Low-energy urbanisation 'can help climate goals' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Mark Kinver
Environment reporter, BBC News

A study of 274 cities has helped shed light on energy consumption in urban areas and what can be done to make future urbanisation more efficient.

Globally, cities are best placed to mitigate emissions as urban areas are much more energy intensive than rural areas, say researchers.

Most people now live in urban areas, a trend that is accelerating as the global population continues to grow.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The UN estimates that almost four billion people - 53% of the world's population - currently reside in towns or cities. By the middle of this century, that figure is set to grow to 6.3 billion. In 1950, the urban population was under 750 million people.
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more: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30788005

[hunter]

1. The wealthy have some autonomy in their urban housing and so do the poor of "developing" nations.

In the middle incomes of the more developed nations, urban people mostly rent and live by the rules of their landlords, or they buy and live by the very restrictive and expensive rules of homeowners associations or co-ops. It's a rather dull world when people are unable to modify their own living spaces and everyone but a single narrow class of employed people are excluded from the community.

We know that great ugly, repetitive publicly owned housing blocks don't work and often become hotbeds for crime and vandalism, but we also know large numbers of people are going to have trouble living in spaces they don't control, and maybe for related reasons, they will never enjoy regular employment, not until our society establishes some kind of minimum income with jobs accommodating of physical and mental disabilities, and more generous welfare and pension benefits.

If a person isn't working, or is retired without an adequate pension, it's usually not because they are lazy, it's because the economy is rotten, or they are members of a group discriminated against, or they are (or have been) unemployable in any ordinary way.

I try to imagine high density low energy urban housing where people own their living space, have a high degree of autonomy about what they do with that space, limited only by the concerns of public safety.

Welcome to the city, here's your big space. Water comes out this pipe, wastewater goes down this pipe, the sun shines in here. Any existing walls, ceilings and floors are near fireproof and built to last centuries. Public transportation is nearby. Have at it, this space is all yours.

It would be the more comfortable man-made equivalent of shelters the first wandering humans encountered, but without any cave bears to evict.

I've lived in worse places.

[dumbcat]

2. Yeah, just imagine how low emissions could be

if everyone were to live in tiny little spaces in incredibly energy efficient big buildings in cities, just like in those wonderful and efficient factory farms. Just think of the effect on climate chamge. We're saved!

[hunter]

3. Millions of people in the U.S.A. pay huge rents to do exactly that.

If living in a dense urban area doesn't appeal to you, then live somewhere else.

In many cities it's all the wealthy people moving in who are forcing ordinary working people out.

Why is this?

For many people cities are a very desirable place to live.