan will envisage a network of publicly accessible open spaces along riverfronts, woodlands, and other special natural habitats, providing recreational facilities, street landscape corridors, and open space buffer areas at city, community, and neighbourhood levels. It will seek to promote sustainable practices such as urban forestry and urban agriculture to plant, maintain, and preserve trees and vegetation and promote better access to fresh and nutritious food.

Energy efficiency solutions

Solution – Building rating system

Mandatory compliance with the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) for new buildings, and a mandatory rating system for all non-residential buildings above a minimum size, will enforce higher energy efficiency standards.

A rating system categorizes buildings according to their level of energy efficiency, and can cover broader environmental and sustainability issues as well. India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has introduced the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), which is a foundation for many building rating programs and assessments.

Using a rating or labeling system supports transparency, and can stimulate energy efficiency action. It can also be the basis for additional policy initiatives, ranging from building regulations to financial measures, and can encourage capacity building among all those involved in building energy use. Cities can make regular auditing a requirement, so that buildings are re-evaluated from time to time to ensure that actual performance is maintained at the appropriate level.

Retrofitting

Full retrofitting of major buildings, based on a requirement to meet ECBC guidelines, will improve energy efficiency of existing properties. While a full building renovation will have the most impact, replacement of equipment or components can also save energy.

Building owners may perform full energy audits to determine the most effective improvements. Audits should target whole building considerations to avoid piecemeal approaches, such as replacing cooling systems without considering lighting and associated elements.

Solution  – Energy awareness campaign

A wide-ranging public awareness and action campaign will provide long-term underpinning for other solutions. It will create an energy-aware mindset among business and residential consumers that would discourage a high-energy culture.

Business owners need to be informed about the financial benefits of operating with greater energy efficiency, and the increased worker benefits of a healthier and more productive workplace. Citizens need to be encouraged to use energy wisely, as individual behavior is a critical element in most energy-saving solutions.

Advertising and other communications, including social media, could build on existing e-governance infrastructure, including the Gujarat Bank of Wisdom, that provides an open forum for suggestions and advice 6. A campaign could also build on the existing Bal Urja Raksha Dal (BURD) school campaign, so that children take the message back home to motivate their parents.

References

1. McKinsey Global Institute (April 2010) – India’s urban awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth

2. Available from: www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/India2/Table_2_PR_Cities_1Lakh_and_Above.pdf

3. Gujarat Energy Development Agency (2012)

4. Gujarat Plus News, Ahmedabad (August 30, 2001) – Survey suggestions to overcome traffic problems

5. Ramanathan Swati, India Urban Space (IUSP) Foundation Publication (2011) – Where are the Urban Planners?

6. Available from: www.indg.in/e-governance/ict-initiatives-in-states-uts/e-governance/ict-initiatives-in-states-uts/e-governance-in-gujarat/view?set_language=en

Aterro do Flamengo,  Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.
Designed by Lota de Macedo Soares; Urban and architectural project: Affonso Reidy, Sergio Bernardes and Jorge Moreira; Landscape design: Roberto Burle Marx.

World Cup 2014

In 2007 when FIFA announced that the 2014 World Cup would be hosted in Brazil, it seems to be like a great opportunity for investments and improvements such as bigger airports, improvement on public transportation, and more secure and accessible stadiums. But things did not happened this way.

At first, any Brazilian was exited with the Word Cup, all we could hear on the streets was about the delay of the works (of those ones that they started), the expectation on violent protests and how the government could use the money in more important issues as health and education.

It is not fair say that Brazil failed, but we lost a great opportunity. If by one side, the 2013 protest put in question the urban problems, in other the frustration with the unfinished infrastructure works exposed problems that are directly related to our profession: the failure of the contracting model and the lack of project.

Analyzing the issue of contracting, is possible to notice that we have historically two hiring models in architecture: one absolutely subjective, sponsorship; and another absolutely objective, quantitative worksheet.

The first one has your roots in our tradition of Fine Arts. The king, the pope or the governor chooses his favorite architect and order him to work. The criterion of choice? The simple fact that this architect I the best known, everybody knows that. Our patron Oscar Niemeyer, used and abused this form of hiring throughout his career, it is quite impossible find a competition won by Niemeyer (the second place in the competition for the Brazilian Pavilion in New York, 1938, is what comes closest).

In the case of the World Cup, the “public knowledge” was used in almost in stages, with no even one competition. Half of the 8 billion spent in the 12 stadiums came from state government (direct investment), the other half of federal loans. In other words, each governor with pen and checkbook on hand, called his favorite architect.

The second contracting model has its origins on the polytechnic tradition. Since here the aesthetic is less important, the building is transformed into quantitative materials and services, and the winner is the one that present the lowest price to the worksheet. The process that should be absolutely objective and rational stumbles into the problem that a design is hardly the same as another design even though its quantitative are very similar. Is like buy a car: the choice at the lowest price that works well for new cars is a disaster for used cars. We hired million cubic meters of concrete and thousands of square meters of terrain, but the urban design remains weak and mediocre.

Unfortunately, there is nothing in the Brazilian current bidding model that guarantees the quality of the architecture. Even when mounted on technical and price equations, the technique comes as project execution certificates. If such projects are good or bad, does not matter to the law whether attended or not the program, and generated or not a better city.

The World Cup did not leave a big legacy to the cities, but at least served as a catalyst for a debate that Brazil need to have urgently. For example: what if instead of giving coefficient of utilization as incentive for hotels we did the same with social housing in city centers? How much would it cost and what would be the impact on both the quality of life of the centers abandoned during the night and in the reduction of dislocations? And if the BNDES (National development bank) rather than lend to lend administrators stadiums consortia, with the same subsidized interest rates and longer terms, to reform abandoned buildings in urban center? What if instead of  PAC-Cup (Growth Acceleration Program) had one PAC-Urban Waters for renaturation of streams and transforming their flooded margins linear parks?

The World Cup has attracted global attention to Brazil, emphasizing the domestic problems, and I hope that it also create an opportunity to rethink our priorities and rethink the institutions and processes necessary to achieve these priorities.

