Suchergebnisse

Renovation projects are complex and multi-layered as they often deal with architectural, cultural, and social values, as well as aspects of energy efficiency and finance. This article discusses the impact that engaging in a sustainable retrofit had on the environmental values of those involved. The project was the renovation of an existing log cabin structure located on the Ōtātara heritage site at the Eastern Institute of Technology campus, New Zealand. The aim was to make the existing structure as near-zero energy as possible, so it would act as a demonstration facility for sustainable building and living practices and inspire the local community to adopt pro-environmental practices. The completed project is being used by the Eastern Institute of Technology as home to a nature-based education facility where the cultural and creative connections to land, sustainable use of resources, restoration of ecology, and biodiversity management are communicated. The article explains why people chose to be involved with the various stages of renovating and using a sustainable building and their attitudes towards behaving sustainably. The research approach is explorative, making use of qualitative data analysis methods. The study argues that getting involved in a sustainable building can potentially change the values of people through active, systemic, and successive learning, both in the building and operation phases. The key finding shows that involvement only increased as the project gained momentum as people could see that taking part would produce something tangible.

The literature on sustainability policies and placemaking strategies reveals the inadequacy of both concepts to address current urban issues suggesting the need for new approaches. Sustainability researchers and policy makers are seeking an integrated approach to sustainability within which placemaking is a powerful tool in achieving sustainability goals. However, despite this rising awareness of place and its value, there is growing concern that the value of place and its urban meaning is declining. Placemaking appears to have changed from being an authentic everyday practice to a professional responsibility, and the understanding of the intangible character of place is mainly lost in the modern making of places. The emphasis of designers on physical design attributes assumes a fragile model of causality, underestimating the other necessary components for placemaking - behaviour and meaning. Comparing models of sustainability and place, this article suggests that there is need for a shift from the current model of placemaking towards a strong model of progress and balance in creating quality places. The article also describes the implications of the new model for design practice and how it could be used with the goal of achieving both placemaking and sustainability visions.

"The Environmental Impact of Cities assesses the environmental impact that comes from cities and their inhabitants, demonstrating that our current political and economic systems are not environmentally sustainable because they are designed for endless growth in a system which is finite. It is already well documented that political, economic and social forces are capable of shaping cities and their expansion, retraction, gentrification, re-population, industrialization or de-industrialization. However, the links between these political and economic forces and the environmental impact they have on urban areas have yet to be numerically presented. As a result, it is not clear how our cities are affecting the environment, meaning it is currently impossible to relate their economic, political and social systems to their environmental performance. This book examines a broad selection of cities covering a wide range of political systems, geography, cultural backgrounds and population size. The environmental impact of the selected cities is calculated using both Ecological Footprint and carbon emissions, two of the most extensively available indices for measuring environmental impact. The results are then considered in terms of political, economic and social factors to ascertain the degree to which these factors are helping or hindering the reduction of the environmental impact of humans. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainability, urban planning, urban design, environmental sciences, geography and sociology"--

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 What Do We Mean by Collapse? -- Introduction -- Types of Collapse -- The Faith in Economic Growth -- The Faith in Technological Development -- A Plan B: Collapsing Gracefully -- References -- 2 Current Ideas for Future Built Environments -- Introduction -- Smart Cities (Even When It Is a Dumb Idea) -- Buildings All at Sea (a Good Place from Which to Watch Tsunamis) -- Living in Space (Because We've Made the Earth Uninhabitable) -- Grand "Sustainable" Buildings (for the Rich) -- The Sustainability of "Sustainable" Houses (also for the Rich) -- Investigating the Technical Aspects of a Building That Is Claimed to Be "Sustainable" -- Urban Design -- Politically Correct Solutions (Even Though They Are Not Correct) -- Refugee Camps -- Design for Refugees -- the IKEA Better Shelter -- Housing Refugees -- The Solution Must Be Digital and Employ Robots (Even When the Analogical Works Fine and We Have a Lot of People) -- Climate Change Solutions Must Sound "Scientifically Plausible" (Even Though They Are not Feasible or Even Necessary) -- The Role of Design -- Conclusion -- References -- 3 What Can We Learn from the Collapse of Societies in the Past? -- Introduction -- Collapse and Survival -- Theories Behind the Collapse of Civilisations -- Complexity and Societal Hierarchy -- More Recent Views of Collapse -- Resilience and Collapse -- Collapse Theories and the Built Environment -- Proposed Solutions Post-collapse -- What Can Be Learned from Collapse Theories -- References -- 4 The Modern Built Environment and Its Relationship to Collapse -- Introduction -- Perceptions of Collapse in the Built Environment -- Reciprocity Between Habitat and Culture -- Built Environments, Ecosystems and Collapse -- Dealing with Collapse Through a Better Understanding of Sustainability and Resilience.