urban planning

Slumdog Sustainability

18 August, 2009 | Mark Redwood

To the outsider, Jakarta’s Penjaringan neighbourhood might seem a symbol of the apparently intractable web of problems faced by roughly one billion slum-dwellers in the developing world. Tucked beneath an elevated highway that leads into the heart of the Indonesian capital, the area is a patchwork of tin-roofed, makeshift homes packed onto a small parcel of land. Thousands of people move, work and play in streets that are so narrow you can touch two homes with your arms outstretched. ...

View an audio slideshow for the Focus Cities Research initiative by clicking here.

Stepping Stones

18 August, 2009 | Kelly Hawke Baxter and Chad Park

More than a set of scientifically based conditions for a sustainable society, the Natural Step Framework has been the foundation for hundreds of innovative sustainability programs around the world. After five years of applying its community-based approach in Canada, The Natural Step’s executive director Kelly Hawke Baxter and principal advisor Chad Park say the organization has learned a great deal about community sustainability. Here are seven hints to help your community move toward a more sustainable future.

Shiny, Slick and Sustainable

18 August, 2009 | Jennifer Taylor

On the outskirts of oil-rich Abu Dhabi, construction of the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city is underway. Built by the state-owned Mubadala Development Company, and supported by the World Wildlife Fund, Masdar City will make use of traditional Persian Gulf architecture to create lowenergy buildings powered by wind and solar energy, and will transport residents in travel pods running on magnetic tracks. It will host the world’s largest hydrogen power plant and a state-ofthe- art research institution affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By its completion in 2015, it will accommodate 50,000 researchers, students, and clean tech entrepreneurs and financiers.

Zoned Out

18 August, 2009 | Jennifer Lynes and Dan Murray

Envision your ideal urban neighbourhood. If you are like us, you probably imagine kids playing and people chatting – a pedestrian-friendly place where you can buy local food. Last year, this very scenario came to where we live, but conflict with planning bylaws meant that we nearly lost it. This article examines why. ...

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