UIA 2020 Rio

Some good results for architecture and urban designers can be seen through the innumerous works that continue to happen in Brazil after the Word Cup, especially in cities that will receive another events such as Rio with the Olympic Games and now the 27^th World Congress of Architects (UIA) in 2020, where almost 15 hundred architects and urban planners will get together to discuss the about the future of the cities upon the theme “All the Worlds. Just One World. Architecture 21”.

This event show that Brazil started to think about the diversity of urban question. The 21 century World is an urban World, and the problems that Brazil have now reproduce in many other urbanized cities. With a period of six years to prepare for the event, the expectation of the IAB (Institute of Brazilian Architects) is to bring big names in architecture to discuss the problem of predatory expansion of cities. The Rio de Janeiro goes through a current moment of transformation that with the rescue of a rich historical past, projects a future development. Rio has unique features: it is a metropolis, framed by lush nature and a diverse architecture, has great social challenges.

Cities become metropolises very quickly and Rio exemplifies several mistakes and successes. This exchange of information with other countries is important to discuss ways to improve the lives of people in the city

Themes such as nature preservation and urban grow certainly will be discuss, cities become metropolises very quickly and Rio exemplifies several mistakes and successes. This exchange of information with other countries is important to discuss ways to improve the lives of people in the city. Also the favelas is an issue that matters a lot to the third world, reflect how humans are building your space, since it cannot be absorbed by market mechanisms.

Education cannot be left out, the formation of architects and professionals whose disciplines are articulated to architecture and urban planning, as geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, should be analyzed, after all, we and our partners are the most responsible in this fight for quality of life in cities for all.

Mega sporting events have become an urbanization trend that affects the urban equilibrium and the sustainability of their economies, especially considering their impacts and complexity in organization and delivery. By reviewing the literature on the features of such events and, drawing particular examples from the recent Olympic Games in Athens 20014, we can identify the nature and extent of their impacts on the host country and its community. The former can range from political, social, economical, physical and cultural and can be negative as well as positive. Even though the prospect of economic growth is the driving force behind bids for hosting the Olympic Games or other Mega sporting events, the legacies that follow their hosting are difficult to quantify, prone to political interpretation and multifaceted.

In recent years, the Olympic Games have developed into one of the most significant mega-international sporting events. The increasing number of cities bidding to host the Olympics and the increasing funds invested in Olympic bids indicate that local leaders perceive the securing of such an event as an opportunity to improve economic and social aspects of a city or region through the accumulated investment triggered by staging the Games. As a result, in the course of the past two decades there has been increased interest on the impact of the Olympics on the socio-economic and political life of the host city, region and country. The Olympic Games are therefore examined in relation to other mega-sporting events, such as the football World Cup and world championships but also in relation to commercial and cultural events, such as Expos and festivals, since it has been claimed that regardless of their character, events such as the aforementioned generate similar dynamics for the host cities or regions.

Mega events are defined as events of spatial, temporal and thematic concentration of city policy with regards to one marketing project and can be cultural (Expo, Shanghai 2010), political (World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg 2002) or sporting (Olympic Games, Athens 2004). They are large-scale competitions, which have a great appeal, bring a broad interest and ensure international significance to the hosting cities and countries. The motivations of hosting such events, beyond the significant economic investments, are image- building driven. Most cities use these events as an instrument of image-building, in the context of competition among them, in order to position themselves as global cities, or even more as global economies. In such a way, they transport an image of an “event-city” (Bittner, 2001) and in some cases, such as in the case of cities in the Global South, they intend to symbolize their way out of the underdeveloped category (FIFA World Cup, Brazil 2014), regardless of the numerous threats that come along with hosting such events. Other motivations that are usually considered when hosting mega events are the opportunities of legitimizing several urban policies. Local politics concentrate on the development of short-term projects, which displays a development dynamic and delivery competency to citizens. In that manner, they seek to legitimize in the long run the intended planning politics.

However, the threats of hosting mega events, such as the Olympic Games, are several and multifaceted and in most cases they disturb the socioeconomic sustainability not only in a local scale, but also in a global one. In most cases, organizing such events triggers a downward spiral, as in general costs exceed benefits; “providing festivals when people need bread is a dubious use of public resources” (Andranovich et al 2001). The economic growth and investments as well as new job opportunities, are to a great extend temporary. Moreover, mega events are the cause of many evictions and relocations (e.g. Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, London 2012), in order to show a slum free image to the world. Thus, mega events reinforce numerous socioeconomic inequalities, such as fragmentation, exclusion of specific communities, informalities and precarious housing. In addition to this, investing in politics of big events, leads to selective implementation of short-term urban projects that lack appropriate speculation and coordination. As a result, the new host city developments and infrastructures are related to the visitor class, due to time pressure which results in prioritization of projects for image-building rather than for citizens. All in all, the phenomenon of “Disneyfication of cities” (Roost, 2000) is vastly witnessed, as the urban policies are being “festivalized”; public space is eliminated due to the fact that urban design is being subject to consumption and leisure.

The Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, was not a different case. From the late 1990s until 2010, Athens was completely transformed from an economic, as well as an urban point of view. “Olympic Athens” was the result of the Olympic projects along with other massive infrastructural projects that took place in the same period. The major projects that were realized during those years; the new Venizelos Athens International Airport by Hochtief Construction Company, the new 65 km Attiki Odos toll highway, the new Metrolines and a new Tram line, the new archaeological park which joined the dispersed major archaeological sites of Attica, various sports venues along with the Olumpic Park landmark by Santiago Calatrava, transformed Athens into a modern, diffused metrolopitan area. Apart from the sports venues, other new large scale objects of consumption and culture appeared in the periphery of the Olympic infrastructures- several shopping malls, the new Benaki Museum and the new Acropolis Museum by Bernard Tschumi. The high employment rates that followed the former construction projects, together with the banners, urban art installations and happenings heralding the unique event generated an atmosphere of optimism in which citizens intermingled in a new spirit of communality. This served to cover the problems and tensions arising from an increasing and uncontrolled influx of immigrants, which made the Athenian identity more obscure than ever before.

