Imagine you’re walking through the city, mask-clad, on the streets which slowly started becoming alive as lockdown restrictions were being lifted. With a long stretch of road ahead of you, envision how much easier getting groceries would’ve been if there were shops within a short walking-distance to where you lived. […]
Planning
Alternatives Journal Releases Getting There: The Ecosystem of Human Movement
KITCHENER, November 2020 Today, Alternatives Journal is releasing our latest issue, Getting There: The Ecosystem of Human Movement. The carbon footprint of an individual within a developed country is drastically higher than someone in a developing country. The reason behind this is partly in how we choose to get around. […]
The Green New Deal: Our Best Chance on Climate
The Green New Deal (GND) has gotten a lot of attention since legislation was proposed in the U.S. Congress in February. The term derives from Roosevelt’s New Deal policies during the Great Depression. The Green New Deal, however, addresses today’s two most urgent problems simultaneously: climate change and rising inequality. […]
Edging Forward: Achieving Sustainable Community Development
Edging Forward is a hearty, well-informed plea to Canadians across the country to get off our collective butts and start affecting the change we know is needed. Ann Dale, a senior professor in the School of the Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University, provides a re-examination of what sustainability […]
A Sense of Community
This series, starting with this introductory survey by former A\J editorial intern and recent University of Waterloo Environment grad Semini Pathberiya, is focused on starting to answer the two metaphysical questions raised off the top in anticipation of determining just how big of a boat we’ll need to fit all […]
Bigger Better Greenbelts
In 2005, the Ontario government created the Greenbelt Plan to protect farmland and green space from development pressure. Then in 2006, the Ontario government created the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), which predicts population growth and directs it to urban areas, restricting development on farmland and forests.
Infrastructure Power to the People
NEW YORK CITY is building a floating park. With green space at a premium in many urban centers, cities like New York are looking for ways to solve multiple problems at once through green infrastructure. The Pier 55 project will result in 2.7 acres of public space balanced on concrete […]
Going for the Green at the Pan Am Games
Constructing unique world-class competition facilities for multisport events often leaves behind overbuilt, expensive and underused relics. With this harsh reality in mind, organizers for this summer’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto are taking lessons from other host cities to develop best practices for infrastructure design and construction […]
Wicked
Climate change is a classic “wicked” problem. The sources of the greenhouse gases that cause the problem are ubiquitous, such that no finger can be pointed directly at the culprit. Few people agree on how to resolve climate change, and efforts to combat it can cause more problems than they […]
Faire Bouger Les Transports
English translation coming soon.