When a chef adds development to the recipe

In the following lines I will talk about two main subjects related to the city I come from. It is really significant to me that you can understand the important role that is playing one only human being due to his willing to change the whole mindset of a country highlighting the merge under one simple activity: gastronomy.

Lima, Peru’s capital city, has registered explosive and unorganized growth over the past several decades, especially in the peripheries. Even though there is mounting evidence of a need for one, Lima still does not have a Metropolitan Urban Plan to define issues of zoning, communication, and areas of expansion, among others.

“Urban development plans for approximately 80 percent of the districts of Lima are inconsistent tools, and were prepared by bureaucrats without updated registries. Development plan does not guarantee harmonious and sustained growth in the city if the municipalities work politically rather than technically.”

Former official of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima.

We have to take into consideration that an urban plan is a fundamental piece of the puzzle that provides us the possibility to define zones that will be occupied in the future, and zones that will be protected from external nor internal disasters. It is worth mentioning that, in Lima alone, the housing shortage is approximately half a million homes with more than 9.5 million of inhabitants.

If we start thinking about all the facts; no plan, a lot of people in the city that is growing really fast, luck of communication, can you even imagine how unequal (socio-economic and density) could this city be?

“The mirror has two faces” –same city- different realities. (Photo at left: Miraflores district Photo at right: slum in the suburbs.)

Bringing that to the table, I can take for granted that you are now imagining that Lima does not have an effective transport system (different types of transportation, order, good and wide roads, etc.), well, you were exactly right. *

1)Traffic jams. 2) One way of public transportation, the Metropolitano. 3) Exit way from one of the Metropolitano’s stop.

The transportation system is a chaos and the urban plan does not exist, it is in the future plans. The amount of cars is growing really fast but the roads are not made for that. In the meantime we had to deal with problems of inequality, luck of fare trade, luck of social inclusion and social development around the country. Looking at all of this, a chef named Gastón Acurio came up with an idea: “to use the rich gastronomy of Peru as a unifying agent”.

It is clear that Gastón could not carry this project alone and, therefore, has accomplished something that no Peruvian leader has been before: to unite the country. A Peru full of social, ideological and generational differences found in its food line connecting the mother to all, and has led the resurgent Peruvian pride to levels unimaginable a few decades ago when they did not take into account the richness of Peruvian popular kitchen.

After he started opening restaurants and earning some reputation, he built an idea that could integrate not only all the different zones of Lima but also all the different zones of the country: a gastronomy fair “Mistura”.

According to the “Economic and Social Dimensions Contribution of Gastronomy in Peru”, developed by Arellano Marketing consultant for the Peruvian Society of Gastronomy (Apega), the gastronomy creates a value chain that would produce more than S /. 40,000 million ($16,400 million), which would be 11.2% of GDP projected. This year the gastronomy will provide as much or more than mining, becoming a new engine of development of the country, and dragging other industries, “such as food transport, tourism, pots and utensils factories, mills chairs, tables, tablecloths, steel and wood “industries. The study shows that the gastronomy directly and indirectly involves five million people, 20% of the economically active population (EAP).

1 The Costa Verde before the fair. 2 The Costa Verde during the fair, after the installation. 3 Transportation just that take you to the fair

This year was the sixth consecutive year of Mistura and received more than 350,000 people from a 10 day fair. The fair showcases the culinary boom and economic development of Peru, since over 11% of GDP is based on culinary activities.

Mistura is also showcase for restaurants, stalls and producers. Furthermore, places like El Gran Mercado centers are ideal for trade relations. Obviously having been part of the fair is a great promotional certificate for all participants.

Gastón presented a new initiative called “Salsa” which “aims to unite Latin American cooks and share experiences and knowledge.” Cooks and chefs from Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Caracas, México City, Santiago, and Sao Paulo will all be involved in this movement that will start a dialogue to connect cooks with agriculture producers. International colleagues of Gaston, such as the Spanish chef, Ferran Adrià, have expressed support for the initiative and both spoke at the UN precisely the arguments that can make the kitchen a weapon against social exclusion, and not only in Latin America.

As a resume, we can say that putting another card on the table can begin to change things. What brings us the culinary boom is not only socio-economic development but also infrastructure, roads, tracks, capacity-building, a need to have a plan and others.  We must be prepared for what lies ahead in the coming years based on the boom that has been Mistura and all culinary event in the country and especially the lead up the good instead of being hailed as “The best Latin-American kitchen and one of the best in the world.”

