Browsing by Subject "urban sustainability"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Center for Urban Health: Enhancing the health of cities by focusing on communities and the environment
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Filippelli, Gabriel; Johnson, Daniel P.; Wiehe, Sarah E.; Zollinger, Terrell
    Urban sustainability is a new philosophy of developing healthy, productive communities that (1) promote and use locally-produced foods and products, (2) ensure safe access to natural spaces, and (3) establish low-carbon transportation systems. Urban living is arguably the most sustainable form of community given the concentration of resources, protection of arable land, and vertical structure of housing. In fact, urbanization is becoming the global norm; the percentage of global population living in urban settings has increased from less than 30% in 1950 to 47% in 2000; the percentage of urban dwellers is expected to increase to 60% by 2025. The promise of a healthy and sustainable urban future is clouded, however, by the reality of environmental insults, economic disparities, and behavioral pressures that exist in modern cities. The challenge is not how to build a shiny carbon-neutral city from scratch, but rather how to transition our current urban state toward one that is healthier, has less environmental impact, and is more prepared to respond and adjust to variety of environmental, social, and health changes in the future. Several groups at IUPUI and in the community are collaborating to explore connections between environment, behavior, health, and climate as related to urban environments. These translational efforts are inter- and trans-disciplinary, as evidenced by earth scientists publishing with pediatricians, and geographers publishing with epidemiologists. These efforts are largely undertaken with a geospatial and geotemporal research template. This template allows environmental, health, and behavioral data to be collected individually but with reference to space and time, which become important metadata components for analysis. The Center for Urban Health promotes discovery by building research collaborations among Center Investigators, providing seed funds for new research areas, funding graduate fellowships, and sponsoring educational activities such as public lectures and a Visiting Scholars Program.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Center for Urban Health: Enhancing the health of cities by focusing on communities and the environment
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Filippelli, Gabriel; Johnson, Daniel P.; Wiehe, Sarah E.; Watson, Dennis P.
    Urban sustainability is a new philosophy of developing healthy, productive communities that (1) promote and use locally-produced foods and products, (2) ensure safe access to natural spaces, and (3) establish low-carbon transportation systems. Urban living is arguably the most sustainable form of community given the concentration of resources, protection of arable land, and vertical structure of housing. In fact, urbanization is becoming the global norm; the percentage of global population living in urban settings has increased from less than 30% in 1950 to 47% in 2000; the percentage of urban dwellers is expected to increase to 60% by 2025. The promise of a healthy and sustainable urban future is clouded, however, by the reality of environmental insults, economic disparities, and behavioral pressures that exist in modern cities. The challenge is not how to build a shiny carbon-neutral city from scratch, but rather how to transition our current urban state toward one that is healthier, has less environmental impact, and is more prepared to respond and adjust to variety of environmental, social, and health changes in the future. Several groups at IUPUI and in the community are collaborating to explore connections between environment, behavior, health, and climate as related to urban environments. These translational efforts are inter- and trans-disciplinary, as evidenced by earth scientists publishing with pediatricians, and geographers publishing with epidemiologists. These efforts are largely undertaken with a geospatial and geotemporal research template. This template allows environmental, health, and behavioral data to be collected individually but with reference to space and time, which become important metadata components for analysis. The Center for Urban Health promotes discovery by building research collaborations among Center Investigators, conducting workshops on cutting-edge developments in urban health, and bridging campus and community efforts in public health, including the Reconnecting to Our Waterways (RWO) initiative.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Making Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure Projects Viable: Private Choices, Public Support, and Systems Constraints
    (Cogitato Press, 2017-09-08) Noonan, Douglas S.; Zhou, Shan; Kirkman, Robert; School of Public and Environmental Affairs
    Sustainable cities will require major infrastructure investments coupled with widespread behavioral change. Examples of smart, green technologies abound, but evidence for actual use lags. This partly owes to the tension between public support and private choices: individuals thinking as members of the public may see solutions as smart for the city, but thinking of their private interests may see those same solutions as not smart for themselves. This also owes to the disconnect between private and public choices, on the one hand, and the workings of complex systems, on the other. Even if public and private interests align, existing built environment systems may resist change. This article examines public perception and use of the Atlanta BeltLine, a pioneering sustainability initiative to transform the auto-dependent city into a greener, denser city. Analyzing a general public survey reveals widespread support for the BeltLine alongside reticence from residents to change their commute or greenspace use. The findings also show that drivers of public support and prospective use of the BeltLine differ. Public support may be insufficient if individual use decisions do not follow. Yet, private adoption decisions may not follow until and unless the systems in which they are embedded are already changing.