Olympic Athens marked the beginning of a new diffused urban landscape in Athens and the wider Attica region. Large scale interventions and ruptures in the form of a new dense network infrastructure were superimposed on the homogeneous, ever-expanding layer of the Athenian polykatoikias. This was an initial step towards an infrastructural city, one based on networks and not on architecture and urban design. The new mobility provided by the various networks and the easy credit offered by the banks that operated within a growing and rather uncontrolled economy, quickly led to the development of a consumer culture. In the years following the Olympic Games of 2004, new, ever-larger places of consumption sprang up on large plots of relatively cheap land along or near the networks on the edge of the city, or along the city-center axes linking Athens to the sea, replacing the small to medium scale neighborhood retail and leisure businesses. During the post-Olympic years, the state’s interest in the public spaces inherited from the Games quickly faded. The vast Olympic Park, the Hellenikon site and the Faliron Waterfront zone, are particularly inaccessible and abandoned; city center public spaces shared the same fate. The neglect was compounded by the rapid and uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants, which smuggled across Greece’s extensive coastline, a border practically impossible to police. The immigrant population landed straight onto the city’s squares and streets, making these spaces increasingly dirty and rough, places of peddling, homelessness, drug-dealing and prostitution. Thus, public space was eliminated and extensively interiorized in the private retail buildings that were dispersed in the Attica region.

The new consumerist culture which was established by the easy bank loans during that period, seemed untouched by the ominous signs regarding the future of the global economy sent by the collapse of the Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2008. A year later, however, the revealing of the Greek debt crisis signaled the burst of the Greek economy bubble and led to the country’s affiliation to the EU-IMF rescue mechanism. The rapid deterioration of all financial data, especially the dramatic rise of unemployment and the shrinking of the population’s consumption capacity, as well as the state’s continuing inability to control the unceasing  immigration influx, accelerated the decline of city center public space and led to a sharp increase of crime and petty crime , while the repeated demonstrations against the applied austerity measures led to recurring clashes with the police  and the severe destruction of buildings and public spaces. In this new landscape of economic recession, the new city, a hybrid of the modernist Athens and the post-Olympic heterogeneous infrastructural city based on  the recent mobility networks, the phenomena of   fragmentation, spatial segregation and socioeconomic inequalities among the Athenian citizens, extend beyond all imagination, especially compared to the expectations that were cultivated during the Olympic Games period.

Unfortunately, Edmonton has its fair share of design issues. We have one of the worst cases of sprawl of any North American city, and so most of the city is comprised of thoughtless and dysfunctional suburbia. To get an idea of the enormity of the problem, you could fit 7 Barcelonas into Edmonton without breaking a sweat. That, or 6 Vancouvers, 8 Manhattans, or 7 Parises – that’s pretty darn big. Most of the developments are two-dimensional – single detached housing and low-rise apartments – and take no advantage of all the space the sky has to offer. The idea of the “American Dream” prevails more strongly here than, well, in America, with each family striving to acquire its own facade house in one of Edmonton’s boring cookie cutter neighbourhoods. This not only contributes to the ever-increasing epidemic of placelessness that plagues this city, but also prevents the development of proper, diverse communities. Public spaces are few and far between, failing as active nodes within the city except during larger annual city events and festivals. In fact, one of the most common places for people to meet is at the shopping malls, but since these venues are privately owned, they are designed for profit, not people. Public transportation is yet another embarrassment, since most everyone owns at least one car and relies on it for everything. I love to drive, but my resulting physical condition is absolutely no testament to the convenience and ultimate necessity of owning a vehicle.

I could go on, but the point is clear: my city has issues. Then again, so does every other city. The interesting part comes when one attempts to analyze and understand the reasons why certain things do not work. A lot of Edmonton’s problems stem from one key point: the city is not designed for people. It is designed for industry, and in this way the city becomes a machine for production, and its citizens are the worker ants that keep the machine going. Edmonton’s problems relate to the human dimension, and this is where our definition of economic success fails. To say that Edmonton is economically successful is a truth, but a limited one; it is relevant insofar as oil is relevant, but oil is a resource to be mined, used, and forgotten. When the same attitude is applied to human life, we design cities that are guaranteed to fail.

But why should we care about the liveability of a city? It’s not as though Edmonton is a dysfunctional city. On the contrary, we have many different shops and restaurants; supermarkets the size of an entire Eixample block; gyms and sportsfields where people can play sports and have fun; front yards with perfect green lawns and large backyards for throwing BBQ parties; large comfortable trucks that can drive anywhere and transport anything; etc. It’s a culture, and most people seem to be quite happy with it.

The problem is that this culture is build on abundance, and it is not sustainable in the long run. Canada is easily one of the richest countries in the world, both in terms of resources and land area. We have everything one would need to forge a successful civilization – and we have. I would argue that Canada’s wealth has in fact formed the foundation for our culture and our attitude, which is one of surplus and thoughtlessness. We don’t give a second thought as to the consequences of our actions, and in my mind this is one of the most dangerous enemies of a sustainable economy.

Here’s an example. During my last semester at the University of Alberta, I enrolled in a course titled “Design for Sustainability”. As part of our explorations into the issues of sustainability, my class went on a field trip to the Edmonton Waste Management Centre. It was a huge facility, with areas for sorting through all the different types of garbage and recycling, including electronic waste, which is usually just thrown straight into the landfill. I got to see (and smell) the largest composting plant in North America, which took much of the garbage and processed it into fertile soils which could then be used by farmers. Back in 2013, the EWMC diverted an impressive 60% of residential waste from landfills, but at the time they were constructing a biofuels facility which would be able to divert an additional 30% while also producing useful biofuels and other chemicals. I went home with the proud knowledge that my city was home to North America’s most advanced waste treatment facility. I would later learn that all of this innovation came out of necessity because Edmontonians also produced the most garbage out of any city in North America.

