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Scooped by SustainOurEarth onto Sustain Our Earth |
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As cities become more conscious of their environmental and social impact, smart growth has become a ubiquitous umbrella term for a slew of principles to which designers and planners are encouraged to adhere.
NewUrbanism.org has distributed 10 points that serve as guides to development that are similar to both AIA’s Local Leaders: Healthier Communities through Design and New York City’s Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design. Planners all appear to be on the same page in regards to the nature of future development. But as Brittany Leigh Foster of Renew Lehigh Valley points out, these points tend to be vague; they tell us “what” but they do not tell us “how”. 10 Rules for Smarter Smart Growth by Bill Adams of UrbDeZine San Diego enumerates how to achieve the various design goals and principles that these various guides encourage. Via Lauren Moss Delete the scoop?
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Globalization seems to be looked on as an unmitigated “good” by economists. Unfortunately, economists seem to be guided by their badly flawed models; they miss real-world problems. In particular, they miss the point that the world is finite. We don’t have infinite resources, or unlimited ability to handle excess pollution. So we are setting up a “solution” that is at best temporary. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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US economic growth will be less than 1% in the next fourty years according to a new analysis by famous American investor Jeremy Grantham. The contrarian investor sees resource scarcity and higher resource prices as well as demographic factors as the main reason why our global economies will continue to struggle for new economic growth.
As always the gloomy predictions of Mr Grantham's piece make a lot of sense but will be neglected by the "don't worry, be happy" myopic political and economic elites. Via Willy De Backer, Stephane Bilodeau Delete the scoop?
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Despite the critical role that water has in our everyday lives, few people realize that the world’s freshwater supply is facing a major crisis in the near future. Take a look at this infographic for more details, statistics and data on the 'invisible threat to humanity's future' to help increase awareness with regard to the global water crisis... Via Lauren Moss, Susan Davis Cushing Delete the scoop?
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This infographic takes a look at this troubling technology trend, which is depleting the planet's supply of Rare Earth Elements. Apple sold a record 5 million iPhones the first weekend the phone was on the market. And unlike in the iPhone’s early days, the latest Apple smartphones are not primarily being purchased by first time owners. But did you ever stop to think about what happens to all those iPhone 3, 3GS, 4 and 4Ss now deemed out of date? While there are many recycling programs available, most smartphones are not efficiently thrown out. Apple’s iPhones is far from the only culprit —.. Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability Delete the scoop?
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Today, August 22, is Earth Overshoot Day, marking the date when humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year. We are now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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For years, China claimed to hold an estimated 50000 rivers within its borders. Now, more than half of them have abruptly vanished. Via Seth Dixon, Steven McGreevy Delete the scoop?
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"With the world’s population headed toward 9 billion at mid-century and millions of people climbing out of poverty, global energy demand could increase by as much as 80% by 2050. That’s according to Shell’s latest scenarios, which look at trends in the economy, politics and energy in considering developments over the next half a century." Via Willy De Backer 
Willy De Backer's curator insight,
March 9, 3:35 AM
In its latest New Lens scenarios, Shell recognises the existence of "ecological limits" to growth and confirms 2 degrees warming target is unreachable. Delete the scoop?
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As we plan for the future of our planet, it is imperative that we consider the effects of development on both the environment and human populations. A city is only truly sustainable if it uses natural resources efficiently while still fully meeting the needs of its inhabitants and a decent standard of living.
Via Lauren Moss, Peter Jasperse, David Hodgson Delete the scoop?
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Another impressive presentation by Richard Heinberg of why we have now entered the post-growth era and what will be the implications for our societies. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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"We are five years into a severe global food crisis that is very unlikely to go away. It will threaten poor countries with increased malnutrition and starvation and even collapse. Resource squabbles and waves of food-induced migration will threaten global stability and global growth. This threat is badly underestimated by almost everybody and all institutions with the possible exception of some military establishments."
Joe Romm summarises the latest article by guru investor Jeremy Grantham in his Quarterly Newsletter. "The global economy is a Ponzi scheme". Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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Growth. It's not about plant growth, hair growth or growth in quality of life, it's about economic growth. And the kind that is measured in GDP. However, Rio+20 might mark a paradigm shift in the way we measure growth and wealth.
This article on Rio+20 in the Huffington Post demonstrates clearly how difficult it is to end our obsession with "growth" as the number one political priority. "Intelligent" growth, a "paradigm shift in the way we measure growth and wealth"... do all these phrases really put us on track for a new destination or do we just blind ourselves with nice rhetoric? Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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