Posted in cities

5 Ways New York City is Becoming a Sustainable City

When a person thinks about New York City, sustainability is not the first thing that comes to mind. Among all the artwork, high-end businesses, fast-paced lifestyle, endless parties, and traffic jams, you’d probably expect that sustainability is the last thing on New Yorkers’ minds. People here seem to only concerned with making money and figuring out the best ways of spending it. On the other hand, you have legislation and efforts that indicate that New York City is becoming a sustainable city at a surprising rate. So, what is the real picture? Well, let’s take a closer look.

Is New York City is becoming a sustainable city?

After reviewing all the different aspects of current NYC lifestyle trends, we can safely say that New York City is becoming a sustainable city. Even though people are working hard and don’t have much time, they don’t shy away from doing their part in order to make NYC more habitable and nicer to live in. Furthermore, both the state’s Department of Health and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection have been working hard to implement various sustainability policies. These policies should help sustain and even better the living conditions in NYC. With any luck, these sustainability measures should also help increase the life quality of the people of NYC in the long run and keep NYC nice and healthy.

Now, there are a lot of measures that the city of NYC has taken and that people of NYC utilize in order to keep New York sustainable. So, for this article, we are going to point out 5 which we feel have the biggest contribution. Mind you, these are the measures that have been taken so far. With luck, new, stronger measures and new innovations will be implemented in the future which will make NYC that much more sustainable.

Protecting the water supply

One of the more important policies you should be aware of is the management plan for protecting the state’s largest freshwater sources. The city and the state have come together and implemented sustainability measures that should ensure the quality of NYC water. Among the measures mentioned in the plan are:5 Ways New York City is Becoming a Sustainable City

  • Flood mitigation in watershed communities
  • Stabilisation of eroding stream banks
  • Using the best-management practices in agricultural work on watershed farms

These measures are aimed toward providing long-term freshwater sustainability for the people of New York. So, with luck, we should experience an increase in water quality.

Demand for green housing measures

When it comes to housing trends in NYC, there are two things that are on the rise. Smart homes and green homes. And, if you can combine the two, you should see a considerable increase in property value and demand. So, if you are looking for a way in which the people of NYC are making it more sustainable, you’ve found it. These demands are helping reduce the environmental impact of living and are making NYC an overall greener place. Besides smart energy systems and top-notch insulation, you also have monitored heating and water preservation. More and more apartments are implementing these systems. So much so that you have entire residential spaces committed to sustainability and smart housing solutions.

Lowering carbon footprint

It might be surprising to hear that New York is one of the states with the lowest carbon emissions per year. To put that into perspective, New York has 6% of the US population and only produces 3% of the nation’s greenhouse gases. Now, we can chalk this up to policies or low incentives for car transportation. But, in actuality, multiple factors have come together to help NYC have such a low carbon footprint.

The fact that driving a bike and taking the subway are the preferred ways of transport in NYC does help. But, it is the general trend of having an eco-friendly lifestyle that does most of the work. People of NYC are more than willing to drive low emission cars. They also take extra steps in order to work with businesses that implement eco-friendly measures. Therefore, if you plan on settling down in this amazing city, know that you’ll be expected to implement these measures as well.

Urban gardening

Another trend that has major contributions to New York City’s sustainability is urban gardening. More and more New Yorkers are finding ways to introduce nature and gardening in places where you didn’t think it possible. From small gardens built on terraces and balconies to natural elements implemented in apartments and buildings. Not to mention the rooftop gardens, which have become almost a staple of NYC. These green measures not only promote a healthier lifestyle, but they also bring a sense of nature to this concrete jungle of a city. Even restaurants are opting for having a more natural setting.

Pushing sustainability efforts

All of the lifestyle and housing trends that we’ve mentioned are a big part of why New York City is becoming a sustainable city. But, none of them would be enough if it weren’t for sustainability efforts from the people who run it. One of the most important people for setting NYC on the sustainability path is its former mayor Mike Bloomberg. His sustainability plan was later continued by Mayor de Blasio with the OneNYC development plan. This plan also tackled post-Hurricane Sandy resiliency, which is why it didn’t have such numerous measures.

But, those two set the incentive for the later policies that were expanded by the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Now, NYC is easily one of the most sustainable big cities in the world. And, with a developed bike riding infrastructure, a decent public transport service, and an ever-increasing number of trees and parks, it is only going to continue to be so.

This article was kindly written and contributed by Sally Norton

The Healthiest Destinations in the World Have Been Revealed

When it comes to health, you’d think London would be leading the pack with its extensive amount of spas, gyms and health-centric eateries. But, according to a new list, no UK city even makes the top 10.

TravelSupermarket has just revealed its list of the world’s healthiest cities, taking into account the number of spas, fitness centres, gyms, yoga studios, pilates studios and parks they have, along with restaurants with vegan options, health food shops, the city’s average daylight hours and how much it costs to stay for a night.