Mistura – The Power of Food – Peru (HD)

 

I guess, you can change something indirectly, just need to have a clear path to aim the goal.

*For more insight feeling of how is the traffic in Lima I recommend you to look the documental that made Discovery Channel called “Don’t Drive Here“.

 

Bibliography:

http://www.lavanguardia.com/lectores-corresponsales /20091005/53799179533/mistura-la-fiesta-de-la-cocina-peruana.html#ixzz2nIHTTTIu

http://www.unfpa.org.pe/WebEspeciales/2013/Ago2013/ICPD/INEI-Estado-Poblacion-Peruana-2013.pdf

http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2013/03/06/actualidad/1362603162_723925.html

http://www.mistura.pe

“GASTRONOMIA, DESARROLLO E IDENTIDAD CULTURAL” El caso peruano, Mariano Valderrama León

 

 

Comments Off on When a chef adds development to the recipe / 13 Dec 2013 por Gabriela Pella Fernández
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The enemy of the recycling culture in Bogotá

Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia and the largest city in the country in terms of land area. It is one of the biggest in Latin America and figures among the 30 largest cities of the world and the third-highest capital city in South America at 2,625 meters above sea level. With an area of 1.587 km², 7.363.782 inhabitants and a GDP of 140,9 million dollars (24.5% of the national GDP), Bogotá was ranked 54th in the 2010 Global Cities Index.

Furthermore, the capital issued 10,873,331 tons per year of carbon dioxide (CO²) a low rate if it is compared with the 77 million tons of CO² in the Australian capital, the 62 tons in Santiago de Chile and Mexico City, the 58 in New York and 23 in Buenos Aires and Toronto. Just Quito and Lima are below Bogotá, with 2.6 and 2.5 million tones per year. Three years ago, the city produced six tons of recyclable waste per year and only recycled the 10% of it. Additionally, Bogotá has the biggest open-air dump of Latin America that is called Relleno Sanitario Doña Juana. According to 2010 figures, at Doña Juana are arranged daily more than 6000 tons in which approximately 60% is organic waste, and the remaining 40% is inorganic waste within which most are potentially recyclable materials.

Moreover, because the private companies do not do the process of recycling and the citizens are not used to separate the waste, a community of recyclers separated the garbage and did their own harvest of recycle materials informally and before these companies picked up, of course very late in the night or even at early morning hours. These recycling workers are citizens who for many years had worked without social recognition and the whole family has being a productive unit (women, children and men). Most of them do this activity in precarious conditions, under difficult circumstances and recover the materials in bins or garbage bags, with transportation that require great physical effort, without proper management of occupational risks, low knowledge of market dynamics and with almost no chance of improving their marketing channels. Despite the fact that these recycling activities generate income for their livelihood, the recyclers are isolated from the social network of the city as well as of the community organizations that could help them to overcome the conditions of life determined by a job with large and strong social stigmas: working in the street and working with waste.

About a year ago, the mayor or Bogotá launched a program called Basura Cero. This program was created by the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg and has come under some criticism, particularly as a model unwanted in the private sector. This situation resembles the general opinion created in Bogotá with the implementation of the new model of garbage collection, basically because this program is based in the recycling and seeks to develop recyclers as the protagonist, what affects the business and the income private companies received from collecting more waste, not recycled, of the homes of 7 million inhabitants.

Basura Cero is a program and action plan, which aims to ensure that non-recyclable solid waste usable will not be buried or cremated, but recycled and returned in a 100% into the production cycle. More than this, the program pursues to promote a conscious culture of responsible consumption. Also, the fact of integrating the recyclers into the program as formal workers gives them the chance of having capacitation for the specialization of their knowledge and to generate productive opportunities. Basura Cero is an inclusive project with a bottom-up strategy in which through social innovation the city will benefit by the creation of a new culture of conscious consumption and recycling, the progressive ending of the landfill and the creation of new jobs that formalize the important work that more than 13.000 recyclers do in the city.