The reality is that most of what humans do is reactionary. This is incredibly ironic when one considers that humans are probably the only species capable of thinking into the future and predicting the probable outcomes and potential consequences of actions in the present. A civilization with an abundance of resources can afford the luxury of not worrying about the future, because they know that resources are plentiful. Clean water will flow from the giant icefields of the north; trees will grow and regenerate in the vast, unending forests; oil from the ground will fill our cars and warm our houses. We grow up with the idea that everything is forever and that for a small price, nature is ours to take and to do with as we please. And then one day, we wake up and realize that the icefields have melted, the forests are gone, and the oil reserves depleted, and we wonder where we went wrong.

Edmonton is a city ripe with thoughtless design. Take the sprawl, for example. For every new neighbourhood that is constructed, one must lay down infrastructure – underground pipes for water and natural gas, power lines for electricity, roads for traffic. One must build houses for the people to live in, and then department stores for the people to fill their houses with stuff. One needs to expand the public transportation system to carry people from their homes to their work or to school, and the waste collection system to get rid of all the stuff people throw away. By now, we have more or less satisfied the requirements for housing the workers of the machine.

But what we have built is not a city so much as it is a large storage unit. A city is not a storage unit – anyone would agree with this statement. So then why would we want a storage unit as our city? The answer, of course, lies in the numbers. Any intern can churn out ten cookie cutter house designs in a BIM program, which provides big savings in terms of designing the residential units. By constructing these out of cheap wood products and plastics instead of high quality or non-toxic bio-based materials, one saves even more money. Everyone is provided with an adequately-sized front- and backyard, and the streets and cul-de-sacs are perfect areas for kids to ride their bikes and play together, so the need to provide properly landscaped parks and public gathering spaces falls away. And since everyone has at least one car parked in their two-car garage, the design and integration of a proper public transport system becomes a project for another day. The mindset is not all that difficult to understand: people operate according to personal gain. For businesses and corporations, this means making as much money as possible. For individuals, this translates to accumulating as much materialistic wealth as possible.

We are blind. We drive looking only at the car in front of us. Sadly, this is not our fault – in fact, none of it is. We are evolutionarily programmed to respond to local events and take to advantage of available resources. Only by looking past the short-term financial gain will we begin to design better cities. Let’s take the example of Edmonton’s public transportation system. Until recently, the only way to get around Edmonton was by bus. For a city of one million, this is simply not acceptable. Not only are the buses unreliable and relatively infrequent, but the more the city grows, the less dense the bus routes become, and so for anyone who lives outside of a certain radius, there is no reliable way of getting from their home to anywhere else in the city. And so in reaction to this public transportation issue, Edmonton was endowed with an LRT (Light Rail Transit) system. The most economically feasible way of constructing this network was on the ground, and so the rails ended up slicing through many a major intersection as they traversed from one end of the city to the other, wreaking havoc upon automobile traffic. Not only this, but the planners drastically underestimated how many people would want to use the new train system, and on opening day the ridership actually outnumbered their greatest estimate. This resulted in the need to extend every single train platform and also to increase the frequency of the trains, which even further congested automobile traffic around the LRT line. Furthermore, there is limited redundancy between the LRT and bus systems, so if the LRT breaks down (which it has more than once), transportation between different parts of the city becomes near impossible.

At the turn of the century, there was a project in the works not far from my neighbourhood called Century Park. It was to be situated next to the new LRT extension, providing easily accessible public transportation for all. The master plan called for low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings, a common park with a lake, sports facilities, unique local shops and all the amenities necessary for a successful community. Designed to accommodate almost 5,000 residents, the first condominiums sold out hours after becoming available. But after only four of the twenty-some building complexes were built, construction stopped. There was not enough money to follow through with what was one of the most well-designed and future-minded master plan developments in Edmonton. To this day, there sits a large, vacant lot, a reminder of Edmonton’s potential.

The economic model has to do with numbers, and this is where it has failed. If something lacks a monetary value, of course it is difficult to evaluate it in terms of its worth in an objective and concrete sense. But this does not mean that one cannot assess the value of something in other terms. In fact, trying to objectively evaluate something that is not objective is dangerous. You can put a price on lumber, but when our carbon sinks disappear and the oxygen runs out due to deforestation, we will pay the real price. The “storage unit” is the extent of Edmonton’s investment for its inhabitants, but it is not sustainable – not just environmentally, but also in human terms. Time is money, but a poor transportation system loses people time. Community is strength, but poorly designed, two-dimensional neighbourhoods with no public spaces limit community development. Happiness and wellbeing are priceless, but when more and more people suffer from depression because their environment is suffocating the very essence of what it means to be human, a city has failed. The economics of sustainability should be about people as much as it is about their environment.

MALE’ CITY | CONGESTION | WATER CRISIS ?

        Male’ City – The capital of Maldives          www.obofili.com

Male’ is the capital city of the Maldives, a nation made up of over a thousand islands and completely surrounded by water. The Maldives is most well known as a favorite destination for tourists around the globe for it’s natural beauty, clear seas, rich marine ecosystems and white sandy beaches. However, the capital city Male’ is far from being a natural beauty unlike rest of the country.

While the Maldives is made up of hundreds of islands, the capital city is the only island with ‘proper’ health, education and other necessities. This has caused the majority of the population of the country to move to Male’ and this has caused major congestion in the island over the years. Maldives cover an area of 90,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean, but this island nation is often considered one of the most dispersed countries in the world. The capital city covers an area of 5.798 square kilometers by land. The population of the country is just over three hundred thousand and almost fifty percent of the whole population live in Male’. The government has had no proper infrastructure in place for the growing population. The island’s natural water resources are almost completely unusable due to over consumption and the increased construction of buildings throughout the island. It has become impossible to collect rainwater at all in the capital city, due to air pollution and the air being contaminated with dust and cement. However, people have started using bottled drinking water completely. Over the years, with the fight for democracy, Malé has been the epicenter of political protests and milestone events, and this has also brought in many socioeconomic problems in to this very small-congested island.

