One Thought on “Sustainability”

Made a trip to the Central Business District or the “CBD” to George Street. I enjoy being surrounded by tall buildings. It is comforting to me. I honestly thought that was what Sydney would be… Coming from suburban Canada, I like the idea of living in high-density areas. My rational is that you don’t need large living spaces if you have access to everything you need outside of your living quarters. For example: you can live in a tiny apartment on the 22^nd floor in the middle of a concrete downtown and you will never miss out on “space” and fresh air because all of those are available in the form of public space like parks and botanical gardens. After owning a car and all the costs that come with it, I would give anything to be able to live without a car. Access to efficient transit, or a bike could make getting around town just as easy with a car and you don’t have to worry about parking fees, insurance, gas, etc! Many cities around the world offer this luxury and Sydney is working towards that too.

What next? High density living and environmental conservation. Both big fancy words, but cities are major polluters of the environment. Water run-off is one of MANY forms of pollutions cities amplify, but there are ways good planning can address this. Cities are concrete jungles covering most of its footprint with concrete, infrastructure such as storm sewers carry large volumes of rainwater from the streets into the rivers quickly and efficiently. This causes massive erosion of riverbeds, and interferes with the water cycle (among other things). Rainwater should seep into the ground to replenish ground water supplies, instead of washing directly into rivers and ocean. Simple changes to landscaping guidelines can address this issue with little fuss. Porous concrete allows water to flow through it into the ground; concrete islands in parking lots and along roadways can become catchment basins for rainwater and so on.

Environmentally supportive infrastructure is a design opportunity. Take for example a concrete island in the middle of a roadway or a parking lot. It is a low maintenance ditch that catches water. Most of the examples have flowers or trees in them. To keep them low maintenance, fill them with native plants… or weeds even… These can be unique works of public art all the while serving its original purpose just put a little imagination into them!

This was the topic of my Sustainability and Habitability class and it stayed with me after, so I wanted to make a little note on here. There are so many fun ideas I’d love to explore on here… if only I had more time! 

Here is a blog on just this topic: http://landscapeandurbanism.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/green-infrastructure.html

Examples of catchment ditches. (Image curtesy of the above blog)