All of these things considered, the site revealed Paris to be the world’s healthiest city, followed by Chiang Mai in Thailand and Spain’s Barcelona.

Below are the top 10 healthiest cities in the world:

1. Paris, France

2. Chiang Mai, Thailand

3. Barcelona, Spain

4. Pattaya, Thailand

5. Vancouver, Canada

6. Miami, USA

7. San Francisco, USA

8. Lisbon, Portugal

9. Denpasar, Indonesia

10. Buenos Aires, Argentina

The French capital boasts an impressive 1,305 vegan restaurants, 894 spas and 139 parks – housing the largest number of healthy lifestyle facilities per square kilometre.

Chiang Mai, with its seven spas per square kilometre, earned second place while Barcelona’s large number of spas, yoga and pilates studios won the bronze.

This article was originally published by the Evening Standard. Click here to view original article.

WHAT MAKES A LIVEABLE CITY? HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE 2019 LIVEABLE CITIES CONFERENCE.

Presenter spaces are open – submit your 300 word overview for your chance to take the stage and share your projects, insight and developments in creating healthier, sustainable spaces to an audience of like-minded professionals. Find out more here.

the healthiest cities in the world

Why temperatures at night are going up around the world and what we can do about it

History was made in the Middle East on June 28 when the world’s hottest night on record was set in Quriyat, Oman with the overnight “low” dropping to 42.6 degrees Celsius.

Oman’s hot night is just one of many temperature records to be smashed in the past few weeks.

Individual location records have been broken in the US, Russia, Canada, Scotland, Armenia and Georgia.

Africa could have reached its highest ever reliably recorded temperature of 51.3C in Ourargla, Algeria on July 5.

The World Meteorological Organisation recognises 55C as the highest temperature for Africa, recorded at Kebili, Tunisia on July 7, 1931.

James Goldie’s research is investigating how dangerously hot days are identified and how well they can predict public health impacts.

But there is widespread scepticism about the record’s accuracy because the temperatures recorded before the 1950s are mysteriously higher than anything to have come after them.

When it comes to heatwaves, the night-time temperature is important. If it stays above the mid-20s, overnight sleep can become difficult because the body needs to actively work to cool itself down.

University of New South Wales PhD student James Goldie, who is researching how temperature relates to health, said comfortable overnight temperatures were important in making sure people got a restful sleep.

“[It] is when our muscles recover from exercise. It’s when our brains consolidate memories,” he said.

“When night-time temperatures continue to be hot, when that heat just runs all the way through the night and onto the next day, we don’t get that recovery, and that’s when heat stress really starts to build up.”

Mr Goldie said heatwaves could be a real danger.

“They’re like rips at the beach; if you respect them, they’re tough but they’re manageable. If you don’t respect them, they can kill people,” he said.

Over the past few weeks Canada has been experiencing summer heatwaves, with local news outlets now reporting up to 70 heat-related deaths.

Nights are getting warmer

Research published in the International Journal of Climatology last year found night-time temperatures were increasing more rapidly than daytime temperatures.

According to the findings, minimum temperatures have been increasing at a rate of about 0.07 degrees per decade, compared with about 0.05 degrees per decade for maximum temperatures globally, for the period from 1960 to 2009.

Researchers proposed this was because night-time temperatures were more easily affected by an increase in greenhouse gasses.

Australia is not immune from warmer nights — our night-time temperatures have been increasing over the past 50 years and they are expected to continue to rise.

As part of the CSIRO’s Climate Change in Australia project, a threshold calculator has been created for the public to explore future climate scenarios.

The tool suggests an increase in over-25C degree nights into the next century, to different extents based on the different models and emissions scenarios.

Mr Goldie said some of the impacts of heatwaves from climate change could not be avoided.

“They’re happening. But we can control how bad they get, and the actions we take to reduce CO2 now will save people’s lives later down the road,” he said.

The World Health Organisation has said high greenhouse emission scenarios are projected to increase heat-related deaths in Oman, where it was so hot a few weeks ago.

What can we do about it?

Stephanie Jacobs is a PhD candidate working on different ways to mitigate the effects of heatwaves.

Aside from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there are things we can do to mitigate the impact ofheatwaves.

Monash University climate scientist Stephanie Jacobs said the best strategy to help reduce night-time temperatures was to plant trees and vegetation and keep them watered.

“When there are no trees, the sunlight heats up the ground,” she said.

“When there are trees, the energy from the sun is diverted to helping the water in plants evapotranspirate instead of heating the surface, so it becomes cooler.

“As a result, the ground holds less energy during the day and then emits less heat at night.”

Ms Jacobs said tree planting could be hard in desert environments, but it could be effective in cities.

“Plant more parks, gardens [and] lots of trees … it’s been found that a mix of vegetation is the best because different plants have different benefits,” she said.