The Maldivian government established the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company as a solution for this and to provide the public with desalinated water from seawater as the main supply. MWSC has seen slow growth similar to the rest of the government owned companies and is the only water supplier for the whole island. The main income source of the country tourism gets most of it’s income through Resort Hotels established in islands which are fully equipped with desalination plants and resources, which is proof that the country has businessmen or investors who are fully capable of establishing a private water company. Although the government’s policy for this is quite closed and prefers a state owned company.

However, the inhabited islands also face the same problem of water scarcity at some extent. A dozen islands had nearly run out of water completely. If it weren’t for the weekly cargo boat that brought in bottles of water in plastic, the stored water in some households wouldn’t last a week. “I am very upset with the government because we need water,” 42-year-old Jameela Aboobakuru from Gaafaru. “We ran out of water, so we borrowed water from our brother. When he ran out of water we started buying bottled water imported from Male’.” In some parts of the country where there is shortage of clean drinking water a family would spend 22 dollars a day to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking. Due to the dispersed geographical positioning of islands, it has always been a challenge for the authorities responsible to provide proper facilities and services to the public. Not only is the water scarcity, but also in the field of education and health, it has always been a challenge to provide proper and up to standard facilities in every island.  And this has been the main reason why the capital city Male’ have been able to offer better infrastructure compared to islands, and this brought in many residents from islands into the city.

After the Asian Tsunami, over 70 of the 200 inhabited islands had disruptions to their water supplies, either through destruction of rainwater tanks or salinization of groundwater. The immediate response of the authorities was to provide mobile desalination plants, which proved effective if not expensive until rainwater harvesting could be reestablished in the monsoon. This has also brought in new thought of changing from traditional household self-managed systems to community systems necessitating co-operative management, which requires levels of technical expertise and financial recovery.

       Male’ City – How congested we are…          www.obofili.com

The Island of Malé, the fifth most densely populated island in the world, without proper management has faced several problems in the last couple of years. The political unrest in the country itself brought in many new challenges and difficulties to the citizens, and also the struggle for power over political parties have diminished the standards of some basic public services like management of water, health services and also education standards. The Male’ city council at present governed by the opposition party members faces several difficulties when dealing with the government bodies, and this results in poor service for the citizens or delayed service. It is the question of interest that arises, the political interest or the general public interest that needs to be catered first. The decisions that we make for the gain of one single citizen would have several negative effects for the future.

Likewise, in the designing and construction industry designers do not further research into the possible challenges that might arise with poor designing of residential buildings in such a crowded and congested piece of land. If we do not make our designs sustainable enough now, then we do not have a chance even to exist on the land we care so much. Global warming and sea level rise has been one of the most concerning environment factors that the low laying islands have faced in the past several years. Due to its low height above sea level, seasonal rain floods the capital city with water and without proper drainage it becomes a complete chaos in the monsoon season. The poor waste management facilities in the capital add to this bringing in diseases during the rainy season. I believe this could be resolved with better and firm management and designing and proper waste management and recycling.

It is impossible to believe that a country surrounded by water does not actually have a proper water infrastructure. Designers when designing multi-storey residential buildings do not take into account consulting a professional electrician or plumber and even the authorities responsible for checking the building regulations do not take this as a strict measure. However, an office building or a resort island has proper regulations. But I believe that it is the residential buildings that need to be first properly managed in order to have other services running appropriately.Some of the policies of the government have caused increased prices for public services and slow growth in these areas, which could easily be resolved by privatising these companies.

One of the very recent issues the capital island of Male’ faced was the fire in the lone desalination plant (MWSC) on December 4^th 2014, which left the capitals 130,000 inhabitants without running water for days. Schools and government offices were closed and the complete city was under fear of not having clean water for days. The issue was solved due to foreign relations with the neighboring countries like India and Sri Lanka who began airlifting bottled water to the capital as taps ran dry while China and the United States also provided assistance.  India also provided ships with desalination capabilities to boost supplies. However it is sad to say even at times of such crisis political preferences play a huge role in the tiny island nation. The designing also made the situation worse by people living on upper floors not being able to get water for days. Street scuffles erupted at many places where authorities were distributing bottled water under a strict rationing system. Shops ran out of containers to collect water and people went on to collect empty bottles from the junk yards, and the situation was worsened when there was dispute over water being supplied to certain citizens and were limited to others. While water is a basic need that needs to be provided apart from the political preferences.

Shekhar Kapur, at the WaterWoMen conference in the Maldives: ‘Long before we run out of water, we’ll go to war over it.’ 

Many restaurants and shops were closed and some residents travelled to neighboring islands where there is water for drinking and washing. The crisis did not hit the atoll nation’s luxury tourist resorts located on other islands, which have their own power generation and desalination plants.

Maldives with the biggest challenge of global warming and sea level rise needs to rethink in terms of designing and planning for the future. We need to reconsider how we want to shape our future city, and not constructing just buildings, but buildings that are sustainable and efficient in terms of providing the best services and facilities. I also believe that the capital city of Maldives needs better urban spaces and public spaces for the betterment of the future generations. The congestion and such crisis needs to be resolved sooner if we want to make our cities a better place to live in. We also need to keep our political differences aside, which quite seem impossible in a country like Maldives which recently went through a police mutiny by bringing down a government which was elected by the people. But if we are to improve our living standards and improve public services we need to keep political preferences aside. We need to be sustainable and we need to be economical.

Every time, as architects, we focus our attention on things around us, on the complexity of precesses that build our analysis system, we refer to elements and datas collected by experts who elaborated them. These data are useful because they enrich our projects and let us modify and play with the evolutional sequences of events and relations of the environment.

Today, most of the datas that we need, are available on line; internet has totally disrupted the analytic process which is the base of every design intervention, at small or urban scale. Design’s value exists thanks to  the choice that we know, more they are coherent and agree with different factors (i.e. economic, environmental, relational…), more the project will positively influence the condition of the existing site.

Gathering that I asked myself: if we base a really important part of our design process studying datas that we found on the net in order to use them to design more sustainable and advanced project, which is the net’s architecture? Which are the ways that let us connect with the world? Are they sustainable or not?

