Urban Planning and Economic Development October 2012

October 2012

URBAN PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEWS MAGAZINE

Designing for the Future:What Planners Need to Know About Adaptive Management and Health Geoscience: Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit

VOL 4

How to Plan for Growth: When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

A Global Publication

A Global Publication Urban Planning and Development Through Partnership In Association with Urban Planning and Economic Development Associates Our Vision is to share a full range of interdisciplinary professional knowledge with community leaders, professional planners, businesses and interested citizens having a commitment to operational excellence in the public and private sectors. Contributions from our constituency will assist in facilitating sound decisions in community and economic development to promote continued commitments in creating quality places to live, work and play.

Our goal is to provide educational information and services in urban planning and environmental conservation to an interconnected global community that will both enable individuals and communities to adapt to new holistic techniques and solutions to resolve existing and future urban and environmental issues and foster economic and sustainable development.

General Manager/Publisher Pamela Shinn, B.S. URP

Editor in Chief

David Weinstock, Ph.D

Assistant Editor David Loomis

European Consultant Andrey Maltsev

Cover Photo by Staff Consultant and writer, Andrey Maltsev. You can view many of Andre Maltsev’s works at http://www.flickr.photos/

Š October 2012 2

“Partnering for a Brighter Tomorrow�

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

Feature Articles Designing for the Future: What Planners Need to Know About Adaptive Management and Health Impact Assessment

By Amy J. Blatt, PhD, GISP, TerraFirm International Corp., Inc.

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Sustainabilty and Growth How to Plan for Growth: When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

Geoscience: Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector

By Marcia Mullins, MNM and

Tracy Mullins, MS, AICP

Global Economy

Natural Environment and Health in the Modern World: The Impact of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-being

By Andre Maltsev

Gazprom: In the Energy Sector of Russia and Europe

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By Andre Maltsev

Drop in the Sea: How do Ordinary Chinese Make a Profit From Unhealthy Metropolitan Life

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Environment and Public Policy

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User Involvement in Hazardous Waste Collection System Design

By Olga Belorusova

Going Green: The Chicago Green Initative

By Pamela Shinn, BS URP

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

By Yekaterina Dobritskaya

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By Tella Guillermo, PhD

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Credits Photo Credits

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26 33 38

Geoscience

Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector

by Marcia Mullins, MNM and Tracy Mullins, MS, AICP

Geoscience

Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector Urban planning literature has recently heralded a trend towards the type of public health planning that was prominent during the Sanitation and Progressive Eras of city planning. Through the lenses of healthy city planning and sustainability, Urban Planners are again espousing the point of view that human health is as much a part of their mission as transportation, zoning or land use planning. In the late 1800’s, city planners of the Sanitation and Progressive Era introduced “the science of the city”: universal, nonspecific health interventions such as chemical treatment of drinking water, the drainage of mosquito breeding standing waters, and childhood immunization. These actions were administered by dedicated bureaucracies as policy treatments for community health hazards. Community health planning recognizes that the real goal of public health is not treating disease but promoting a community’s well-being. Improving community health in America requires leadership and action from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, particularly those who work in public health care planning, nonprofits working in the health arena, urban planners, and the economic development community.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gislayers.jpg Example of layers used in GIS work. This map is of an Athens County, Ohio property, and was made using ArcView GIS 3.3, by John Knouse

Private sector users were among the first to take advantage of desktop GIS technology. Market researchers mapped demographic data on household income, population density and the location of competitors to choose optimal sites for retail expansion. Land developers, urban planners and engineers use GIS for its capabilities as a decision support system for decisionmakers influencing land development trends and patterns in communities. The time spent on planning, permitting and conducting environmental assessments is reduced by using accurate geo-databases and maps. This is examined in some depth in T. Mullins’ 2009 book, Online Public Decision Support System Design.

Government planners embraced GIS for a variety of planning applications such as historic preservation, land use planning, environmental planning, transportation, and emergency management. In a little over a decade, GIS became an essential public administraGIS: tion policy and planning tool. Additionally, GIS has The Urban Planning and Economic become one of the most important tools in the field of disaster management and disaster mitigation helping Development Tool emergency agencies identify how and where to deploy assets. Public health agencies have also embraced the Community mapping – the use of spatial data to ana- use of GIS for emergency operations and continuous lyze and communicate about community issues, as- operations. sets and strategies for change – has evolved over the last decade. Widespread sharing of geographic data GIS: The Public Health Tool through the Internet and the development of networks of community data stakeholders have contrib- Public health planning focuses on the health of poputed to this expansion. The tool used to manipulate ulations rather than individuals, is focused more on this geographic data is known as a Geographic Infor- prevention than on treatment, and largely operates in mation System, or GIS. a government (rather than private) context. Public

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Geoscience

Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector

by Marcia Mullins, MNM and Tracy Mullins, MS, AICP health services are generally delivered by nonprofit As far back as 1854, Dr. John Snow used mapping organizations because service delivery has proved to to identify water sources responsible for a cholera be unprofitable to private sector operators. outbreak in London. Snow mapped the physical locations of cholera victims and wells by tracing informaTwo fundamental questions in public health planning tion onto tissue paper, which he layered on top of are related to 1) the distribution of disease and well- one another as a map to demonstrate the association being across populations and 2) the drivers of cur- between deaths and contaminated water supplies. rent and changing patterns of health disparities across population groups. Urban planners who are involved Snow’s layering of information to create a map was in public health planning also seek to identify the an important step towards developing today’s GIS, combination of forces (political, social, economic bio- which connects information from a database or attrilogical, etc.) that drive morbidity and mortality (dis- bute table to features on a map. Descriptive attributes ease and death) in their communities and what policy in tabular form are associated with spatial features interventions might alter these forces. By emphasiz- that are stored in a coordinate system (latitude/loning distribution as distinct from causation, urban and gitude) referencing a particular place on earth. The health planners inquire as to how social, political and GIS user combines layers of spatial and attribute ineconomic forces, ranging from economic policies to formation to build and analyze relationships between comprehensive plans, together shape which groups them, thus creating mapable layers of data. Much get sick, die early and suffer unnecessarily. Planners of this data becomes available through government can then create mitigation strategies to address chal- agencies, such as the large repository of data and GIS lenges. For example, communities designed for walk- maps available from the U.S. Census. ability promote exercise that reduces morbidity due to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. These diseases detract from the quality of life of afflicted persons and their families and a have a great economic burden on both health care systems and communities.

Of the three primary community health variables (time, place and person), place has been the most difficult and time-consuming to identify and analyze. To effectively improve community health, community health planners and their nonprofit partners need easy, immediate access to accurate geographicallybased data.

GIS Applications for Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Systems focuses on the practical aspects of software and data tools that enable GIS applications. By U.M Shamsi.

Photo courtesy http:// books.google.com/books

Source: http://images.flatworldknowledge.com

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Geoscience

Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector

by Marcia Mullins, MNM and Tracy Mullins, MS, AICP conditions; and illustrating improved or degraded conditions. And of course, raising and maintaining funding is essential to the sustained delivery of a community-based nonprofit’s services.

Public health agencies use geosciences to establish service areas and districts, track the sources and movement of contagions and conduct health policy research. GIS provides a way to move data from the project level so that it can be used by organizations and communities. By tracking the sources of diseases and the movements of contagions, public health agencies can respond more effectively to disease outbreaks by identifying at-risk populations and targeting preventive education and mitigation interventions, especially in emergency situations. Clinical and administrative information, analyzed and displayed in a map format, provides stakeholders with a valuable tool for understanding disease and disease risks related to environmental exposure and/or social demographic data. Government policies and funding structures can be created and requests for proposals issued to NPOs to hand-off delivery of services to populations.

Utilizing GIS to support community-based nonprofits in their service provision dates back to 1889 and the Settlement House Movement. Hull House, a Chicago settlement, mapped the nationality, wages and employment history of each resident on every street in the neighborhood as part of a congressional study called A Special Investigation of the Slums of Great Cities. The Hull House maps and papers illustrated differences across households through the use of color which revealed patterns of social phenomena. This document expanded the use of maps as tools for urban social justice activism. This story is detailed in T. Philpot’s 1991 book, The Slum and the Ghetto.

Nonprofit Service Delivery and Economic Impact

GIS: The Nonprofit Tool Health-based nonprofits work at the street level, which gives them invaluable exposure to the experiences and narratives of at-risk populations living with or exposed to persistent chronic diseases, social marginalization and health-based stigmas. A nonprofit agency’s intimate knowledge of the local community is valuable expertise that can help the local public health agency verify the identification and location of target populations so they can establish appropriate service areas for improving health and promoting health services and interventions.

Nonprofit organizations make a substantial contribution to the health and economic well-being of a community. The connection between community health planners, urban planners, nonprofit service provision and GIS is clear, but where does economics fit in? Nonprofits provide local economies with public goods that generate positive externalities for local communities.

In fact, their expenditures may generate impressive economic impacts on the surrounding community in the form of direct, indirect and induced effects. Critical human services programming, from employment training to homeless shelters to disease prevention, is provided each year by nonprofits whose staff and volunteers understand and address the specific issues facing target audiences in their local communities.

Similarly, GIS can be helpful in building the organizational capacity of health-based nonprofits. Awareness of the reach of their programs and the extent to which programmatic offerings impact a given target audience can improve an organization’s ability to display program outcomes and mission impact in meaningful ways to advance advocacy efforts and improve revenue streams.

