Mega-cities are increasingly likely to be the home for most of humanity in the near future, and integrated sustainability is key to both the livability and the strength of these communities. While the past decade has seen rapid developments in green design at an individual building level as well as the sustainability transportation and energy systems – the best practices in these areas have rarely been integrated into a larger urban frame of reference. The potential for a transformed, sustainable city block that we can actually live on is at hand.
Over three years key sustainable anchors are developed into a living city block
Living City Block is a tactile, real-life experiential demonstration of things that are possible today, but that are as of yet not being brought together as part of an actual functioning system. Things that range from “last mile’ mobility solutions and energy capturing sidewalks, to living roofs and vertical gardens, to onsite renewables and co-generation, to home metering and IT driven consumer behavioral change. There are individual examples of each of these beginning to be adopted across the Americas, but due to the reality of commercial adaptation, spotty availability, political will and practical implementation periods, there is no existing example of all of these things being done in a real living environment. These things can only be accomplished at this time as a demonstration project.
This summer, Imagine a World, RMI and the City of Denver will be launching a project to build an integrated, Living City Block as part of the 2010 Denver Biennial of the Americas.