Our necessity to share information induced the growth of a big infrastructure made by submarine cables that wrap the whole planet creating a great network

This physical, tangible network spreads throughout the globe which stores memories, words, images and actions already represents two percent of the world’s electricity use. Therefore the way that allow us to improve our knowledge and made better projects actually has a considerable impact on the environment, both energy and environmental because of its setting in submarine’s habitat.

Our necessity to research and share datas give birth to a proper industry supported by the need to own –so buy- devices to receive, develop and share datas. But this is not just an industry, is a fundamental transition in the history of knowledge. Over the last decade, scientific and academic institutions, government departments, and organisations that are forging new languages for communication have had a growing sense that behind the data explosion lie new ways of solving problems and formulating questions that will lead us to radically rethink how science is practiced, how value is generated in the economy, and how we organise ourselves politically and particularly as a society

Two of the most famous networks that changes our way of sharing and collecting datas are Google e Facebook.

Assumed that, according to the energetic consumption, network infrastructure is “not-sustainable”, how did the architecture support this revolutionary changing at urban scale? Were the solution as much innovatory? Did they respect the environment or they were designed merely as datas’s machines containers?

Something that we can assume is that data centers are typically shrouded in secrecy because they are the brains behind tech companies.

One of the first solution for data-centers were to put the shipping containers welded together atop a large flat barge.

Also if not declared this first non-building solution was adopted by Google which built in America his prototype floating data centers using the ocean’s water to regulate the intense heat put out by the mass of servers.

These floating platforms are described as an environmentally-friendly sea-powered telecommunications and storage system whose look like the vessel in which are installed high-tech equipment.

Google’s patent describes ‘a system includes a floating platform-mounted computer data center comprising a plurality of computing units, a sea-based electrical generator in electrical connection with the plurality of computing units, and one or more sea-water cooling units for providing cooling to the plurality of computing units.’

This solution has the only purpose to provide the access to abundant water that helps cool the large number of servers stocked together.

But this is only one typology. Google own different data-canters: Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Oregon data center; Douglas County, Georgia; Google’s data center in Finland.

Google’s “physical internet” buildings are efficient, take advantage of renewable energy, and are as environmentally friendly as possible.

But what about the other industry of communication? Facebook has recently built its new center which is one of the most energy-efficient data centers ever.

Facebook’s Prineville Data Center has a simple and minimalist design, similar in spirit to the social networking giant’swebsite. The center of one of the most important comunication’s platform  is expected to be close to a really important city but actually has no relation with any city landscape: the only relation is with his surroundings. The building, which exterior is clad in nearly 50,000 square feet of Metal Sales T2630 wall panels that perfectly complement its neutral-colored concrete is totally integrated with Prineville’s enviroment.

According to the energy requirements the façade of the building is made by panels selected for their reliability and sustainability, they’re joint together in order to build a clean and functional façade for the energy-efficient structure housing tens of thousands of Facebook’s servers, containing infotmation.

Aluminium panels create a screen wall that provides controlled access to the yard; the panels have a custom perforated pattern to facilitate ventilation for the diesel-fueled generators. Given the specific requirements for the LEED Gold structure, quality materials were needed to meet performance and functionality expectations.

“This enterprise data center in central Oregon is designed around a 164,000 square foot computer equipment room topped with an innovative 100,000 square foot mechanical equipment penthouse. A 23,000 square foot office area organized around an interior courtyard and parking court adjoins the computer equipment room. This project was recognized by ENR as 2011’s “Best of the Best” and Editor’s Choice.“

According to this analysis it’s interesting to understand that, as this two examples explain us, the core of the industries of comunication, places fundamental for the life-state of the whole system, are the examples of the most efficient contemporary buildings.

These companies are focused on building the most efficient and functional structure, construct to be only an isolated container. These giant of the information prefer to set their most important buildings far from any context different from nature in order to strictly preserve their contents.

The deal for the future will be to integrate these system together, to improve the construction of efficient and self sufficient buildings ,with a really important role in our society and in our economy, to add them value to our cities.

‘Consider the following three ingredients: a mega-city in a poor, Pacific rim nation; seasonal monsoon rains; a huge garbage dump. Mix these ingredients in the following way: move impoverished people to the dump, where they build shanty towns and scavenge for a living in the mountain of garbage; saturate the dump with changing monsoon rain patterns; collapse the weakened slopes of garbage and send debris flows to inundate the shanty towns. That particular disaster, which took place outside of Manila in July 2000… was not inherent in any of the three ingredients of that tragedy; it emerged from their interaction’ (Sarewitz and Pielke, 2001 cited in Ramalingam et al).

Monument to ruin

Consider then the theory that all disasters are created by emergent interactions between crisis drivers and human activities. This approach suggests that disasters are part of ongoing dynamic processes of global change, shaped by contextual factors such as demographic shifts, natural resource dependency, urbanisation and climate change. Our purpose and thus effort at development is relevant in the complexity of natural disasters. When population exceeds the natural carrying capacity of land then the darker face of urban affairs emerge. The best documented being greed, crime and violence. By overcoming scarcity crime and finally prison would be no longer necessary. Geoffrey West’s says that cities are the common factor of origin for global warming, environmental degradation, pollution, disease and economic crises. Their exponential growth grants that our planet will be completely dominated by cities by the second part of this century. It is hardly comforting to note the transformation of the city to the glorified slum. We know that generic universal principles can answer the complex questions in natural occurrences. Scientists have studied in detail the metabolism of plants, animals and insects. The city is also a living, breathing organism. The complexity of its metabolism is directly proportional to the growth and diversification of its network of interactions. The evolution of cities is critically faster than the innovative capabilities of the inhabitants to avoid a system collapse.

Pollution v/s love

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” – Albert Einstein.

Imagine a world beyond politics, war and poverty. It would mean re-inventing society and breaking away from the regimentation that defines it. A holistic socio- economic system would mean all materials and services are available without the use of money, credits or any other debt of servitude. Jacques Fresco through the Venus Project says the question we must ask is not if we have enough funds to produce necessary implements or but rather do we have enough resources. Resources are common heritage and outgrow the need for artificial boundaries that separate people.

