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jan 2014
Urban make over:  the sleeping capital 

Cities have been growing enormously, over the past 150 years. And evaluated form local communities, relying on nearby resources, to metro poles completely depending on global provision and distribution of resources, far outside their area of influence.  Which in fact comes down to people living in an environment they can't influence, are trapped when distribution of resources somehow stops as a result of political turmoil, climate disasters( anywhere in the world) or because of  simple scarcity….
There is no such thing as a fall back scenario.  Unless, as currently happens in Athens, there is some agricultural countryside  where one can survive with family.  In the Netherlands that even does not exist anymore.  A second consideration is that cities  are mostly located  in industrialized countries, or fast industrializing, and rely on resources from other countries and cultures, mostly underdeveloped ones. This is in fact legalized plundering.
If we take the UN Millennium goals serious,  its impossible to maintain  living on others peoples resources,  the more knowing that global population will grow from 7 to 9 billion in the next decades.
Not that we are all that happy ourselves with this: We have become addicted to ever more  goods, food and entertainment. City life has changed because of that,  making life more individualistic, and more and more unsocial.  Living in ever larger apartments, higher in the sky, to obtain our resources we go down the elevator, neglecting neighbors, get in a car and separate ourselves from people surrounding us, to go to  shopping malls outside town, where we won't be recognized, and can do things anonymously.   If we do. We also might just order everything by internet, and live like a hermit. To entertain ourselves, in weekends we go visit other cities, not ours, and on weekdays we amuse ourselves virtually: Internet, The new "hangout",  avoiding direct contact.  
However the first two observations might be the clue to improve on the third one as well. There is high need to redevelop our urban area s in a more independent way, with more responsibility for local supply and production of resources, of energy, materials water and food, in order to increase the vitality of the city, the chances of surviving in times of resource stress.  And it turns out that deep sustainability, where every option to reduce and produce and provide resources from within a urban area, leads to more social cohesion, labor , and local economy as well.
These changes will anyhow happen: if not willingly, by ourselves, it will happen unwillingly, with shocks, when global systems fail.  Only in the last case creating chaos and victims.
Before the industrial revolution, the Sun was the main source and driver of all wealth: it provided food, materials, energy. And in fact somewhere in future, the sun will take over again as our only source adding quality to our earthen system. In between we deplete the stocks grown in millions of years. With all kinds of nasty effects as a bonus.  The only real value in the World however, and sustainable to the future( in terms of "maintainable, reliable") will be the constant flow of solar radiation and the potential production of any m2 earthen surface. And that's our escape: to use any surface to become productive, in food, energy , materials.
Cities have a enormous area of unused and wasted surface. Take roofs: how defensive are they designed, neglecting all the potentials in energy food and water of roofs?  The Romans already collected the water. And with our knowledge of solar power, they probably would have used that as well on their roofs.  ( though they already  used passive solar energy) But what about 2013:  still using roof tiles….? How pedantic and snobby cab one be? Apres nous le deluge.
And why make  green areas just green? Why not productive green? Apples, nuts, vegetables, can be beautiful and productive as well.  And why every road designed for two way traffic? It's a huge waste of land and surface, to contribute to the life in cities, in stead of facilitating faster and further greed for distant resource shopping .  
The sleeping capital, with real value , are the m2's in cities! But then, In how far can , by using all available surface , the needs be met in an urban environment?  From a consumptive urban area into a productive urban  area?   This was explored In a research conducted in a real urban district. And we found that it would be possible to make the urban area independent, but not without adaptations in daily life as well.  Between resources, there will be competition in available land . First of all, food is the most important, and we secured an area enough to  live as a vegetarian. So we had to give up meat…   Energy was no problem to supply by renewable resources, however to produce the materials for the solar panels and windturbines was problematic. So we needed to become very creative in providing services in different ways.  Houses will not be cooled and heated 24 hours and not all rooms: we developed a strategy to compartmentalize houses: when its very cold only the kitchen and bedroom are climatised. Which in fact drives us back to the old family life….  
Half the roads are removed  for one way traffic.: providing new production area, playing ground ,  as well as providing Construction resources, and decreasing maintenance needs by half.
And many other interventions in the urban form. As most important came out  the re-organisation processes needed:  For instance: everybody a washing machine, no matter how energy efficient,  is devastating for resource use. A local laundry shop is far more effective providing labor and social contacts as a bonus. The initial target, clean laundry is still met.  Evaluating real functional need, can give many more alternative solutions. And in fact the current economical crises, together with the internet, does already lead to these solutions, especially among younger people:  (private) car sharing, stuff-sharing in the neighborhood,  we see couch surfing, for holiday travel,  home take away's ( someone in your street cooks an extra meal, for which you subscribed in the morning since you will be late from work: you pick it up with your neighbors)  , and even repair-cafés  are popping up currently in the Netherlands: volunteers offer one evening a week, to repair broken stuff, using a local café as workshop: everybody happy: the hobby repairman, the owner of the stuff, and the barkeeper who has some income during  a otherwise boring week-evening . Space is also in empty buildings , providing space  to create a "City is the office" approach,  avoiding commuting.
A city or neighborhood that re-invents itself regarding resources-space (" planet") gets a bonus in "People" and "Profit" as well.  
Curitiba, Cuba, Detroit, showed the way, as did Gussing (Austria)  becoming independent in energy, creating lots of jobs and a lively town.  In our region, the south of the Netherlands, we are now experimenting with this:  developing projects to show and demonstrate the potentials. What comes out as most important is that it requires a whole new approach towards buildings and built environment developments. Its not about here ad there a cozy project but a long term process, toward s a complete city "make over".  It requires collective effort to establish this.
Technology is not the problem, but far reaching re-organization of processes, of habits , and of physical distribution and production,  and an open mind for both physical and social re-organization, with land/surface as a key value in the process. Elderly people can play a role as well, as "social capital", in the many collective function to provide in an urban environment.  It might not take place by itself, maybe here and there some small shocks might be needed ( as currently is studied my one of my post doctorates), but in the end can lead to urban area that is socialized again, productive,  and rich: the real capital is in the streets , roofs and the people.  

Ronald Rovers, www.sustainablebuilding.info






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