Despite all the improvements that the program could bring to the city, the environment and the society, private companies decided to be against it. The mayor wanted to begin with the implementation of Basura Cero, but because of the dates of contract completion with the private companies, he had to extend it until the new activities could begin. Private companies took advantage of the situation and came together to decline the last extension of the contract so that chaos in the garbage collection were generated. The chaos actually occurred the 18th of December of 2012, for almost 3 days the garbage wasn’t recollected, the city collapsed and citizens where aggravated. Besides citizens were ignorant of what was really happening, so for them the program was a fraud and the responsible of all the waste in the streets.

All in all, the emergency situation was solved, the garbage was picked up but the Mayor had to made big decisions. He invested money to rent and buy harvest garbage trucks, hired other company for the recollection work and with time began working with the recyclers. The education campaign was launched and Basura Cero began despite the initiative proposed to remove the Mayor because of this event. One year later, the past 9th of December the Mayor was dismiss by the Public Affairs control agency (Procuraduría). He has been reproached of giving the tender for garbage collection without warranties and also of fouling in the implementation of the cleanness scheme for the city.

Basura Cero TV Commercial

After all, I can conclude that political conflicts and business interests of a few can also affect the urban planning of a city. Environment and the future of a whole community are now in risk because of the battle for power and the lack of respect for democracy. During a year of discussions and researches, the city continued generating waste, the open-air dump probably has more waste and CO² emissions were still produced. This situation for me is the evidence that priorities are the self-benefit of some, that companies are not committed with development and that business are more important than the environmental future of a city.

References
1. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/node/373401#sthash.QzgHcMIw.x6sqLSv8.dpbs
2. Corredor, Marta, “El sector reciclaje en Bogotá y su región: oportunidades para los negocios inclusivos”, Serie Guías Sectoriales FUNDES. Retrived from: http://www.fundes.org/uploaded/content/publicacione/1511074433.pdf

Comments Off on The enemy of the recycling culture in Bogotá / 13 Dec 2013 por anamariarocha
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BILBAO: OLYMPIC CITY 2024

SUSTAINABLE URBAN PLANNING AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Bilbao is an important city situated in the north of Spain. It is the financial capital of the Basque Country. During a few decades, this city has been the economic motor of the north of Spain and it still is. In the last years, Bilbao has being transforming from an industrial city to a cultural one, always maintaining a very relevant financial area.

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

Nowadays, Bilbao has become a metropolis where technology blends with culture, where the past values are still helping to the growth of a powerful capital. For all of this, I want to present Bilbao all over the world with a candidature to Olympic Games 2024. First of all, I am going to give some important reasons and achieves that supported this candidature and then I will include some challenges and goals that Bilbao need to improve for became the Olympic City of 2024.

REASONS FOR THE CANDIDATURE

The first important issue are infrastructures. In the last 10 years Bilbao has improved his own communication (subway, tram and buses) and also the communication with other areas of the region (train and highways). Beside this, the new entrance of Bilbao has been built and inaugurated this year. It has made for improve the communication inside the city and inside the metropolitan areas.

Furthermore, Bilbao has a good communication with his Airport. “La Paloma” airport is connected with cities around Spain and Europe (London, Milan and Paris for instance). The Port of Bilbao complete the connexion of the city, providing it with different resources and benefits that I think are crucial for guarantee a total transport system by earth, air and sea.

A second important issue, that is really relevant for this event, are Sports Equipment. Thus, it has been built in Bilbao during the last years the new football stadium: “San Mames Barria”. It is the new field for Bilbao´s football team called “Athletic de Bilbao”. This team is very important for citizens and has a huge implication in the society. The collaboration of the team in this event is crucial to ensure Bilbao´s candidature.

Another relevant item are cultural interests. In Bilbao we have some amazing tourist resources such as “Guggenheim Museum”, “Alhondiga Building”, “Euskalduna Palace”, “Bellas Artes Museum”, “Arriaga Theatre”… Those are only a few examples that give an idea of how is improving Bilbao´s image. In the last decades Bilbao is trying to be known around the world. And the last step is to be Olympic City of 2024.

Also I think that is important to be aware about the services that Bilbao can offer. Talking about this kind of tourism, health and wellness is necessary to mention “Domine Hotel” and “Melia Hotel” and the urban solutions such as the bridges around the city, for instance “Calatrava Bridge”. Those are only a few examples that enforce Bilbao as a good European capital.