In The Incas: New Perspectives, Gordon Francis McEwan writes:

With only a few exceptions found in coastal polities incorporated into the empire, there was no trading class in Inca society, and the development of individual wealth acquired through commerce was not possible . . . A few products deemed essential by the Incas could not be produced locally and had to be imported. In these cases several strategies were employed, such as establishing colonies in specific production zones for particular commodities and permitting long-distance trade. The production, distribution, and use of commodities were centrally controlled by the Inca government. Each citizen of the empire was issued the necessities of life out of the state storehouses, including food, tools, raw materials, and clothing, and needed to purchase nothing. With no shops or markets, there was no need for a standard currency or money, and there was nowhere to spend money or purchase or trade for necessities.

It would take considerably less energy to rebuild a city than to adapt an old one to the pressing needs of society. The application of renewable sources of energy, computerising, automating manufacturing, advanced transport systems, universal health care and relevant education could generate an incentive system based on human and environmental concern. The infusion of technology without abuse and misuse is crucial. Mechanisation will reduce the demand for exploitable labour. Distribution and manufacturing can be balanced on a global scale to minimise wastage. Nutrition and healthy food would be available. Planned obsolescence can fade into a myth. Agriculture would be monitored remotely with sensors to help maintain the water table and coordinate harvesting and planting of crops. Recycling waste materials and environmental cleanliness in urban areas will also be monitored. Without careful handling the future of mankind will have to exist not just skyward and seaward but perhaps subterranean as well.

Strike against land acquisition

Acquire and Displace

Land Acquisition in India refers to the process of land acquisition by the central or state government of India for various infrastructure and economic growth initiatives. In the guise of development related displacement, large-scale projects like dams, canals, energy plants, sanctuaries, industrial units and mining have displaced over 100 million people. The amount reimbursed is not on par with the prevailing economy prices. The low level of earning capital is cause for concern as those displaced fail to find adequate employment. 75% of those displaced since 1951 still await rehabilitation according to the National Policy of Rehabilitation.

Michael Cernea’s ‘impoverishment risk model’ lists eight dimensions of development-induced displacement:

• Landlessness
• Joblessness
• Marginalization
• Loss of access to common property resources
• Increased morbidity and morality
• Food insecurity
• Homelessness
• Social Disarticulation

Although the farmers of today are not better educated than before, they are better informed. There is a resistance to part with ancestral property for the simple logic that land is the sole means of livelihood and also their greatest asset at this time. The shift in attention from coal to land has seen even the market move forward in anticipation. The communities must also have a say in the decision making without being marginalised. The right to consultation and consent must be recognised not as roadblocks but as part of the process. The Government of India is faced with public resentment, outdated law and a need for balance on its road to development.

Land records are largely fragmented and disorganised and in most cases not updated. The new law ensures that these records be updated. There is also an imbalance in the bargaining power between large corporations and small farmers which is considered. There is a legitimate need for the state’s efforts to not be undermined and stalled by vested interests. The state can exercise ‘eminent domain’ in times of war, famine and flood for which a guidelines are required in the absence of guiding legislation.

Land Acquisition Act, 1894

• Forced acquisitions
• No safeguards for landowners
• No commitment to rehabilitation of the displaced
• Urgency clause which allows complete dispossession of the land ignoring the processes listed under the Act
• Low compensation rates
• Litigation stalls legitimate projects

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013

• Compensation upto four times the market value in rural areas and twice the market value in urban areas
• Resettlement and Rehabilitation including land, housing, employment and annuities in addition to one time payment
• Retrospective operation: The bill operates retrospectively to previous cases
• Monitoring committees both national and state level to ensure that R&R obligations are kept
• Safeguard for tribals: The Gram Sabhas’ assent is required to acquire land in scheduled areas.
• Compensation for livelihood loses
• No less than 70% and 80% must consent for PPP projects and private projects
• Caps on acquisition of multi-crop and agricultural land to safeguard food security
• Return of unutilized land
• Exemption from income tax and stamp duty
• Owner receives a share in appreciated land value

Kokrebellur

Co-existence

Kokrebellur is a village in Mandhya district of Karnataka, India. The village is symbolical for the painted stork that breed on this site. The villagers and the birds share a unique bond and have been co-existing peacefully for decades. The bird droppings are rich in phosphorus and potassium and is used in manure. The villagers also benefit from compensation for every tree that is used by the birds to nest. It is a rare sight to see 20 pairs of birds on the same tree. The spott billed pelicans are protected by law. The success of this village attracts tourists to its small rural paradise. It is also dubbed a role model to be replicated. The forest and village authorities are in an agreement to conserve and develop all facilities for the birds. The trees are nurtured and enhanced through grants provided. Tourism is encouraged and villagers assist as guides besides earning an income by providing other facilities. Adequate water supply and drainage is ensured to maintain hygiene. Food sources are created for the birds in reservoirs by introducing indigenous fish species, discouraging fishing activities and de-silting the tanks. The villagers along with an NGO tend to the injured hatchlings.

https://megacitycondos.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/high-rise-construction1.jpeg

Toronto, the largest city in Canada located on the shore of Lake Ontario, has been going through a major metamorphosis, a significant one that reminds us of New York City in the mid-20th century. Indeed, its current tendency of population growth is projecting from 6.3 million in 2011 to 9 million by 2036 in the Greater Toronto Area. Without doubt, within 20 or 30 years, the GTA is expected be the fourth biggest metropolitan area in North America surpassing Philadelphia, Dallas and even Chicago with Los Angeles, New York and Mexico City on the top of the list.

