Solarpunk Urbanism

As storms and floods become more frequent, intense, and expensive in terms of finances and lost lives, city life is becoming more precarious.

Amit Prothi, the director general of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, has spent decades working on making communities more resilient across more than 15 countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. He said that American infrastructure – like power lines, water drainage systems, and housing development – and building policies that govern such projects may not account for the changing risks brought about by climate change.

But there are several strategies U.S. cities can put in place to become more resilient. As a bonus, implementing these strategies can also make cities more beautiful and community-oriented – and in most cases, are also financial no-brainers.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20559234

archived (Wayback Machine)

New York Harbor was a haven of incredible underwater biodiversity—until centuries of pollution turned it into a cesspool. Today, an alliance of architects, restaurateurs, scientists, and high school students is working to restore the harbor and protect the city from climate change. At the heart of the effort is a tiny creature with an outsized talent for cleanup: the extraordinary oyster.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo has floated a plan to “revegetate” 500 Parisian streets to make the city more liveable. Critics say it would deepen divides between urbanites and commuters.

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Edit: about ⅔ voted in favor

The conservation story of Totonicapán – a city in Guatemala home to half a million people – begins with its people’s relationship with the land.

https://www.paris.fr/pages/foret-urbaine-de-l-hotel-de-ville-la-plantation-a-commence-ce-qu-il-faut-savoir-29934

Consider using FreeTube, an open-source program for YouTube, because your privacy is important.

In Finland, there is a Housing First approach which provides homeless people with housing and support services to help individuals rebuild their lives.

By using this approach, there has been a reduction in homelessness, plummeting from over 20,000 homeless people to less than 4,000 in just a decade.

While Housing First was invented in the USA, Finland has embraced it.

📺 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jt_6PBnCJE&t=54

📺 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbEavDqA8iE

📰 https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/look-finlands-housing-first-initiative

Silta’s community space, where tenants go for gardening or group BBQs

In case anyone is curious about Housing First programs in the USA, here is a video more focused on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nys6iebjHw&t=128

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This was a revelation. For just over $6,000 a year, the Swiss can travel anywhere, reliably, in comfort, and get where they’re going on time. (In neighbouring Austria, where the cost of living isn’t so high, the equivalent national rail pass costs just €1,100 – or $1,600.) In Canada and the United States, the average cost of car ownership – including payments, parking tickets, insurance, parking, and gas – is more than $12,000 a year. That’s a high price to pay for a system that delivers congestion, traffic deaths and injuries, air pollution – and, more often than not, gets us to work or school late. For half the price North Americans pay, the Swiss get reliable, anywhere-to-anywhere mobility.

The study was published in Landscape and Urban Planning.

Vienna's Affordable Housing Paradise

See also the wikipedia page.

"Sardex, an Italian fintech, created a mutual credit system where businesses exchange goods and services without cash.

This trust-based network has strengthened the local economy and inspired similar models across Italy."

📰 https://positivenewsfoundation.org/video/italys-fintech-innovation-transforming-business-with-sardex/ 📺 https://youtu.be/eeB2tsS6xpM

This is just an imagined version of Dresdens Postplatz by the artist loom for Realutopien. The current state is this:

and the source in German is here: https://realutopien.info/visuals/dresden-postplatz-2045/