Finally in my opinion, is important to talk about future investments that could probably be done if Bilbao becomes Olympic City of 2024. I am referring to the project of “Zorrozaurre” neighbourhood. This project consist in reform an industrial area of Bilbao and became a neutral area, providing it with effective communications and green areas in a sustainable way. The idea is to transform a waste zone in a potential area for the future and development. It would be the last important reform in the whole city.

GOALS TO ACHIEVE

After analysed all the strengths of Bilbao, now it is the time to focus on weaknesses. I identify two important debilities that could ruin the candidature of Bilbao.The first one is the lack of space. As I said before, there is no more space to build new infrastructures or equipment so it is imperative to use the tools that are already built.

The second problem, and probably the most transcendental one, is the transport inefficiency.Although there are good communication infrastructures, most people use their one car for going to work everyday. That provokes the collapsed of the highways and roads in the rush hours. The entrances and exits of the city are block when citizens more need them. Thus, I think that this problem is related with environmental education. For an environmental protection and to be become a city more sustainable is necessary to change the population behavior and the only way to do it is with meetings and acts for promote using of tools that protect environment and permit sustainable development in our cities. However, there are some important skills that government of Bilbao can support and follow.

The first one is to promote the CARPOOLING. Carpooling is a very useful transport method that consists in share the car with other people that have the same destiny. Due that in Bilbao most traffic is cause by people who come from closer towns to work, this system could decrease considerably the number of vehicles that enter to Bilbao and go out everyday. In fact, since 2012, there is one company that facilities carpooling services in Bilbao, called IBILKARI. As I said before, most of the tools that are needed to become an efficient city are already built. Nevertheless, the challenge now, is use them. The way to act is try to convince population to use this kind of systems to move and improve together our environment.

On the other hand, I have to mention that the use of bicycles is improving. There is design a bike path around the city that tourist and citizens can use easily. Anybody can take a bicycle in one part of Bilbao and leave in the other part, because the cycle´s stop are distributed almost all the city.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, I would like to add that Bilbao is an amazing opportunity for people that want a place where the past and the future live together and become stronger and efficient. This is a city that has learned from the past, has corrected the mistake and has turned in a model for others.

In this city, everybody follows the same team, under the same flag, speaks a different language and wants to improve as citizen. This is the city of Athletic Lions, this is my city, and this is the city where 2024 Olympic Games will take place. WELCOME TO BILBAO!

REFERENCES

• SPIM and LKS Consulting (2008), “Diagnóstico de la situación actual del transporte en la comunidad autónoma del País Vasco. El Transporte de mercancías en la CAPV”.
• Areso, I. (2009), “Bilbao´s Strategic Evolution. From the Industrial to the Post-industrial City. Town Hall, Bilbao.
• Noy, P. (2008), “Complementos al transporte colectivo. Carsharing-Bicisharing-Carpooling” Caleidoscopio. Innovación para la Sostenibilidad, Bilbao.
• International Study of the situation of ICT, innovation and knowledge in cities (2012), “Smart Cities Study: Bilbao”. The committee of Digital and Knowledge-based Cities of UCLG.

Comments Off on BILBAO: OLYMPIC CITY 2024 / 13 Dec 2013 por guillermojoselatorre
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COULD WE TURN SAN SEBASTIAN DE LOS REYES INTO A SUSTAINABLE MUNICIPALITY?

In San Sebastián de los Reyes, we are working together in the aim of growing and getting a better future, to reach a sustainable municipality through a project who is called “Agenda 21”. We all follow the steps to get this goal, and we are aware about the needs that citizens and society are claiming for. Therefore, we can say that we are engaged with the task of creating a new city, which carries out issues as participation and commitment.

The project of “Agenda 21”, works in an Action Plan to develop business area, citizenship, trading area, urban planning etc, to reach, in a long term, a sustainable development municipality.

Economic, social and environmental issues are the main points of this process, and people who is working in this, try to get into this idea in the more efficient process way. And also, we should emphasize that “Agenda 21” is based in principles as democracy, transparency and social participation. This last point is an important one, because citizens in San Sebastián de los Reyes feel that their voices are heard, and most of them are getting involved in the social activities that the city hall and organizations offered.

Otherwise, let me come into the idea of the sustainable development action. In few words, it enhances economic and social progress respecting the environment. The first step to develop this idea of the sustainable municipality is the Action Plan, which I have explained before. And we have to go through this with the diagnostic, that provides us technical and social information.