As stated earlier, the private sector has realized there is little money to be made with the preventive health programming that is delivered by nonprofits. Additionally, it has long been recognized that nonprofits deliver services with greater efficiency than their governmental counterparts. This is why public sector government agencies routinely contract with third sector entities for service provision. Nearly 200,000 government contracts and grants were reported by

GIS maps can easily illustrate the organization’s story to stakeholders by describing a problem; demonstrating inequalities or differences between populations; comparing and contrasting current, future or past

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Geoscience

Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector

by Marcia Mullins, MNM and Tracy Mullins, MS, AICP Similarly, private sources such as foundations, corporations and individual philanthropy support the programmatic efforts of nonprofits, often filling the gap when government contracts fall short relative to the cost of service provision. As reported by Independent Sector, the nonprofit sector accounts for 5.4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product ($751 billion), employs 10 percent of the country’s workforce, and accounts for 9 percent of the economy’s wages. Nonprofit funding streams can significantly impact a community by attracting additional revenues to the local economy, and nonprofits return funds to the local economy in the form of paychecks and household income. Nonprofit spending ripples through the economy to generate revenues for families, businesses, and local governments.

co-author recently encountered this phenomenon with a major grant opportunity that required working within the defined boundaries of a specific Front Porch community. Upon close examination of the target population, it was found that gentrification had forced the target population’s relocation to another neighborhood outside the Front Porch community’s boundaries; therefore, the funding was lost altogether.

The local economic impact of a lost opportunity is potentially devastating, depending on the size of the community. Had the community referenced above tracked its target audience with GIS and other means, the local economy could have retained $100,000/year to address a significant health disparity affecting its 52,000 residents. In a large city like Chicago or Miami, the per capita economic loss is much smaller but the When a funding agency details its project require- loss relative to the target audience may still be signifiments in a proposal request, specific target audiences cant. are often delineated as the required service recipient.

Target audiences may be concentrated in geographic In addition to the public good created by nonprofit areas which are easily identified in spatial data within expenditures and the resulting multiplier effects to government-defined boundary lines such as city lim- the local economy, a community benefits from sucits or neighborhoods, postal zones or census tracts. cessful mitigation of client group afflictions through Often, the geographic area with the highest concen- application of the nonprofit’s programmatic expertise. tration of targeted clients receives the greatest concen- When the problems of the targeted group within a detration of funds while areas that lack a certain thresh- fined area are mitigated or have the appearance of beold may not receive any funding at all. Each funding ing mitigated, funding may be redirected to another round may result in an increase, decrease or elimina- geographic region with a significant target audience tion of funding based on the density of clients within and/or measurable need. This ebb-and-flow of prothe targeted area and the measurable outcomes of pre- gram funding directly impacts both the nonprofit secvious programmatic efforts. tor and the community that it supports. Using GIS to create a geographic, demographic and psychographic Since the urban environment is dynamic, we often see profile of potential donors can help to streamline funtarget populations move from one geographic area to draising efforts in these particularly hard times. another. Natural disasters, real estate market changes, Pulling it All Together gentrification, and other forces can result in a migration that impacts service delivery. Basic economic development theories explain how community rede- Urban planners and health agencies use geoscience to velopment efforts and gentrification can create higher help local decision-makers identify and map health isreal estate rent, encouraging a wealthier population to sues, address the health impacts of a policy decision or move into an area and forcing a less wealthy popu- program, and communicate local health issues to its lation to migrate. Relocation of an at-risk population partner agencies. Nonprofits striving to reduce morin this manner can result in missed opportunities for bidity and mortality within targeted neighborhoods service delivery, and even a delay in funding if the mi- similarly use GIS to map target audiences and articugration impacts the ability of a nonprofit to identify late the social impact of their programmatic outcomes while building community the population’s new location. The

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Geoscience

Healthy Communities and the Nonprofit Sector

by Marcia Mullins,

by Marcia MNMMullins, and Tracy MNM Mullins, MS, AICP

About the Writers

capacity for advocacy on behalf of underserved and disadvantaged populations. And as we have seen, a nonprofit with clear geospatial understanding of its service delivery can leverage this information to in- Marcia Mullins, MNM is an experienced nonprofit leader, consultant and trainer working in the areas of crease funding streams within the local economy. board development, strategic planning, collaborative Perhaps most important are the powerful partner- programming, and outcomes management. In the last ships that can result from sharing data and informa- five years she provided technical assistance and traintion between public, nonprofit, and private entities ing to over 100 nonprofits with varying levels of size, that are all working to improve the overall health of sophistication and funding levels. their communities. Working together is not about spending more money; rather, it is about delivering a greater social return on the financial investments made by philanthropic and corporate interests, so we can learn what works and replicate those programs for the greater good of society.

Marcia is an advocate of nonprofit engagement at the community planning level, and helps organizations maintain a laser focus on their target population so they can expand collaborative efforts to improve their community. She has co-facilitated numerous community planning charrettes with her husband Tracy Mullins, actively encouraging local nonprofits to attend and engage. Marcia holds a Master of Nonprofit Management from the University of Central Florida.

Tracy Mullins, MS, AICP attended Lakehead University where he completed simultaneous degrees in Outdoor Recreation, Geography and Tourism Management. After a short time with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Mullins started his career in consulting.

Working from Ontario, he provided economic development capacity building services to entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations in both Canada and the United States. Notable projects included the fields of tourism, recreation, telecommunications, historic preservation and small business start-up.

After being awarded a full scholarship from Eastern Michigan University, Tracy graduated with a Master of Science in Geography, major in Urban Planning.

While writing his Master’s thesis, he was retained as a Professor of Geography at the University of Michigan.

Mullins subsequently received professional certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners and moved to Florida where he consults in Urban Planning/Design and Sustainable Economic Development. Expertise includes community redevelopment, urban design, tribal planning, tourism development, and professional services business planning.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DChomicides.jpg Example of GIS data set layers of Methods of Homicide in Washington D.C. from November 2004 - November 2006 Crime data downloaded from httpcrimemap.dc.gov and map created by AudeVivere

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Designing for the Future

What Planners Need to Know About Adaptive Management and Health Impact Assessments

by Amy J. Blatt, PhD, GISP, TerraFirm International Corp., Inc

Medicine asserted that all sectors of our society must assume responsibility for improving the health and conditions of people and where they live and work. In 2011, the National Academy of Sciences published a report entitled “Improving Health in the United States: The Role of Health Impact Assessment,” in which it articulated the need for decision-makers at all levels to be informed of the health-related consequences of their decisions. Clearly, this is a call to planners, developers, and governments to incorporate healthbased design principles into their decision-making and planning processes.

Introduction Sound scientific evidence has shown that the unusual and rapid increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases causes significant changes in climate and weather patterns, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Established by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meterological Organization (WMO), the IPCC is comprised of thousands of scientists from all over the world, who review and assess the most recent scientific, technical, and socio-economic research relevant to the understanding of climate change.

Health Risks of Climate Change A recent study by scientists at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies examined the global temperatures from the past six decades and concluded that climate change is the only explanation for the extreme weather events of the recent past, such as droughts, floods, and heat waves. These extreme weather events not only result in deaths and injuries, but also impact the availability of fresh water, food (leading to potentially serious under-nutrition), and the quantity and quality of air pollution in a residential area.

IPCC has stated a rise of the mean surface temperature from 1 to 6 degrees celsius can be felt in North America in the next century. As the consequences of climate change become more clearly understood, it is critical to investigate possible adaptation measures for reducing its adverse human health impacts.

Adaptive management is a process that considers the uncertainties of the future and considers a range of adjustable approaches to reduce adverse health outcomes under future scenarios, like climate change.

Health impact assessments (HIAs) – much like EPAmandated environmental impact assessments – provide a structured process to identify the potential health effects of proposed planning projects and develop health-based recommendations in a number of situations, such as urban land-use and transportation planning and permit issuing.

Photogrphy by Simone Samuels

In the United States, there are currently no official federal registries of HIAs and only one state, Washington, has introduced and successfully passed legislation to require them (see http://www.hiaguide.org/legislation). In 2010, the Health Impact Project identified only 65 HIAs (see www.healthimpactproject.org/).

In its 2002 report, “The Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century,” the United States Institute of

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Designing for the Future

What Planners Need to Know About Adaptive Management and Health Impact Assessment

by Amy J. Blatt, PhD, GISP, TerraFirm International Corp., Inc

Source: NOAA; http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/cmb/images/us/2012/aug/monthlysigeventmap-082012.gif

We have seen harvests of staple food crops — such as rice and corn — decline by as much as 20 percent to 40 percent, as a result of higher temperatures during the growing season. Food supplies are affected not only by higher temperatures, but also by droughts and floods. In addition, extreme weather events account for more than 90 percent of disasters worldwide. In 2007, extreme weather events caused more than 90 percent of disaster-related fatalities in the United

States, accounting for more than $60 billion in economic losses.

Heat waves are a leading cause of heat stroke, heat stress and death. Children, seniors, city dwellers, and those on certain medications are at the highest risk during a heat wave.

They also worsen the effects of other health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases. In addition, high levels of air pollution — such as ground-level ozone concentrations resulting from warmer temperatures caused by climate change — can result in decreased lung function, increased incidence of asthma, and even higher mortality rates in certain populations, like the elderly.

Photogrphy by Tanner Humphries

Planning: A Response to Climate Land-use is one of the most common forms of geographic change. Croplands comprise approximately 382 million acres of land in the contiguous United States. However, due to urban sprawl and suburbanization, much of these areas are gradually converted to commercial and residential districts.

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Designing for the Future

What Planners Need to Know About Adaptive Management and Health Impact Assessments

by Amy J. Blatt, PhD, GISP, TerraFirm International Corp., Inc

On the other hand, some forested areas have been converted to farmlands and urban centers, to stimulate development. These types of landscape alterations are inevitable as our population and economy continue to change. As urban planners and developers are playing a larger role in the formation of our national landscape, it becomes increasingly important for them to consider the impacts of development and land-use changes, and incorporate health-based design principles into the planning process.

Preparing for climate change requires more than a business-as-usual response from public planning officials. They must work with key public health departments to identify the areas of greatest health risk that are impacted from future climate change.

An example of applying adaptive management in planning is to consider the health risks impacting the largest number of residents (such as air pollution, extreme weather conditions, heat-related mortality, etc.) and assess the vulnerability of these populations to each risk. Then, the stakeholders need to consider a wide range of possible planning solutions and use an HIA to evaluate each of the ability of each of these solutions to ameliorate the risks.