Ontario (provincial) government has imposed an absolute restriction of urban sprawl beyond the “Greenbelt” a permanently protected strip of natural heritage land since 2005, including over 700 thousands hectares of nature, forest and farmlands,  in order to contain this dramatic demographic growth within existing footprint, to minimize the impact on the environment. ( Toronto has to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by mid 21st century.) Indeed, while this greenbelt is the most successful one in the world, its effective containment of urban sprawl within the limit has a direct impact on the densification of the city core. Actually, the downtown densification is merely a very recent shift in the demographic flow, since less than eight years; many decades prior, major exodus for seeking suburban life seemed to be the trend, however the vector is clearly now reversed to the opposite direction. Beyond the Greenbelt legislation, truth is that many other factors are contributing to this shift, combined with the trendy highly-educated/skilled younger population of “echo boomers” seeking for a more convenient location to live in term of easy access to transit, work and amenities, instead of more affordable housing in the outer suburbs. The new generation is more likely to change career than the baby boomers, which leads to seeking commuting flexibility. This desire for these young people or the large waves of immigrants with economic resource, to live in or nearby the city core has thus led to this demographic return to the urban core. Consequently, additional to the 50 thousands new condo units in downtown core that have all been built, sold and occupied from 2000 to 2011, from when 90 thousands extra units have been approved as of 2013.

Hence, one can easily notice all the cranes and construction sites while visiting downtown Toronto at any time, since some years. The number of construction projects is among the top-class if not the highest in North-America. In June 2014, the number of condominium construction projects has reached 154 in the city of Toronto, which is equivalent to more than 46 thousand units, while most of them belong to highrise towers. 90% of these units were already sold by then, a clear statement that it is positive tangency that is promised to be more than stable at least for another 10 years. This residential explosion also comes with growth in employment and businesses: its rate was -3.3% for downtown core, from 2000 to 2005, but, since the settlement of Greenbelt restriction from 2006, the growth rate has skyrocketed to 14.2%, an interesting correlation that justify the need to support the increasing demand for good and services.

The city has passed to a horizotal growth to vertical growth especially around the downtown core. Furthermore, the densification and the race to build in mass and higher to accommodate the “back to the core” trend in residential sector, which may be a practical solution, is a great story for developers and investors. It creates many jobs and investment; in one hand, it seem a positive development, for economy.  However, their interests does not equal to the ones of the new residents. It leads to a preparation to handle the hundreds of thousands of new residents and offer them a suitable liveability; Toronto must now face a substantial turning point, where architects and urban planners must critically plan ahead to overcome the challenges and struggles, fighting against this under planned and almost thoughtless extreme densification. Some deep thoughts for long-term effects are required.

At this rate, Toronto’s street culture is disappearing at least where the new highrise condominiums are getting built in a overhasty manner. It is disrupting the urban fabric of the city core, which is already disrupted by the railroad tracks splitting the city in north and south along the waterfront. This area of city is clearly in need of solutions for this problem, instead of blindly construct high density housings.

However, in a way, the vertical development isn’t the real problem, it lays in the quality of the neighbourhood. A neighbourhood where residents can socially engage. The mass concentration of single-use development is no different, or worse than the suburbs, where a massive amount of people are gathered in a despair way: a vibrant neighbourhood with mixed-use and mixed-income community is what should be aimed. As social beings, we need micro neighbourhoods that offers both work and housing, community and cultural spaces and retails, where sidewalks and ground floor facade are in reasonable, human scale with city street like atmosphere.

That being said, another critical problem is already surfacing in the city: urban infrastructure and public transit. As many Canadian cities, the investment in public transit is often weaker than it should be. With such unprecedented scale of obvious expansion, the city should move onto a preparation worthy of such said scale, acknowledging the fact that the current infrastructure and public transit is already meagre. The demographic growth both around and within GTA and the city core will lead to an steep increase commuters by train, bus and cars. Although the whole area of Union station with its monumental heritage building is going under a major revitalization project, one have to understand that the projected number of daily users of the station is going to triple within 20 years, from quarter of million to a three quarter of million, and that is for those using the public transit including subway, intercity trains, commuting regional trains, regional buses… Not only there is already a intense human traffic around rush hour in the narrow sidewalks around in the area and in the station, the increase in car traffic on the road is also to be expected without a doubt.

This overflow of human and vehicle traffic leads us to the problem of these highrise condominiums being constructed within the high traffic area and gridlock, many right along the major streets and expressway that also go through the downtown core. Even the construction of these buildings obliges to close the street to make the situation worse. This aspect combined with filling and packing the narrow lots and limited available lots in downtown core with super tall transparent curtain wall residences will lead to these units that are not only very few meters away from the expressway traffic at the same eye-level. Already few condo towers have units in this situation but due to the younger crowd of professional who tend to spend less time at home or some investors who never actually saw the units before purchasing them. Either way people live in these housings directly exposed to the exhaust gas emitted by the motor vehicles. They are main contributor to the air pollution that cannot be ignored. It is a serious issue, where 1300 premature deaths per year for this cause, of which 280 are due to the traffic-related pollution. Nonetheless, the densification in a walkable active core neighbourhoods with access to transit shouldn’t be ignored, especially in order to decrease the use of automobile. It has been observed that 45% of commuting within downtown is by walk, a healthier and more environmental friendly option, however, some will still have to do so within heavy traffic pollution.

http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2014/01/downtown-toronto-growth-watch-2014

Many other challenges can be listed. First, the lack of public facilities. If you carefully look at the city’s, all the new residential development around the southern core are in construction but the lack of actual space and green space in downtown with luxurious vegetation and parks is easily observable even throughout other parts of the city core. There is some large scale waterfront improvement proposals with parks and amenities, but due to the scale and disruption of the urban fabric, most of the residents will still have to walk many large blocs through awkward spaces with skyscrapers, highways and rail tracks to reach the waterfront area. Other public facilities will be required such as hospital, schools and civic centres. Moreover, there is an actual lack of skilled constructor for all the hasty constructions. Many projects are delayed and several new residents cannot move in even way after the expected date. The speedy construction also results in some faulty installation or cheap building parts. The most famous example was the balcony glass came off the railing and fell all the way to the street…

The urban centre densification is happening for the sake of sustainability. Some considerable management and planning along the growth are critically essential. However, the reality is not only that. One must not forget that the suburban expansion is existing all over the continent; Canada is still very considered a suburban nation with more than two-third of the population is living outside the main city area with majority of lower-density automobile-dependent developments. Some migration toward inner megalopolis is encouraged and happening but reversing all exodus is not an easy task. Better regional planning for sustainable suburbs will also be required…