Technical information comes as variables and indicators (for instance, statistics). Public and private agencies provide technical information about environment, socio-economic analysis, urban planning, facilities and infrastructures. Otherwise, social information turn into the source of the Action Plan with staff like, surveys, votes in the website and working groups (four groups, for being clear).

We are analyzing these two factors with the “DAFO” (debilities, threats, strengths and opportunities) which evaluate every single area in these four different branches. But I would like to focus just in one of this areas: URBAN PLANNING.

In this municipality, on the one hand, we have to review again the zonings land use planning, and in the second one, reduce conflicts between the different uses of this ground, reaching a more efficient distribution of these uses. And this is important because we want to tie, economic and social development with environmental protection, and with this, reach the goal of sustainable development.

The two principal aims of the rezoning plan are, increasing the surface of green areas, and expanding the surface for the industrial sector, because most of it is occupied by the residential sector. Let me explain in a clear way. The big issue in San Sebastian de los Reyes is, at first, the scarcity of green, public and open areas. Narrow roadways and pavement, parking cars, and also traffic, occupied the entire space. Thus, this enhances the poor access and we can not find saving walking paths, especially for kids, and old people. And second, we find unused facilities and old buildings taking up space, and in fact,  they could have better use.

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So, a functional restructure of the uses and a good policy of land allocation could bring new potential land uses and could increase urban planning operations. By the way of this renovation, free space and new green areas will grow up, becoming also an attraction for the citizens and for reaching the shape that San Sebastián de los Reyes wants to be.  So as we said before, we can bring a proper administration which relocates uses, and make an intensive restoration of the unused and old infrastructures.

Because of the new demographic and socio- economic situation that the city could suffer, the land should be appropriate zoning, for that reason, we will see changes to different zoning urban uses, and current citizens needs would be supply. The issue here is that we could find a high amount of non-use or non-proper zoning areas inside the blocks. Therefore, a rational organization of the uses and well-distributed areas would be the solution to solve the chaos structure. Reallocating zoning of these areas can cover the demand of public and pedestrian spaces. In addition, reaching a better environmental urbanization in every block and roadways by the proper disposition of roads, traffic and parking places, will increase free spaces for pedestrian uses.

We also find in San Sebastián de los Reyes the lack of trees and vegetation around the locality, and a fault of green areas. But this issue, with the reconstruction of the municipality, it is going to be solved, because open spaces and boulevards will started to emerge.

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In addition, San Sebastián de los Reyes has a large surface of natural areas, with the aim of provide them for parks and green areas. Recycle water is the source to keep in perfect way these parks.

 

 

 

 

Comments Off on COULD WE TURN SAN SEBASTIAN DE LOS REYES INTO A SUSTAINABLE MUNICIPALITY? / 13 Dec 2013 por sofiagarcia-carretero
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REACHING THE GOAL

The 19^th Conference of the Parties meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change shows us the participation of 192 countries, involved in the task of the reduction of greenhouse gases and CO2 emissions. They want to give a solution to the problem of the climate change. A new report has demonstrated us that global warming is 95% for human´s activities fault, but developed countries want desperately to avoid taking the blame for the impacts of the climate change. Before too many hours of hard negotiations, parties reached some kind of conclusion, but everything in general points and waiting for the next meeting in Paris 2015.

In the final press release, they avoid the word “compromise” in the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions, using moreover, the word “contributions”; in sentences like this one “governments provided more clarity on mobilizing finance to support developing country actions to curb emissions and adapt to climate change”. And these do not like to all the countries, but those who are developing, as India and China, are very pleaceful.

 

Another important point of the COP19 was the “Further progress in help for developing nations”. In which developed countries (including Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland) will pay 100 million dollars per year for the Adaptation Found. They will start founding national projects to better assess the impacts of climate changes and to get “what they need in the way of support to become more resilient”. The idea to deal with loss and damage for the climate change is helping poorer countries and transfer them some sort of technology. As I read in an article this is the “third leg” of the United Nations. The first and second ones are mitigation (when countries cut emissions) and adaptation (advance preparation of climate change). The theory sounds really good, but is time for the action.

 

This was not the main idea of the COP19, but this minimum agreement is the first step to reach the real target in the fight against the climate change. In my opinion, countries try to get involved as they can in the economic growth and environmental protection, but everyone look for their own interest and everything goes around money. And that is the problem of no finding any solution.