A HIA is a structured process used to identify the potential health impacts (in terms of benefits and risks) of a proposed policy or plan and to develop timely health-based recommendations that are often overlooked when implementing the planning solutions.

Typically, these solutions, such as obtaining pedestrian and bicycle improvements in low-income urban corridors, locating unused public spaces for a local community garden and farmers market, and minimizing storm water runoff using containment ponds and rain gardens, have been made outside the public health sector.

The steps of an HIA are similar to that of the EPAmandated environmental impact assessment and include: screening (identifying plans and projects for which an HIA would be useful); scoping (identifying which health effects to consider); assessing (identifying which people are affected and how they are affected); recommending (suggesting changes to proposals to promote positive health impacts or to reduce adverse health outcomes); reporting (presenting the results to decision-makers); and monitoring and evaluation (determining the effect of the HIA on the decision).

The benefits of an HIA include not only an increased collaboration between public health and planning officials, but also an increased awareness of the health problems that are often missed in the traditional environmental impact assessments. For instance, recent collaborations between Los Angeles public health and planning advocates in the expansion of Highway 710 resulted in an increased awareness of stakeholders to the increased incidences of injury, diabetes, and asthma that would result from the highway expansion.

Source: http://landsat.usgs.gov Example of urban growth: Image and Data per USGS, Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, USA, Sensor: L1 MSS, L5 TM, L7 ETM+. Acquisition Date: March 12, 1974 and March 22, 1989 and February 01, 2003. The Dallas-Fort Worth area has grown significantly in the past 30 years. These images, acquired on March 12, 1974; March 22, 1989; and February 1, 2003, show the expansion of urban areas into the surrounding countryside. The combined Metroplex has grown substantially, with a population of 2,378,000 in 1970; 3,776,000 in 1988; and 5,568,150 in 2002.

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Designing for the Future

What Planners Need to Know About Adaptive Management and Health Impact Assessments

by Amy J. Blatt, PhD, GISP, TerraFirm International Corp., Inc

Public policies and environmental factors play an influential role in human health. HIAs are a great vehicle for planners and public officials to engage public health and medicine in minimizing the adverse health impacts of climate change. By reviewing the proposals stemming from an adaptive management response to climate change, HIAs provide a structured process for assessing the populations and impacts affected by these proposals and making changes to improve human health under uncertain future climatic conditions. The challenge ahead is to increase the demand for the routine use of HIAs, both within and outside the EIA process, and to promote collaborations between planners and health professionals to conduct HIAs.

In the context of climate change, examples of HIA recommendations that are potentially beneficial in land-use design and considerations include: improving outdoor air quality by supporting federal environmental regulations to reduce ground-level ozone concentrations; using centralized air filtration systems and solid flooring in new public housing units to minimize allergens and improve indoor air quality; dedicating land to community gardens and farmers markets so residents can have an easier access to fresh local produce; and increasing the presence of riparian buffers along rivers and streams to reduce runoff and the incidence of waterborne pathogens.

Photo by Pamela Shinn

Marti Park La Perla del Sur Location: Cienfuegos, Cuba

Photo by Pamela Shinn

Source: http://www.terraserver.com/ I-210, I-710, and CA 134, Pasadena, CA

Organic Earthscape/Full Circle Farm Co-op, Bill and Patrice Bobier, in Hesperia, Michigan

About the Writer Dr. Amy J. Blatt is a Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP). She enjoys working in the areas of climate change, its environmental impacts, and public health. Her work is published in many peer-reviewed journals, including Obstetrics and Gynecology and The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, which has been favorably reviewed in a Nature editorial by Dr. Kenneth Burman. She is the editor of a book volume entitled Perspectives in Medical Geography (Routledge, 2012), and a co-author of a chapter on careers in business and industry for geography students in Practicing Geography (Pearson, 2012). Dr. Blatt was a full-time tenure-track faculty at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and is a past president of the Esri MidAtlantic Users Group.

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How to Plan for Growth

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

by Tella Guillermo, PhD www.guillermotella.com Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina) counts for 90 percent of the population), and a series of scattered small towns: Antonio Carboni, Elvira, Villa Logüercio, Salvador María and Zapiola.

How to Plan for Growth:

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

It is predominantly rural and integrates the Salado The town of Lobos (Argentina), a predominantly ru- River basin. Lobos is a trade and business center of ral municipality, is affected by a situation of interface regional importance, favored by its accessibility via between the expansion of Buenos Aires and the rural Provincial Route 41 and National Route 205. It is also hinterland. Given this scenario, this article addresses the epicentre of industrial activity in the area. It has the challenge of giving value to pre-existing elements, significant resources of historical and cultural value, ordering displacements and guide future growth. such as Argentine President Juan D. Peron´s birthFrom this perspective, the Lobos municipal council place. developed the “Lobos 2020 Strategic Plan”, whose Lobos undergoes metropolitan strains (related to real general outline is presented below. state, jobs and commerce), as well as environmental In Argentina, the municipality of Lobos is located one stresses (floods, water quality, disposal of effluents in hundred kilometres southwest of Buenos Aires City. It water channels). The pre-eminence of rural activity is characterized by plains, depressions and lagoons. It and the existence of natural and prairie landscape and has a population of 33,000 and an urban system con- resources show a state of transformation of the envisisting of a city center, Lobos (which acronment that must be preserved to enhance production and responsible tourism.

The city is characterized by the decrease of rural population and its evident primacy over nearby scattered towns, due to its particular transportation system, infrastructure and equipment. It also shows a progressive process of inclusion to the metropolitan process of conurbation of Buenos Aires as a “bedroom community” and as a supplier of industrial, agricultural and livestock products.

In this context, the challenge taken up by the municipal council was how to generate development adapted to the conditions of predominance of rural areas with an important urban centrality, against the draw of its accessibility and the region’s tendency to urbanize rural areas. Thus, the objectives to meet were: to promote competitiveness in the area; to generate

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobos

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How to Plan for Growth:

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

by Tella Guillermo, PhD www.guillermotella.com Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina) sustainable growth; and to contribute to social inclusion.

The Lobos 2020 Strategic Plan was developed with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funding. The consultant team is coordinated by the author. Various strategies were developed to guide growth, under those basic premises: Macro-regional strategies: to promote common guidelines between neighbouring municipalities, concerning the protection of rural heritage, the environmental biodiversity, pressures generated on the natural groundwater resources and on the dominant natural landscape.

Inter-district Strategies: to promote similarities between the districts of Elvira and Antonio Carboni, the functional connectio n between Zapiola and Empalme, and the integration of actions between Salvador María, Bahía de Lobos and Villa Logüercio.

The action strategies are complementary: the paving of the path (with bike lanes and forestry), recovery of the railway stations, development of agro-productive enterprises (nurseries, orchards, crafts), and the development of different food products.

The functional connection between districts concerns: the hierarchy of road links (signaling, forestation and bike path), the development of a circuit for rides around the lake, the recovery of abandoned train stations, and implementation of rail service local called “ferrobus”.

Some of the actions of integration between districts are: sewage treatment, expanding the gas network, expanding the coverage area of drinking water, the recovery of the zonal hospital, the promotion of tourism activities.

Intra-urban Strategies: to promote the compactness of the urban fabric, limiting the growth of downtown Lobos, strengthening the area of Empalme as a subcenter and the creation of a new centrality in the Terminal area.

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How to Plan for Growth:

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

by Tella Guillermo, PhD www.guillermotella.com Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina)

The agreed ordering model

of “Empalme Lobos” (Lobos Junction) and “Vidriera de Lobos” (Window of Lobos), to improve the quality From this formulation, an ordering model was agreed of the central urban area and its relationship with the between local government and local society. The mod- lagoon, to protect and strengthen local cultural heriel is aimed at: preventing the uprooting of population tage, to improve the city´s circulatory structure and living in the towns of the interior districts, preserving accessibility´s hierarchy and to recover the environthe most fragile natural areas, limiting any concen- mental value of the territory. tration of activities whose effects could compromise groundwater´s quality and generate soil degradation It is as also defined as an industrial area, exclusive for and regulation of the comprehensive management of the engineering sector, an “Agropolo” or agricultural and livestock industrial pole , and a “Textile Plant” to the Lobos lagoon. add value with local design. Finally, to protect superfiWe propose the creation of a Lobos Recreational Green cial watercourses (or river water, lagoon or creek that Circuit that threads antiquated railway spaces of Em- is on top, on which people often dump waste contamipalme Lobos-Elvira railway line, the Salado river- nants) and create the “Water Park” as a public, educabanks, the road to Salvador María, the banks of the tional and recreational space that helps to recover the Lobos lagoon and the Green Corridor of Salgado water symbolic value of water as a resource. channel. Limits are also set on certain land uses in rural areas, such as: feet lots, country clubs, golf courses, The “Agropolo” or pole agribusiness is an area that encompasses activities related to food production, peri-urban cellars. combining agribusiness companies, input suppliers, For the city, the ordering model prioritizes: to provide producer services, research and technological develbasic infrastructure, to generate the urban sub-centers opment, among others.

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How to Plan for Growth

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

by Tella Guillermo, PhD www.guillermotella.com Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina)

Plan´s Foundational Strategies

distribute the benefits derive from the development.

And finally, the last points to overcome interventions in those areas that the plan required. This means: the charge compensation with constructive potential transfer to other areas for completion of tissue uptake of capital gains triggered by the change of urban indicators in the polygons generated, and the mobilization of capital gains captured at other areas to fund projects urban.

Strategy 2: Regional Articulation It comprises a set of actions aimed at generating a “Green Circuit” that links small rural towns, the farms, the lagoons and the Salado River, complementarity between districts for the development of productive projects, the designation of intangible valuation areas or of natural reserve, among others. Some of the actions proposed are: the definition of environmentally protected areas, protection of water courses, creation

From the vast array of emerging proposals, 10 strategies regarded as the founding of the plan are summarized below: Strategy 1: Productive Strengthening It promotes production growth throughout taxation instruments that mobilize the industrial market, the creation of a “Textile Plant” to add local value, the creation of an “Agropolo” or agricultural and livestock industrial pole, developing a metalworking district that groups local industry, among others.

