Solarpunk Urbanism

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A community to discuss solarpunk and other new and alternative urbanisms that seek to break away from our currently ecologically destructive urbanisms.

Henri Lefebvre, The Right to the City — In brief, the right to the city is the right to the production of a city. The labor of a worker is the source of most of the value of a commodity that is expropriated by the owner. The worker, therefore, has a right to benefit from that value denied to them. In the same way, the urban citizen produces and reproduces the city through their own daily actions. However, the the city is expropriated from the urbanite by the rich and the state. The right to the city is therefore the right to appropriate the city by and for those who make and remake it.

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Three ways American cities can become more flood-resilient and beautiful (yaleclimateconnections.org)

submitted 2 days ago by relianceschool@slrpnk.net to c/urbanism@slrpnk.net

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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.

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[–] Coreidan@lemmy.world -5 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Ya let’s spend trillions of dollars to completely rebuild cities.

If you want to engineer your way out of climate disasters this probably isn’t the way.

[–] MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 days ago

Every $1 invested in resilient infrastructure yields a $4 return in avoided recovery costs, according to case studies published by the World Bank and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. FEMA estimates those cost savings can be even higher in the U. S. – and suggests federally funded climate mitigation grants “can save the nation $6 in future disaster costs for every $1 spent on hazard mitigation.”

Just saying.

Also cities change a lot. Only 35% of owner occupied housing in the US is older then 1969. Construction in the US is also an over $2trillion industry, so just changing new construction is a trillion dollar project.

[–] houseofleft@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 days ago

I don't think that's a fair reading of the article, the three points it mentions are:

Invest in trees and green spaces. This ones achievable at a small scale.
Prevent new construction in risky places. This ones literally free because it's just not doing stuff that's harmful.
Employ nature-based and multipurpose facilities. I'll admit this one could end up being pricey.

Then it has a whole bit about how these policies could save money.

Either way, I'm not reading this as suggesting expensive rebuilds.