Comments Off on REACHING THE GOAL / 13 Dec 2013 por sofiagarcia-carretero
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Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires has been chosen as a city to have the Youth Olympic Games in 2018. In order to be host of this event the city will have to make some infrastructure work and investment in different items.  This sport event that raises global interest is the perfect opportunity to make these investments not only useful for the Olympic Games but also for the local community. This long-term approach gives a new meaning to the Youth Olympic Games by impacting the city in a much more sustainable way.

Although this proposal is not set in the official website of the project, where the Social Responsibility aspects mentioned are orientated to education and cultural aspects, the project seeks to leave a legacy to the city regarding infrastructure.  So in addition to promoting the Olympic values, cultural exchange, sports and healthy habits to young people, the promise is that 2.000 families will have access to housing after the Olympic Games are over. In this way the 112 million dollar investment will be an investment oriented to the wellbeing of the community in the area of Villa Soldati and Comuna 8, as well as in the sport event.

Comments Off on Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires / 13 Dec 2013 por celinalesta
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Houston, Texas: A Case for Alternative Transportation

Houston, Texas is a vibrant and bustling city, with a great economic backbone in the form of its energy sector that perpetuates growth for the city. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Houston’s metro area has grown 26% since 2000, with a lot of the growth stemming from migration in part of people looking for work. The migration to Houston is great for creating a cultural diversity second to none in the United States, but a growing population of workers also assists in perpetuating a problem Houston already has – the constant use of cars for transport, along with the pollution and congestion it creates in the city.

In the latest reports, it can be seen that Houston has a working population of 954,400 (the fourth largest in the United States) of which 74% drive alone as their means of transportation to work. Only 5% of people use the available public transportation and another 2% choose to walk.

Throughout history, Houston has made strategic decisions in connecting to the outside world for business purposes. In the 19^th century, there were efforts to make Houston a railroad hub, and in the early 20^th century Houston gained access to sea trade via the Gulf of Mexico by dredging a ship canal, which provided huge economic advantages. Recently, Houston added to the transportation mix by adding two airports. Through time, many decisions in regard to transportation around Houston were based solely on achieving economic growth. Transportation was viewed more as a tool to facilitate moving goods around, so there has never been been much consideration and planning for moving its people.

Many factors contribute to the complicated transport issues that mostly facilitate the car as being the number one form of transport. Houston’s distinct character and urban sprawl make other forms of transport unattractive or more burdensome to use, thus creating a cycle of an expanding car culture and no planning for alternative modes of human mobility.

In 2003, the city’s politicians finally decided to take a look at the mobility issues in Houston and took a step to facilitate change by introducing a new light rail system called METRORail.  This system was intended to provide another option for transportation that also improves future environmental and economic sustainability of the city. A report from the Mayor’s Task Force on the Metropolitan Transport Authority describes how the new light rail system fits into the city’s transportation scheme:

The light rail system METRO is building is an urban system, serving trips inside and immediately outside Loop 610. It is intended to put major destinations inside the urban core within walking distance of stations. The light rail system is also intended to serve as a high-capacity spine for the bus system, replacing bus lines with higher speed, more reliable, higher capacity service. Once light rail lines are completed, bus service will be restructured to feed into the light rail lines.

The first leg of the light rail system opened in 2004, which was a 7.5-mile track connecting the Downtown area to the Medical Center (two of the main job centers in the city). This initial leg has been a great success for the city, with the second highest amount of ridership per track-mile in the United States. There are currently five additional extensions either under construction or in the blueprint stage. Here is an animation that portrays how transit, auto, and pedestrian traffic would work in and around the different METRORail station areas as well as the the fit of each proposed design in differing site environments.

The main complaints that can be seen with the light rail extensions are their lack of accessibility to the many job/activity centers around the city as well as the suburbs that surround the city. Just a few of the dispersed centers around the city include: Downtown, Uptown/Galleria, Greenway, Greenspoint, Westchase, the Medical Center, The Energy Corridor, the Ship Channel, and NASA. People argue that the light rail network will not help solve any of the congestion issues, but rather only waste a few billion dollars on an inefficient system. The opposition’s proposal includes setting up a rapid bus transit system, similar to what could be found in Bogotá, Columbia, utilizing high-speed high occupancy vehicle lanes that connect all of the suburbs with the activity centers. Busses of different sizes would regularly collect people from their local suburban transit centers and deliver them to the differing activity centers without much change to infrastructure that is already in place. In this system, busses could even circulate within the activity center so that individuals wouldn’t have to walk far and endure the elements of weather.