One such tool is the application of the constructive transfer to compensate for potential conflicts in areas of historical value. There is another who seeks to re-

16

How to Plan for Growth

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

by Tella Guillermo, PhD www.guillermotella.com Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina) Strategy 8: Environmental Sustainability It promotes the recovery and management of the Lobos lagoon, the restoration and control of urban and Strategy 3: Rural Tramway Lobos peri-urban cellars, the recovery and management It proposes the creation of a diesel train service link- of the Salgado Channel, the protection of grounding all the districts of the municipality, from infra- water and surface water resources, and institutional structure and railway lines now decommissioned strengthening to promote environmental comptroland/or underutilized. It is for touristic attraction—as ler, etc. it connects farmsteads — and allows transportation of supplies by boxcar.

Strategy 9: Legal Instruments It generates a new “Land Management Code” and Strategy 4: Territorial Qualification a “Building Code” , incorporating mechanisms for It promotes the integration of the urban fabric of the citizen participation and management, urban comcity of Lobos through completion of its interstices, the pensations, new procedures for the adoption, impledissolution of urban barriers, the relocation of engi- mentation and monitoring of the Plan, tools for envineering industries, the recovery of degraded areas, de- ronmental and heritage preservation, etc. commissioning and relocation of silos, the creation of the a “Water Park”, etc.

Strategy 10: Systematization of Information It consists of the development and operation of a Strategy 5: New Centralities “Land Information System”, which manages spatial It develops two urban sub-centres in the City of Lo- data, integrates and articulates the different municibos: “Empalme Lobos” on one end throughout the re- pal databases. It involves a process of data collection, functioning and valorisation of the Empalme railway computer processing and map production for constation and the recycling of derelict industrial plants, stant updating. and “Vidriera de Lobos” on the other one, over an area to be developed through public-private consortium. of a green park around the stream Salgado and the relocation of a cold storage outside the urban area.

The Course Taken Toward the Next Decade

Strategy 6: Road Ranking This is done by a hierarchy of streets and avenues.

It tends to improve the accessibility to Lobos and its internal connectivity through creation of differential roads, for car traffic and loads, the creation of a “Cargo Transfer Center and of Goods in Transit”, the complementarity between the cargo transport system, a new bus terminal, etc.

The organization and execution of workshops with local institutions and local society raised mechanisms for consultation and participation that lead to the identification of local problems and for the validation of the various proposal phases. There have been various workshops: a) to identify social, productive, urban and environmental, b) to formulate a model for future management of the district, and c) finally, to define actions and strategic projects. In this way, at the different outlined stages, participation of different actors was ensured -various agencies and levels of government and social and economic sectors were involved.

Strategy 7: Urban Revitalization It seeks to restore the central area of Lobos, throughout ranking of the east-west axis (9 de Julio St.), the valorisation of historic places (Lobos Train Station, “Plaza 1810” -central square-, Juan D. Peron´s Birthplace, etc.), the creation of pedestrian touristic circuits and provision of adequate urban facilities.

17

How to Plan for Growth

When a Rural Town is Affected by Metropolitan Expansion

by Tella Guillermo, PhD www.guillermotella.com Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina)

About the Writer

As it undergoes metropolitan strains related to Buenos Aires’ tendency to advance over a metropolitan territory, a series of defensive actions were generated: to increase competitiveness—before production dismantling—to focus actions based on mitigation and reversibility—before the environment was put at risk.

Regarding the regional disruption, actions arise to provide integration between districts; as well as actions toward readjustment and retraining–before territorial decompensation of the city.

Tella Guillermo is an architect and PhD in Urban Planning. He has been professor and researcher in urban planning since 1989. Since 2005, he has carried out his academic activities in the Institute of the Conurbation in the University of General Sarmiento (Argentina).

In his professional experience, he takes part and coordinates the development of strategic plans and of urban ordinance and local development for public as well as for socio-urban and environmental consulting firms. As a result of this theoretical production and professional practice, he has published numerous science and outreach works on the processes and effects of the metropolitan trans-formation. You can learn more about Tella Guillermo at: www.guillermotella.com

Photo courtesy Tella Guillermo

Consequently, with this strategic positioning, .Lobos municipality plans its growth toward the next decade: 2020 is the goal, the plan is on course.

Before After 18

Natural Environment and Health in the Modern World The Impact of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-being

by Andre Maltsev

Why do people visit the park? These data have been collected through a survey conducted among visitors of the Vondelpark, the most popular park in the centre of Amsterdam (The Netherlands).

Natural Environment and Health in the Modern World: The Impact of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-being

Created around 1860, the park attracts more then 9 millions tourists and local people each year. It extends over 48 hectares and hosts about 5,000 trees of 127 different species. Since 1996, it has gained the status of a legendary park to be preserved for future generations.

The fast tread of modern society means people are turning more and more to nature for relaxation and recreation. In extremely populated areas and cities, nature is no longer a permanent component of the real living environment. To reach nature, we have to travel farther and farther, by car, train or plane.

In total, 750 questionnaires were distributed. A relatively high quantity of questionnaires 470 was returned. The questionnaires from female were 250. Age classes ranged from 15 to 65 and the mean age of the total sample is about 42 years.

People’s motives to visit natural areas and the various activities they carry out reflect the demands people place on natural areas, and the needs they expect to be fulfilled. To collect data about people’s motives of park visits, the respondent was asked: “Why do you come here?”

The following alternative options were given: to play sports, to meet others, Reasons for Visiting Natural Areas and Parks to play with children, to walk the dog, to listen and observe nature, to contemplate and meditate, to get artistic inspiration, and other. A frequency analysis of people’s motives to visit nature shows that “To relax” is the motive most frequently mentioned by the visitors, accounting for the 73% of the answers (Fig. 1).

Nature policy considers the increasing requirement for ‘nature for people’, particularly in and around towns and cities. We can see two influences of nature on our health and well-being: a direct connection between health and nature can be established directly or indirectly.

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

This result should not come with surprise: many people in modern urban area have the need to relax. Many of us have, in the silent and timeless atmosphere of natural environments, benefit simply from forgetting daily worries, breathing fresh air and

19

Natural Environment and Health in the Modern World The Impact of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-being

by Andre Maltsev

to just relax. “To listen and observe nature” (shortened as “To be in nature” in Fig. 1 for editorial convenience) shows another important motive to visit the park (54.4%).

The benefits deriving from these functions accrue to both parents and children. It has been suggested that the senses of challenge and adventure children experience in nature contribute positively to their development.

This motive reflects a pure and interested need to feel nature around, to observe its elements, and experience them through the senses (i.e. smell, hearing, and sight). The motive “To escape from the city” is mentioned in 32.2% of the answers returned. This motive indicates that the park constitutes a sort of “oasis”, a refuge far from the traffic, the noise and the pollution of the city.

The reasons “To contemplate and meditate”, “To meet others”, “To walk the dog”, “To sport” and “To get artistic inspiration” follow in decreasing frequency.

These motives reflect needs to experience solitude and to be on your own, as well as to meet other people and engage in social relations.

Let’s go to review of the possible beneficial effects of nature on health.

Many respondents also mentioned the need to see other things than cars, buildings and concrete. In these terms, urban nature offers the possibility to escape not only from the worries and the routine of everyday life, but also from the physical profile of the city.

Recovery From Stress and Weariness

As modern technology, traffic, synthetic light and noise increasingly dominate our towns and cities, a park or green environment can be an oasis of quiet and calm that has a genuine effect on stress. Stress caused by social and physical environmental factors has a major impact on our physiology and behavior and requires continuous adaptation of our physiological functions.

Findings also indicate that almost 20% of the respondents visit the park “To be with the children”. In this respect, nature fulfils important social functions, strengthening family ties and providing safe places for children to play, which are increasingly scarce in modern cities.

Natural Environment and Health 1.1.Recovery from stress weariness Recovery from stress andand weariness 2. Exercise Exercisecontacts.

3.2.Social 4. Development of children 3. Social contacts.

4. Development of child

Health and social well-being

Natural environment

20

Natural Environment and Health in the Modern World The Impact of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-being

by Andre Maltsev

There has been a growing trend for people to work under great pressure. The past 15 years have seen a sharp rise in the incidence of exhaustion-related complaints, both in men (from 24% to 33%) and in women (from 38% to 50%).

number of people whose jobs involve little exercise will continue to increase. Our living environments are also providing less incentive to exercise since there are fewer attractive, safe areas in which to walk, cycle and jog. Many workers mention fresh air and “simply being outdoors” as reasons for taking exercise. A Dutch study performed as part of the 'Lunchtime Walking’ project found the most-cited motivating factors for taking exercise in the lunch break to be the presence of footpaths, a park and pleasant walks. Other factors were the presence of shops in the closeness and being accompanied by colleagues. An ongoing study of lunchtime walking habits (either gentle walking and eating at the same time, or walking directly after eating) in a number of Dutch companies is explicitly looking into whether a “green” environment has a motivating effect compared with urban environments

In 1998, one in 10 working people in the Netherlands reported ‘burnout’ complaints. No less than 15 percent of women performing highly skilled, non-manual work were found to be suffering from ‘burnout’ complaints.

Relevant to this statistic data is the question as nature in the living environment can help both healthy and sick people to recover from stress and exhaust.

Clinical evidence prompts that exposure to an outdoor green environment reduces stress much faster than anything else. Simply viewing nature can produce significant recovery from stress within three to five minutes.

Social Contact Can nature facilitate social contact? If so, this would also establish a positive link between nature and health. People with many social contacts feel healthier and live longer. Among older people, more social contacts are linked to a longer life and reductions in the prevalence of depression. Social contacts not only prevent loneliness, it also results in more social support and concrete assistance in difficult situations and encourages healthy behavior. But, from other side, individualization in society is making social contact more difficult.