Making buildings more reflective was another action Ms Jacobs suggested could assist in cooling temperatures.

“What I’ve looked at in my research is if all of the rooftops in Melbourne were white, and we basically turn Melbourne into a giant Santorini [where white-painted houses reflect dazzling light],” Ms Jacobs said.

Originally Published by ABC News, continue reading here.

Materials that make heat worse for our kids demand a rethink by designers

It is with some relief that Australians are leaving behind the excruciatingly hot days of summer. But did you ever stop to think about the role of design in making matters better – or worse? Spending all day in air-conditioned rooms before walking out to a car that has baked in the sun all day is an exercise in extremes that many of us have faced. It’s easy to forget these conditions are shaped and mediated by design.

Campaigns warn us about the dangers of leaving children in hot parked cars. However, there are many more designed microclimates in the city where “real feel” temperatures far exceed reported air temperatures. One example, where children spend many hours of the day, is the childcare centre, where we found some artificial surfaces can become dangerously hot.

Our preliminary study over the record-breaking summer of 2017-8 assessed the thermal characteristics of outdoor play spaces in three childcare centres in Western Sydney. We discovered that summer temperatures can vary dramatically, depending on the materials and environments being measured.

We measured air and surface temperatures to generate detailed information about the effects of heat on shaded and non-shaded surfaces at each facility. These included artificial materials such as “soft fall” surfaces and Astroturf, “semi-natural” materials such as bricks and woodchips, and natural materials, including sand and grass.

In full sun, the artificial surface materials became dangerously hot. Soft fall surface temperatures reached 71-84°C on days when air temperatures were in the low 30s. Astroturf heated up to nearly 100°C. Plastic toys in direct sun reached temperatures up to 73.7°C – that is one hot rubber duck!

You can see the effect of different surfaces in the thermographic image below. It shows tens of degrees of difference between soft fall and thick grass in full sun.

Hot materials undermine safety benefits

Soft fall, as the name suggests, is widely used to create “safer” environments for children should they fall. Rising heat undermines this safety benefit. Because it transforms the material into a source of potentially significant harm it also reduces the time that can be spent playing outdoors.

Contrary to their current widespread use, this study found that artificial materials like soft fall and Astroturf should be used sparingly and only in shaded settings. Shade does make a significant difference to the temperatures recorded, but shaded soft fall and Astroturf were still hotter than shaded natural surfaces. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a centre with an old camphor laurel tree supplying ample shade in the play space recorded the lowest daytime air temperatures.

A thermally healthy outdoor play space is crucial for supporting children’s social, physical and cognitive development. However, the extreme temperatures recorded in this study turn such spaces into hostile environments that leave little option but to move indoors to cope.

Indoor activities tend to be more sedentary, which is linked to reduced physical fitness and rising obesity. We already spend around 90% of our time indoors in environments (including cars) that depend on air conditioning for habitability.

Of course, you can only air-condition a space effectively if it is enclosed. The rise of the “indoor biome” has been associated with poor air quality and a raft of other complex hazards.

Yet childcare centres with cool, comfortable outdoor play spaces, designed to enable both mobility and a connection with nature, are far from the norm in our rapidly densifying cities. The newest centre in our study, for example, had the smallest outdoor activity space, with the least shade, very limited natural ground cover and the greatest proportion of soft fall. This raises questions about the impact of design trends on the quality of outdoor activity spaces.

It is worth noting too that, given the level of demand, there is often little choice about where a child might be offered a place.

Climate change makes design even more important

How accountable should designers be for the everyday living environments that they create? For example, could the designers of the past have known about the environmental, social and cultural impacts of one of the most transformative designs of the 20th century, the car?

Perhaps not, but things have changed. The need to adapt to a changing climate makes good design important for our survival. And that, in turn, demands designers take greater responsibility for the harms arising from their work.

Originally published by The Conversation, continue reading here.

2018 Program Available for Download

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference Program is now available online.

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.  The sustainability topics that will be embraced include integration, politics, technology, automation, future of renewables, procurement, food security, sustainable construction and waste as a resource.

Featured Speakers for 2018 include:

  • Mr Lucas Cullen, Board Member, Blockchain Association of Australia
  • Dr Helen Lewis, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney & Environmental Consultant, Helen Lewis Research
  • Mr Chris Nunn, Head of Sustainability, Real Estate, AMP Capital
  • Mr Tony Roberts, Deputy Director-General, Environmental Policy and Planning, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
  • Ms Kate Wakeling, State Community Manager – Queensland, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
  • Ms Simone Looi-Britton, Sustainability & Public Policy General Manager, Veolia Australia and New Zealand
  • Mr Jon Westover, Managing Director – Global Operations, Jurlique International
  • Dr Kate Ringvall, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Australia
  • Ms Emma Herd, CEO, Investor Group for Climate Change

Click here to download the conference program.

Visit the 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference website for further information and to register today!