This alternative to rail can be seen as formidable, but it’s important to look at and weigh the benefits a rail network may have over a bus network in the long-term. In the end, whatever system is adopted and implemented needs to be effective in increasing commuter transit ridership, reducing the congestion of the highways, decreasing the amount of transport pollution, connecting all neighborhoods to job/activity centers, and promoting a more sustainable alternative to the current dependency on cars. The policies that are adopted from here forward should aim to further boost productivity and attractiveness to young, talented people so that Houston continues to thrive, and that means promoting a dense, transit-oriented urban scheme that further facilitates diverse, interesting lifestyles that young active people will be seeking.

References:

FindTheData.org

Transportation Issues In Houston – Rice University Blog

Houston Strategies Blog – A Better Vision For Metro

Houston Chronicle Blog – Why We Should All Love The Light Rail System

Photo source: en.wikipedia.com

Comments Off on Houston, Texas: A Case for Alternative Transportation / 13 Dec 2013 por Jacob Jon Pallone
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I want to ride my bicycle

 

Pozuelo de Alarcón, with a GDP per capita of € 51,634, is the richest municipality in the Autonomous Region of Madrid. It would be logic to think that the most basic needs in terms of infrastructure and services are covered; hence the major’s office should implement policies that go further and achieve more ambitious goals. The starting point can be the adhesion to the Covenant of Mayors, signed by Pozuelo’s Mayor on March 21^st 2013.

The main challenge of Pozuelo de Alarcón is transportation. There is an absolute dependence on private transportation, not only in terms of the lack of alternatives, but also a strong private car transportation culture. Because of its quality of dormitory community, most of its inhabitant’s trips are pendulous. People use their own cars in order to travel to the work place, either directly, or towards a public transportation hub (underground, light train, train). The problem worsens due to the low occupancy per vehicle, almost one person per vehicle. All these, result in high traffic congestion as well as in a lack of parking space; beside the high amount of CO2 emissions per person. Therefore, it is required the implementation of new measures that tackle the aforementioned challenge.

Reinforce the public transportation system

Currently, Pozuelo de Alarcón has 30 daytime and 4 nighttime bus lines; 10 kilometres with 13 stops of light train; and one train station. The municipality has, in general, a good coverage of public transportation. However, the services are poor in terms of frequency, above all in the bus, having a mean of 30 minutes between buses. Thus, the improvement effort should be directed to increase the frequency of the transports, chiefly during the rush hours. Together with this improvement, the integration of IT in the public transportation system in the line’s stops and in smartphones would provide the users with real-time information, such as timetables, time to next departure, line maps… that would enhance substantially the quality of the service.

Promote carpooling

As mentioned before, the occupancy of private vehicles is just about 1 person per vehicle.  Sharing the car in the way to work means less cars in the road, hence less traffic congestion and less parking problems. At the same time, the cost of transportation per person is lower, as well as the amount of pollution. It is also, a more social way of transportation, since there is interpersonal communication. A digital platform that works as a meeting point and bulletin board, would allow car owners to share their daily routes and let people with the same route to get in touch with each other.

Create an alternative: the bicycle as a mean of transport

The ideal solution for the transportation problem from, not only the environmental point of view, but also in terms of health and costs, would be the use of the bicycle as a mean of transport. Nowadays, Pozuelo de Alarcón has 17 kilometres of bicycle lanes, although scattered through the locality in short paths no longer than 2.5 kilometres. The municipality claims that the goal for the next years is to build up to a total of 50 kilometres bicycle lane network with the aim of turning the bicycle into a feasible mean of transport. However, no tangible plan has been presented to date, with the exception of a 1.5 km lane that will connect 3 different green areas.

This mentioned project and the already existing lanes show a clear intention of recreational use, despite the claims of the municipality. Many of the lanes are circular routes with neither connection between each other nor to public transportation hubs. Due to the fact that the bulk of the motorized movements are bound to outside-the-locality work places, if the bicycle is to become a real mean of transport, then a different approach to the lane’s layout is required.