This is just one important way in which nature can have a positive impact on health is via recovery from stress and attention fatigue. Contact with natural environments contributes to recovery from weariness in two ways: first because natural environments provide opportunities to distance oneself from routine activities and thoughts (‘being away’) and second because they automatically engage the attention without requiring any effort (‘soft fascination’).

Exercise

Many people – especially inhabitants of large cities and the elderly – lack social contacts and social support. Collective maintenance of natural areas or, other words, group based nature activities (e.g. walking or willow pollarding) and gardening (shared gardens for the elderly) is a typically Dutch, group-based, green activity. In a fact, 1999, around a quarter of the Dutch population were admitted to having occasionally felt lonely or neglected. Loneliness is most distributed between the young and the elderly.

Way in which nature can benefit health is by providing an incentive to take an active exercise. It is so clear that sufficient exercise is an important factor in creating good health. Exercises have a positive effect on quality health. Despite the fact that 96 percent of the Dutch population finds exercise important for health, only a minority (45 percent) meet the standard for exercise, while 12 percent of Dutch people do not even manage 30 minutes’ exercise a day. The

21

Natural Environment and Health in the Modern World The Impact of Nature on Social, Psychological and Physical Well-being

by Andre Maltsev

Photo by Pamela Sinn

Women, inhabitants of large cities, people with poor education and immigrants are, in general, more likely to suffer from loneliness. In our days, park management agencies have recently focused on the social and environmental values of parks. For example, the Canadian Parks/Recreation Association recently published ‘The Benefits Catalogue’ (1997) documenting the health and wellbeing benefits of all aspects of recreation in parks. In Australia, a key message of Parks Victoria is ‘Healthy parks, healthy people’ acknowledges the symbiotic relationship between parks and people.

Bear Creek River Trail in Jefferson County Colorado. It is noted for both biking and hiking. The trail extends 9.1 miles ending at the Plate River. Bear Creek Trail provides a taste of the country in the city, connecting downtown Denver with the foothills of the Rockies.

other children, they obtain the social contact with adults - it is an important factor in social development.

Development of Children Nowadays, children spend more time in front of the television than they do playing and exploring the outdoors However, experts believe that outdoor activities for children can actually be beneficial for them.

Outdoor activities for children encourage physical play and the ability to stay active. Hence, the physical benefits are obvious. Regular exercise is recommended by doctors and health experts to boost physical and mental health. So, encouraging your kids to go out and play will help boost their health condition.

A survey conducted by the Dutch Market Research Institute (NIPO) among children aged from 6 to 12 shows that playing outdoors is still the favorite pastime when school is over. However, the time that children spend playing outside has been halved over the past 20 years. In addition, children have less space in which to play. There are also large groups of children who hardly ever set foot outdoors, especially in the pre-war neighborhoods of large cities. It has also emerged that most outdoor activities take place under parental supervision. Children nowadays are therefore far more restricted in

From this small topic we can see, that nature can have a great effect on people’s health and the social relations with other people. In point of fact, additional effects such as stress and recovery procidure after, social contacts, attention exhaustion and encouragement of exercise are associated with important mental and health problems in our, so fast changeable world.

Contact with the natural world (through differente type of active interactions) has the ability to affect human health and wellbeing in countless positive ways.

As the evidence obliously demonstrates, there are immediate and long-term favourable, emotional, and physiological changes proceeding from contact with nature through animals, gardens, natural landscapes, and wilderness. Much of this contact is made accessible through public green place (for exmple – parks).

At present moment all of us understand benefits arising from contact with nature.

About the Writer

Andre Maltsev works in IT Technology and is a freelance photographer/journalist from Almere, Netherlands. Born in Russia, Andrea’s career has taken him from Russia, to working in Her Majesty’s service for the British Embassy, to Italy to where he is located today in the Netherlands. Currently Andre is also the magazines European Consultant. You can view many of Andre Maltsev’s works at http://www.flickr.photos/ ryzhik/

their freedom of movement. Recent experimental study by Evans and Wells involving 337 rural children (average age 9 years) shows that children with high levels of “nearby nature” display a greater ability to get through with stressful events. Also, it is very important for children, that besides playing with

22

Drop in the Sea

How do Ordinary Chinese Make a Profit From Unhealthy Metropolitan Life

by Yekaterina Dobritskaya

Drop in the sea:

recently been engulfed in a hazardous haze....”

Schools have been cancel outdoor activities, How Do Ordinary Chinese Make and health experts have asked children, the elderly and people with respiratory ailments stay indoors. a Profit From Unhealthy The city recorded the world's highest level of sulfur Metropolitan Life dioxide concentrations from 2000 to 2005 and has the With a population of more than 23 million people, third-highest levels of nitrogen dioxide behind only Shanghai is the largest city in modern China. It`s also Sao Paulo and Mexico City. an influential financial center, the world’s busiest conPollution fell in 2008 because city officials banned tainer port. roughly half of the city’s cars when it hosted the OlymMost people see its greatest achievements, including pic Games. its use of leading technologies in projection and conShanghai’s situation is much better, but its struction of modern buildings, living areas, as well as being one of the world’s leading business, trade and “special achievement” is an acid rain that comprises more than 70 percent the city’s precipitation. PH value entertainment centers. of these rains commonly centers around 4.4.

Shanghai is an international metropolis, suffering According to a report by The McIlvaine Comlike so many others, from overpopulation. Transport congestion and air pollution are common problems pany, a Northfield, Ill. Market research firm, “the nithere. On the flip side, it is one of the most developed trogen oxide emissions from Chinese coal-fired power and “western” cities in China, defining the standards plants were 9.5 million tons in 2010. This compares for reducing transport collapses and environment- to 3 million tons of NOx emissions from U.S. power plants” [3]. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) usually comes unfriendly influences. from plants, transport and generators and causes pulLet’s view Shanghai’s condition compared to with monary disease.

Beijing. According to World Bank statistics, China’s As Daily Finance says, Bejing had the third-highest capital city has a population of 22 million and usually level of nitrogen dioxide in 2010 behind San Paulo can be found in Top-10 to Top-20 worst air-polluted cities. Shanghai, China’s largest city is not in this list; and Mexico City [2]. According to Chinese statistics, it’s not even in the list of China’s worst air-polluluted a share of vehicle air pollution by NOx was 71 percent in Beijing urban and only 21 percent in the Shanghai cities. urban area in 2000, though within the inner ring is 81 China’s “air pollution cocktail” percent.[4].

Sulfur oxides as SO, SO2 and SO3 head the list. The primary pollutant is SO2. About 85% of SO2 emissions results from coal burning, much of it produced by power stations.

China’s SO2 emissions have been the world highest in last two decades. As a result, cardio-vascular disease causes more deaths than any other in the country (38 percent); cancer causes a little more than 20 percent and respiratory disease, 15 percent [1].

According to a Daily Finance article: “Beijing's air quality has become so bad that the city has

CO2 is one of most abundant gases in polluted air. It comes from burned fuel and cement production.

According to World Bank statistics, Chinese CO2 emissions were more than 7 million tons against 6.7 million of the USA [5]. CO2 emissions are responsible for greenhouse effect, global warming. They are also one of the major causes of human respiratory illness.

The World Health Organization says CO2 is responsible for 15 percent of all deaths in China.[1].

23

Drop in the Sea

How do Ordinary Chinese Make a Profit From Unhealthy Metropolitan Life

Photo by Yekaterina Dobritskaya

by Yekaterina Dobritskaya

Though the Chinese government is concerned about its ecological situation inside the country, its higher priority –economic development – exacts a heavy toll on human.

• Car registration lottery. Since 2011, long-term residents of Beijing may register their cars through the lottery only. The government reported, “for the first allotment of 20,000 license plates to be handed out…” in one of month in 2011, there were 210,178 applications [6].

What can the people of China change this? China had used to be the “Kingdom of Bicycles.” That situation fundamentally changed two decades ago with the advent of higher incomes. China’s population is 1.5 billion. And if every Chinese with middle income owns and drives a car like, for example, every German does, it creates extremely dangerous situations on the roads and in the air. To prevent this, the Chinese governments should begin reducing the number of cars on the roads.

• Reducing number of people who can own a car. According to Jeffrey Hays said, “…only Beijing residents and members of the police and military are allowed to purchase vehicles. Government agencies will not be allowed to buy vehicles for five years” [6].

Or, as Barbara Demick of Los Angeles Times wrote, “Only long-term Beijing residents may register cars in the city, and cars with out-of-town plates can’t enter, a measure as drastic as if New York banned the bridge-and-tunnel crowd” [6].

Beijing Traffic Solutions

Shanghai Government was forced to organize auctions for car registration that created large-scale discontent in its middle class.

In 2003, it was “cyclist dismount” year in China. The cyclist movement was temporarily banned to assure it did not interrupt vehicular traffic. There also were

• Quota determination. Since 2011, Beijing government fixed a new small passenger vehicle quota at 20,000 per a month.

24

Drop in the Sea

How do Ordinary Chinese Make a Profit From Unhealthy Metropolitan Life

by Yekaterina Dobritskaya

Photo by Yekaterina Dobritskaya

• It’s the healthiest carrier vehicle. Chinese culture adjusted to human physiology forced citizen’s hands to use this transport to be fit and healthy.

To approve cycling, the Shanghai government plans to construct the Chongming bicycle park – a huge entertainment center that allows cycling or walking.

Will ordinary Chinese be able to win this conflict, where their enemy is a country’s intention to kickstart its economy when the government’s priorities and environmental safety are on opposite sides? Not, of likely.

Resources: 1.

Air pollution in China // Greenpeace East Asia. - http:// www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/air-pollution/problems/ china/http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/air-pollution/ problems/china/ 2.

The 10 Cities with the World’s Worse Air. McIntyre D. // Daily Finance. 2010 Nov. 29. – http://www.dailyfinance. com/2010/11/29/10-cities-with-worlds-worst-air/ 3.

U.S & China Match Rest of World In Coal-Based NOx Emissions // Flow Control. 2011 Jan. 13. – http://www.flowcontrolnetwork. com/applications/energy/article/coal-power-nox-emissions-in-us-andchina-match-the-rest-of-world 4.

Transport-Related Resource and Enviromental Issues in China. Jiang Yulin and Feng Liguang // Worlad Transport Policy & Practice. Vol. 12 № 4. Special Eddition. Transportation in China (2006 Sept.)/ Pg. 17-28. - Pg. 20-21. - http://www.ecoplan.org/library/wt12-4. pdf 5.

The World Bank– Data. – http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E. KT?order=wbapi_data_value_2008+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_ value-last&sort=desc 6.

Driving and owning car in China. Hays J., 2008 // Facts and Details. - http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=409&catid=13 &subcatid=86 7.

Acid rains make life hard in 258 Chinese cities. 2011 Jan. 14 // NDTV. - http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/acid-rains-make-lifehard-in-258-chinese-cities-79213 8.

Carbon dioxide: air pollution // Lenntech Water Threatment.

– http://www.lenntech.com/carbon-dioxide.htm 9.

Historical analysis of SO2 pollution control policies in

a number of factors brought about “Crushing of the Kingdom”: • The rise of income of middle class, which brought about “desire to own and drive a car”; • A new Chinese transportation policy, that included new road and multi-level junction construction .

And yet, the current number of Chinese cyclists exceeds 400 million people. It is the country with the highest number of bicycles in the world; every 3rd Chinese is a cyclist.

• The bicycle is the cheapest transport. That makes it a favorite of lower income groups and also students. There are a lot of students riding bicycles inside campuses.

• Bicycles are the quickest transport. It helps people escape the longest traffic jams in the world.

But bicycles are gradually disappearing from the metropolitan scene. More people are now living in bedroom communities far from the city center they work in, and are forced to prefer private or public transport to get a job. This is because highway travel on bicycles is banned and movement along the streets is extremely dangerous.

About the Writer Dr. Yekaterina Dobritskaya (Moscow, Russia) is a Doctor (PhD) of Chinese Philosophy and interpreter from Chinese of the Tomsk Polytechnic University in 2005-2009. During 2003-2005 lived and studied in China (study at Jilin University, Changchun). Is an author of the dissertation and number of articles in Chinese philosophy and culture area.

25

User Involvement in Hazardous Waste Collection System Design

by Olga Belorusova

Involvement in Hazardous Waste Collection System Design Photo by Andrey Maltsev

Since 1974 through the provision of municipal selfgovernance Swedish municipalities are responsible for developing their own waste collection system based on the EU regulations and the Environmental Code (Avfall Sverige, 2011, p. 6). This allows those working with waste management to meet the needs of local people in their variety of circumstances and consider the local social contexts, which is so important in en- when a citizens’ proposal was taken into account and vironmental decision making (Roads, Wilson, Urban implemented. Additionally to the proposed public facilities to dispose hazardous waste such as recycling and Herricks, 1999, p.297). centers, collection lockers in the supermarkets and The hazardous waste collection system for Malmo is the ‘green car’, each housing cooperative has a possiin its large share designed by the professionals work- bility to order an extra service, such as another locking at Vasyd, South Scania Waste Company Sysav, er in the housing area or another stop by the ‘green representatives of environmental and health sectors car’. This goes with extra cost. The decisions are made (Bissmont, 2012). The decision process is based on the through voting during the meetings where the people previous waste collection statistics, as well as custom- living in the cooperative are invited. According to Aver satisfaction data received through telephone inter- fall Sverige ‘the municipalities in Sweden do not impleviewing. Vasyd takes into account other examples of ment any real follow up on the system use and customer waste collection systems all around Sweden. Every satisfaction’ (Avfall Sverige, 2011, p.21) 5 years waste management plan is prepared. During the preparation phase workshops involving landlords, Although the existing legal framework allows the commercial sector representatives, organizations current design system for hazardous waste collection to incorporate citizens’ views, ideas and needs, working in waste sector, are organized. the decisions are mostly made by the professionals, For working with the population Vasyd is utilizing a being driven by existing experience and economic web-site, as well as Facebook page and a twitter ac- constraints. Scarce number of efforts aimed at includcount. The web-site and social networks are mostly ing citizens’ views is limited in their capacity. Thereused for information dissemination to the popula- fore there is no comprehensive picture of the citizens’ tion. Sysav, waste management plant, being one of the views about what would be really convenient for them stakeholders in promoting recycling additionally to in sorting hazardous waste properly. traditional advertisement as well uses its web-site and Involving Users in Increasing the social networks in communication with the population.

Efficiency of Recycling Systems

The citizens’ proposals are being accepted for consideration through the feedback form on Malmo municipality web-site www.malmo.se. The ‘green car’ collecting hazardous waste from the population once per half a year from every area in Malmo is an example

Interviews conducted within the frames of this research revealed numerous challenges in utilizing the existing hazardous waste collection in Malmo, as well as suggestions for improvement. The suggestions included pre-arranged spaces in the apart-

26

User Involvement in Hazardous Waste Collection System Design

by Olga Belorusova

apartments; more opportunities to dispose a wider variety of products on the people’s everyday route: in the shops, yards, on staircases. Hierarchy of different types of hazardous waste collection stations in the city and expanding opportunities of received professional assistance in different ways were suggested.

What the findings show is that the waste collection system efficiency depends largely on the local context and whether it considers the characteristics of the end-users. Practicing participatory design in developing hazardous waste collection system would open new opportunities for its changes and efficiency increase. Several interviewed people admitted that the interviews were informative for them and increased their awareness in handling hazardous waste. Involving of end-users increases the rate of service utilization and its voluntary promotion by them, as well as social satisfaction and acceptance (Anthopoulos, Siozos and Tsoukalas, 2007, p. 355). Involving of users allows considering the ‘accessibility, usability, efficiency, and simplification characteristics’ of services (Anthopoulos, Siozos and Tsoukalas, 2007) to a better extent.

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

Students expressed more interest in the programmes where they could get benefit from recycling: ‘1 point goes to me and one for saving the trees’ (Kajsa, 2012).

Such programs aimed particularly at this group of people could be considered because that would develop their attitude and ensure their very often first experience with the system. Very often student time is a first time in person’s life, when a person becomes head of the household and takes on the responsibilities for managing waste. When the people move on to the next stage of their life they already have the recycling experience and developed recycling habits, which is a strong predictor of recycling behavior.

the existing waste recycling system. Backing on this fact this we can conclude that if the existing recycling system will just be expanded to having additional categories for hazardous waste, the recycling rates for hazardous waste will not exceed the capacity of the present recycling system. People who recycle will probably just recycle more types. Those who do not recycle will continue not recycling. In order to avoid detrimental environmental effect from incorrect disposing of hazardous waste, zero hazardous elements should be contained in general waste stream. More intrusive, involving and creative approach to increasing recycling is needed.

As mentioned above, participatory design requires that users’ suggestions should be immediately tested through development of prototypes. Before that, it is impossible to know, whether the suggestions are viable and efficient.

27

User Involvement in Hazardous Waste Collection System Design

by Olga Belorusova

Most of the people while thinking of how it would be convenient for them to sort hazardous waste turn to the existing waste recycling system. Backing on this fact this we can conclude that if the existing recycling system will just be expanded to having additional categories for hazardous waste, the recycling rates for hazardous waste will not exceed the capacity of the present recycling system. People who recycle will probably just recycle more types. Those who do not recycle will continue not recycling. In order to avoid detrimental environmental effect from incorrect disposing of hazardous waste, zero hazardous elements should be contained in general waste stream. More intrusive, involving and creative approach to increasing recycling is needed.

The views and suggestions of immigrants who do not have work and maybe still do not know Swedish and English, as well as of people with physical constraints are outside of the scope of this study. It was noticed that younger people were more willing to participate in the ‘imaginary’ design process than older people.

Older people although not all recycling the full scope of hazardous waste had difficulties in seeing the opportunities for improvement, while younger people started producing suggestions already from the beginning of the conversations while discussing their habits in handling hazardous waste. Professional involvement of users through participatory design, which would consider the peculiarities in communication with different groups of people and local context, would ensure that the expectations of how the hazardous waste collection system would be used are fully met.

About the Writer

Photo by Pamela Sinn

Olga Belorusova is a Communications professional with almost 10 years of experience, who holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Urban Management (Malmo University, Sweden). This article is a result of her research conducted for her Master thesis, which has become possible thanks to the Swedish Institute (SI) scholarship. Olga received her education in Belarus and Sweden. She has worked in mass media, local and international companies and development organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund. Olga developed and implemented comprehensive organizational communication strategies, which were aimed at different target audiences, organized national information and awareness-increasing campaigns, as well as provided communication and media support to international events held in Belarus and Sweden. She believes that Sustainable Urban Management is possible when efforts and time are being invested in establishing efficient communications among all the stakeholders. Olga is a member of the Alumni Swedish Institute Network of Future Global Leaders. You can view Olga’s complete thesis at http://dspace.mah.se/handle/2043/14072

28

Gazprom

In the Energy Sector of Russia and Europe

by Andre Maltsev

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

Gazprom: The Energy Sector of Russia and Europe Gazprom, Open Joint Stock Company, is the biggest company and is one of the largest extractor of the oil and gas around world. Gazprom was created in 1989 in the Soviet Union. Several years later, the company was partly privatized, but at the present time the Russian Government is the largest holder within the company.

Gazprom, St Petersburg

Chikanskoye field (Irkutsk Oblast) in 2008, works were started on the field. Today, there is a gas pipeline from the Chikanskoye field to Sayansk, Angarsk and Irkutsk.

At the end of 2011, Gazprom extracted approximately 35 trillion cubic meters (or approximately 18 trillion cubic feet) of gas, and produces approximately 15% of the worldwide gas production, or about 33 million tons of oil and 12 million tons of gas condensate. Gazprom has the largest transport system in the world for extracted gas. Trunk lines are more than 160.000 kilometers, included new pipe lines for Nord Stream and South Stream projects to Europe. Golf of Ob in Western Siberia, is the place where located most of production fields of Gazprom, but the Yamal Peninsula is expected to be largest production field in the future.

Chayanda field (Yakutia), located in Yakutia, the field has largest resources of natural gas. The geological exploration is in progress. This project is planning to construct the Yakutia – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline.

Kshukskoye and Nizhne-Kvakchikskoye fields are on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The Company is also constructing the Sobolevo – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka gas trunk line. In addition, the project stipulates construction of gas distribution networks in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka.

The Russian Federation Government granted to Gazprom the subsurface license for the ZapadnoKamchatsky block. Between 2009 and 2012 natural gas reserves are projected to increase by 200 billion cubic meters.

Gazprom said it was considering a boost to its oil production; eventually to achieve around 50% of its earnings from crude. “We plan to cut our dependence on gas exports” said Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee Alexei Miller. “We are studying the possibility of new acquisitions in this sector in Russia and abroad” Eastern Siberia and the Far East cover nearly 60% of the Russian Federation. The gas resources of Eastern Russia is about 53 trillion cubic meters onshore and 15 trillion cubic meters offshore. But regional gas potential has been poorly explored standing at 7.3% for the onshore area and 6% for the continental shelf.

Gazprom is owner of abundant resource base in Eastern Russia that makes possible to implement large infrastructure projects. Today, Gazprom holds more than forty licenses for using subsurface resources in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

Sakhalin II is the large integrated PSA project is being carried out by an international consortium.

Gazprom is the majority shareholder in this project.

Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system (GTS). The system is a main purpose of the Eastern Gas Program. According to the Russian Federation Government’s assignment and the Gazprom Board of Directors’ decision, Gazprom is currently constructing the GTS in order to develop

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Gazprom

In the Energy Sector of Russia and Europe

by Andre Maltsev

gas supply to the Khabarovsk Krai and the Sakhalin Oblast, as well as to arrange gas supply to the Primorsky Krai starting from the third quarter of 2011. The first GTS start-up gas line stretches 1,350 kilometers and the capacity of 6 billion cubic meters each year. In the future, the system will delivers around 30 billion cubic meters of Sakhalin gas. It will gives possible to meet the prioritized gas demand of Russia’s Far Eastern regions and to create additional potential for gas exports to Asia-Pacific countries.

for securing gas deliveries from the Unified Gas Supply System to the Nord Stream gas pipeline and supplying consumers of Russia's North-Western region.

The gas trunk line length is around 900 kilometers with the design capacity of 55 billion cubic meters.

The commissioning of the gas trunkline facilities is synchronized with those of the Nord Stream project.

By now, the pipeline expansion has been completed through building of a loop lines system (total length is some 700 kilometers) and the necessary compressor capacities to deliver gas to the second string of Nord Stream, including the Portovaya compressor station.

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

The advanced practices of domestic companies and innovative technical solutions were utilized during the construction, thus ensuring high reliability, technical and economic efficiency and environmental safety. The domesticallymanufactured pipes and shutoff valves of the new generation were used for the linear part of the pipeStrezhivoy field region line. The pipeline crossings Nord Stream is a completely new way for Russian gas through watercourses were built using the horizontal export to Europe. Running across the Baltic Sea from directional drilling and micro tunneling techniques, the Portovaya Bay (close to Vuborg) to the German which makes it possible to avoid interference into rivcoast (close to Greifswald) the gas pipeline stretches er ecosystems during the construction and operation 1,224 kilometers. The Nord Stream project is imple- processes. mented by Nord Stream AG joint venture. The stakes in Nord Stream AG are currently distributed as fol- The Portovaya compressor system (CS), which ensures lows: Gazprom holds 51 per cent, Wintershall Hold- gas transmission via Nord Stream, is a unique faciling and E.ON Ruhrgas – 15.5 per cent each, Gasunie ity in the global gas industry. Its aggregate capacity is 366 MW, its working pressure amounts to 220 Atm, and GDF Suez – 9 per cent each. gas transmission distance is above 1,200 kilometers.

The annual gas output of Nord Stream will be 55 bil- Gazprom utilized novel equipment and cutting-edge lion cubic meters after its two strings reach their de- technologies in the CS construction. In particular, the sign capacity. The Gryazovets – Vuborg gas trunk CS comprises 6 gas compressor units (GCU) with the capacity of 52 MW and 2 GCU with the capacity of line, constructed by Gazprom, is intended for

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Gazprom

In the Energy Sector of Russia and Europe

by Andre Maltsev

27 MW. Moreover, the 52 MW units were utilized for the first time in the history of the Russian Unified Gas Supply System. “Gazprom took great efforts on developing the Russian gas transmission system to deliver gas into Nord Stream. In the first place, the unparalleled Portovaya gas compressor station was constructed. Now we are bringing Portovaya to its full capacity, and it is becoming the most powerful compressor station in the world.” - said Alexey Miller.

By now, Gazprom has been protected by its export monopoly and the kind of government support afforded a 51% state-owned company. Also Gazprom supplies more than 30% of Europe’s gas needs, helping it to a $41 billion profit last year. But gas demand in Europe is hesitating, and the European Commission is starting investigating whether Gazprom’s dominant position in Europe denies its antitrust rules. In this year, Gazprom’s shares have fallen 9.5% and also they could have further to fall.

According to the European Commission, the share of Russian natural gas in the member states' domestic The EU has in the past not only good thinking about gas consumption is the following: Gazprom, fearing its usage of cutting off gas supplies to the West. But the emergence of abundant and Estonia 100% Slovenia 52% cheaper gas sources, from U.S. shale to East African Finland 100% Austria 49% liquefied natural gas, has emboldened Europeans to Lativa 100% Germany 36% oppose Gazprom’s habit of linking gas prices to oil.

Slovakia 100% Italy 27% Bulgaria 92% Romaina 27% Czech Republic 77.6% France 14% Greece 76% Switzerland 12% Hungary 60%

Source: http://www.kremlin.ru/events/photos/2009/02/213066.shtml Dmitry Medvedev, Taro Aso, Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Maria van der Hoeven visit the Sakhalin-II project on 18 February 2009.

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Gazprom

In the Energy Sector of Russia and Europe

by Andre Maltsev

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

Gazprom is going to renegotiate long-term contracts.

European countries which rely on Russian gas could now seek similar renegotiations. Some counties are already switching to coal from gas for power generation: In all, Gazprom’s gas exports to Europe could fall to 140 billion cubic meters in 2012, 18% down from their 2007 peak, Credit Suisse estimates. The European Commission had begun a formal investigation into whether Gazprom violated E.U. antitrust laws by restricting European buyers’ right to sell gas to one another, and by unfairly raising costs by linking gas prices to oil prices. In a statement, the European Commission said Gazprom might have divided markets by hindering the free flow of gas across E.U. member states and imposed unfair prices on its customers by linking the price of natural gas to the price of oil.

About the Writer

“It’s not clear why this suddenly has become a subject for investigation,” Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Mr. Putin, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday. Mr. Peskov said Gazprom applied during several years a widely used price formula, an apparent reference to the link between gas and oil prices. Contrary to the evidence, he said Gazprom’s prices were market-oriented, adding that “we have had certain pricing principles for decades and they are written in long-term contracts. No one ever questioned these principles”.

Commission officials said that the legislation was still being considered by European lawmakers.

Andre Maltsev works in IT Technology and is a freelance photographer/journalist from Almere, Netherlands. Born in Russia, Andrea’s career has taken him from Russia, to working in Her Majesty’s service for the British Embassy, to Italy to where he is located today in the Netherlands. Currently Andre is also the magazines European Consultant. You can view many of Andre Maltsev’s works at http://www.flickr. photos/ryzhik/

References: 1. Cohen, Ariel. Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy.

The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 1 February 2011.

2. Koszalin, Andreas Heinrich. "Gazprom's Expansion Strategy in Europe and the Liberalization of EU Energy Markets". Russian Analytical Digest (Research Centre for East European Studies).

Photo by Andrey Maltsev

3. http://www.gazprom.com/press/conference/2012/.

4. FD.NL, Brussels overview manipulation of Gazprom, 5 September 2012.

5. Russia in the European energy sector 6. Gazprom Export - www.gazpromexport.ru/en/.

7. Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited (GM&T) - www.gazprommt.com/.

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Going Green in Chicago

Creating the Essence of “Place” for Those Who Live, Work and Visit the Windy City

by Pamela Shinn, BS URP

Going Green in Chicago: Creating the Essence of “Place” for Those Who Live, Work and Visit the Windy City

environment for its residents and visitors.

One of these efforts is called Green Roof Initiative.

A growing trend in urban technology, it has been reported in an EPA study, Reducing Urban Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies, that green roof technology can help to mitigate urban heat islands (UHI). A UHI is generally a metropolitan area The city of Chicago is on the move, again, this time, significantly warmer than its surroundings, where its going green with their Green Initiative Programs. A heat value is greater than the ambient air. city that has always promoted beautification using a more natural or “green” approach Chicago’s well Seasonally, this condition can be found in both sumknown for its flowers in the median and along the mer and winter; however, the main cause of an UHI main walkways, as well as open space and park areas. is some type of modification to the land surface by means of urban development. As a central business Now the Windy City is going one step further. It is district (CBD) grows and expands, so does the heat it putting into play a series of green initiatives to combat generates, causing an increase in the area’s average. global warming. Over the past several decades global temperatures have been on the rise. According to the In addition to the increase in temperature within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration UHIs, air quality also decreases, giving off CO2 and (NOAA), the 20 warmest years have all occurred since ozone emissions. Water quality can also decrease 1981, and the 10 warmest have all occurred in the past as warmer runoff puts an additional stress on the 12 years. ecosystem.

Cause of UHI There are two primary reasons for increased temperatures in UHIs. First are changes in the thermal properties of the land surface materials and second is the lack of evapo-transpiration. Evaporation accounts for water transferred to the air from sources such as soil, water body runoff and canopy interception. Transpiration counts for a loss of water from the plant as vapor into the air from its leaves.

Last summer, city temperatures rose as high as 111 degrees, the highest since the 1995, when the heat contributed to the deaths of approximately 700 people. Eighteen Cook County residents succumbed to temperature-related deaths in July. In the face of these events, the city is committed to combating extreme temperatures to provide a healthier living

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Photo by Pamela Sinn

Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/indicators/

Going Green in Chicago

Creating the Essence of “Place” for Those Who Live, Work and Visit the Windy City

by Pamela Shinn, BS URP

In another study done by the EPA, Chicago compared summertime surface temperatures between a green roof and a traditional roof of a neighboring building. On an early afternoon, with temperatures in the 90s, the green roof surface temperature ranged from 91 to 119°F (33 to 48°C), while the dark, con ventional roof of the adjacent building was 169°F (76°C). The near-surface air temperature above the green roof was about 7°F (4°C) cooler than that of the conventional roof.

The study also found reduced surface temperatures help buildings stay cooler because less heat flows through the roof sand into buildings. Additionally, lower green roof temperatures result in less heat transfer to the air above the roof, which can help keep urban air temperatures to fall, as well.

The simulation showed that, especially with sufficient moisture for evaporative cooling, green roofs could play a role in reducing atmospheric UHIs. In addition, the results of lower building temperatures assisted in the reduction of the amount energy used to cool a building.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evapotranspiration Water cycle of the Earth’s surface, showing the individual components of transpiration and evaporation that make up evapotranspiration. Other closely related processes shown are runoff and groundwater recharge.

What are Green Roofs

In the urban setting, UHIs are primarily due to the use of pavement materials, such as concrete and asphalt, the type of roofing materials used and insufficient vegetation. Generally, these materials used in development have a tendency to absorb and retain heat rather than to reflect it. These materials can cause as much as a nine-degree temperature variance between UHIs and outlaying areas.

Green roofs can be installed on a variety of buildings, ranging from industrial facilities to private residences. In general, all green roofs consist of six components;

According to a four-city study done by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkley National Laboratory, roof tops comprised from 20 to 25 percent of land cover in the urban setting. Cities are the best candidates for heat island mitigation using green roofs.

Plants, Vegetation Extensive Growing Media Root permeable Filter Layer Drainage and Capilary Layer Protection and Storage Layer Roof Deck, Insulation, WeatherproofingMembrane

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Going Green in Chicago

Creating the Essence of “Place” for Those Who Live, Work and Visit the Windy City

by Pamela Shinn, BS URP

The layers used are very thin, ranging from 1 to 4 normally would end in runoff. inches, which is important when considering the coverage of a large area with a variety of plant life. They What Chicago is Doing are easy to install and due to the thickness, require no added structural support.

Green Roof Improvement Fund T.I.F. Program: In February 1997, Chicago approved and adopted a reBenefits development plan and project for the Central Loop There are a number of benefits when green roofs are Redevelopment Project Area. The City, through its Department of Planning and Development ("DPD"), put into play. Some of these benefits include: implemented a one-year pilot redevelopment pro• The reduction of air pollution caused from gram , the Green Roof Improvement Fund Program, greenhouse gas emissions. Vegetation, such as trees to provide financing assistance for the installation of and other forms of vegetation, help to remove pollut- green roofs on Central Loop commercial facilities. ants in the air and aid in the reduction of greenhouse Program funding was limited to $500,000. gas emission by means of dry deposition and carbon sequestration and storage. It also helps to provide a Under the Tax Increment Funding or T.I.F. program, reduction of energy usage demand when installed by eligible costs related to the installing of a Green Roof lowering the heat buildup and retention to a struc- include, but are not limited to: ture.

• Engineering costs for determining structural • Private benefits occur by lowering the use of load capacity and estimation of improvement to proenergy. This also lowers the amount of pollution and vide adequate load requirements. greenhouse gas emission that would then be associated with the production of that energy and energy use costs. It also reduces the ground-level ozone which would normally result from the rise in air temperatures and aid in slowing down the release of ozone due to reduced ground temperatures.

• Design costs for green roof plan, system selection, plant selection and maintenance schedule development.

• Construction costs to modify a roof to provide adequate load requirements and to prepare existing • Another added impact is the overall improve- roofs for installation. ment to human health and overall quality of life by the increase in human comfort through the reduction Actual maintenance costs are not eligible. of heat. It is particularly important to keep buildings Funding: Competitive grants only, in the form of reat cooler temperatures during heat waves. imbursement funding for up to 50 percent of the eligi• Allowing public access to roof top gardens to ble cost of the project, $100,000 maximum assistance residence helps to provide an otherwise absent green per project, per applicant. space. Many roofs can also be used for urban roof gardening and food production.

General Costs

• Some public benefits of the use of green roofs help to enhance storm water management and water quality, by reducing or slowing storm water runoff.

Both the plant and growing media on a roof, as in a natural surface with vegetation, absorb water that

In the United States, green roof costs—including everything from waterproofing to plants—ranges from $18 to $25 per square foot, depending on how intensive the system is and the plant types used.

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Going Green in Chicago

Creating the Essence of “Place” for Those Who Live, Work and Visit the Windy City

by Pamela Shinn, BS URP

The initial capital and continued maintenance costs of a green roof are offset by long-term utility cost savings. A vegetated roof, on average, can prolong the life of a conventional roof by 20 years or more because vegetation prevents the roof from being exposed to the debilitating effects of ultraviolet radiation and cold winds.

Other measures the city is taking are the use of permeable materials at the ground level, making the city’s green efforts beyond the green roof concept.

One of the alternate program initiatives offered by the Chicago Department of Transportation is the Chicago's Green Alley Program. This program includes the use of recycled construction material In April 2000, the city began to construct a 20,300 and permeable pavement materials. The program square-foot green roof garden on top of Chicago City was piloted in 2006 through 2010 and provided more Hall. The City Hall gardens contain approximately than 100 “Green Alley” installation methods.

20,000 herbaceous plants with more than 150 varieties including 100 woody shrubs, 40 vines and several Using materials like asphalt, concrete or pavers, trees. Rainwater is collected, saved and used as a sup- many opened bottom catch basins to allow storm waplemental irrigation system during extreme periods ter to filter thru into the ground rather than to collect of drought. on the surface as runoff into the city sewer systems.

Other features include the use of high-albedo paveThe project was completed in 2001 at an approximate ment, a lighter-colored surface that reflects sunlight cost of 2.5 million and was funded via a settlement instead of absorbing it. The use of a lighter material with Commonwealth Edison. It extends one square aids in the reduction of heat absorbed, reducing the block and rests 12 stories above street level, was ret- UHI effect. rofitted and served as a pilot for the city’s green roof project. It has been established the Chicago City Hall green roof saves $5,000 annually on utility bills. This particular project was a winner of the American Society of Landscape Architects 2002 Professional Merit Award.

Photo by Pamela Sinn

This projects funding was a direct result of a suit the city filed against the city’s electric utility, Commonwealth Edison, which had failed to make good on a 1991 franchise agreement. As a result of city legal action, an award of $1.1 billion dollar settlement had been awarded. Mayor Richard Daley put a portion of these funds into play to make help to make Chicago the green city it is today. From those DOE-administered funds, $2.5 million was committed to fund the DOE’s Urban Heat Initiative in 1999.

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Going Green in Chicago

Creating the Essence of “Place” for Those Who Live, Work and Visit the Windy City

Photos by Pamela Sinn

by Pamela Shinn, BS URP

The vision of a green and a sustainable Chicago goes from roof top to green homes, from street corners to public parks and plaza’s, to cost savings and environmental sustainability. These efforts have helped in creating the essence of “place” for those who live, work and visit Chicago.

Other Green Alley features include using appropriate grading and pitch to assist in facilitating proper drainage. The use of recycled materials, such as concrete aggregates, slag, and recycled rubber tires has a solid environmental benefit.

About the Writer

The Streetscape and Sustainable Design Program is also offered by CDOT. This program adheres to the rehabilitation of the city streetscape within neighborhood commercial districts, river walks and biking areas. These projects include green alleys, sustainable streets, rails-to-trails, highway beautification, public plazas, along with various bicycle stations.

Pamela Shinn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in urban and regional planning from Michigan State University. She has studied at the University of Havana, Cuba, in 2004 and is an advocate for global sustainability. She also has had her photographic works published around the world. Shinn is currently manager and publisher for Urban Planning and Economic Development News Magazine.

Its goal is to create public places while improving the functionality of infrastructure, to improve carbon emissions, reduce the UHI effect, implement storm water management best practices, reduce waste, improve human health and wildlife habitat and improve the quality of life for its residents and visitors.

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Urban Planning and Economic Development News Magazine

“China 183 and China 193” provided by Yekaterina Dobritskaya from Tomsk China. For more information about Simone’s contriubtion, contact us at planninganddevelopmentassoc@gmail.com.

Cover Photo: provided by professional photographer Maltsev Andrey from Almere Netherlands. You can view many of Maltsef ’s works at http://www.flickr.photos/ryzhik/

“Corn field” provided by Tanner Humphries from

Bellingham, WA. For more information about Simone’s contriubtion, contact us at planninganddevelopmentassoc@gmail.com.

“Parched Earth” provided by Simone Samuels from

Jakarta Indonesia. For more information about Simone’s contriubtion, contact us at planninganddevelopmentassoc@gmail.com.

“Millenneum ”

provided by Urban Planning and Economic Development News Magazine staff, Pamela Shinn of Lakewood, CO. You can view more of Ms Shinns work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28770937@N06/

Photo provided by professional photographer Maltsev Andrey from Almere Netherlands. You can view many of Maltsef ’s works at http://www.flickr.photos/ryzhik/

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