 

The lane network has to be a web that connects the different neighbourhoods to the main transportation hubs, namely, Colonia Jardín metro station and Pozuelo train station, as well as certain key light train stops. This would allow the so called mixed-mode commuting, a scenario where the passenger would be able to ride from his home to the public transport station and either park his bicycle there and take the communal transport or bring it with him and ride from the destination station to the workplace. To do so, it is also require an adequate parking infrastructure that guarantees the safety of the bicycles.

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Comments Off on I want to ride my bicycle / 13 Dec 2013 por juancarlosgomezmartin
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Slumming in Paradise

 

 

 

Introduction and Demographics

As you may know, Santo Domingo is the capital of a paradisiac Island located at the heart of the Caribbean; The Dominican Republic. In the last years the country has suffered a massive population shift from the rural areas to the urban centres having an impact in the urban development of the capital. Even though censoring is still considered to be a challenge for the country´s administration, it could be said that the capital city has 3 million inhabitants loose. This means that almost one third of the country´s population live within the limits of the capital city.

Among the city´s inhabitants, 65% live in urban slums occupying only a 19% of the city land. Population growth in these marginalised neighbourhoods accounts for 10% while the capital city as a whole is growing at a 6.5 rate. Therefore, a significant increase in the number of slums can be seen in the capital of the Dominican Republic. This is undoubtedly considered to be a major challenge for the urban development of Santo Domingo.  For this reason, the problem of slums needs to be addressed since it is directly linked to other poverty related issues.

Challenge

Slums are seen as a failure of urban city planning as well as a result of poor policies. This means that slums are a consequence or a result of a lack of attention towards human basic needs on part of the government. In Santo Domingo, there are some neighbourhoods such as Los Guaricanos, Herrera and La Barquita among others, where slums are the common landscape. These areas are characterised as being violent and unstable, since the urban poor living under these conditions have nothing to lose. In addition, Dominicans living in slums do not have the necessary infrastructures providing them with sanitation and water. These two basic services are considered to be a main problem in slums having severe consequences in the inhabitants. A vast number of children are continuously at risk of health related problems. Therefore, uncertainty in these areas prevails.

From a more technical perspective, the structure of the slums is not considered to be specially consistent and adequate. Particularly, in Santo Domingo, where climate plays an important role, houses should be adapted to weather conditions and they should be built in areas where the probability of a flood or of a landslide is low. Nevertheless, if you analyze the location of slums in Santo Domingo, you could observe that a great amount are built in highly insecure and vulnerable areas. Therefore, slums in Santo Domingo should be improved and start to be seen as an integral part of the city instead of being treated as a separate part of the urban development of the capital.

Solution

Upgrading slums in this paradise is therefore a priority. It is important that this process confers a benefit to the most direct stakeholders; the urban poor. For this reason, voices as well as concerns need to be heard. A social and political platform pushing for their needs could be implemented following already existing models. In South Africa, India and Brazil, a project is being put into practice by the IBSA Working Group on Human Settlements. The main aim is to improve the living standards of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. This project counts with a platform aimed at helping the three countries to learn from each other’s experiences and to have a constant discussion. A direct transfer of Knowledge is being made hence enhancing South–South cooperation. The Dominican Republic and specifically Santo Domingo could therefore draw lessons from this platform and learn from experiences and policies put in place in developing countries where also slumming is a major issue.

Apart from the social and political platform, the project introduces the concept of prefabricated houses as a form of upgrading slums from a more urban and technical point of view.  Modular prefabricated houses seem to be the solution to reducing inequalities in urban cities. These houses take under consideration the communities’ needs and are considered to be adjustable to accommodate a family.

What is more,  they would serve as a barrier to weather conditions such as humidity and heat as well as to insects. This is considered of crucial importance in Santo Domingo since Dengue and Malaria are still frequent diseases. Blocks tend to be light and cheap as well as recyclable. Hence, this has benefits in both monetary and environmental terms for both the urban poor, the environment and the government.

Prefabricated houses therefore seem to be an appealing solution to the problem of slums with a wide range of advantages. Nevertheless, it is essential to integrate the idea of slum upgrading in the production sector of the economy in order to make the project more feasible. In the Dominican Republic there is an association, which deals with the country´s construction sector, namely the Asociacion Dominicana de Constructores y Promotores de Vivienda. Through this association, construction as well as material companies such as Metaldom or Sinercon could be introduced in the production phase. These Dominican companies by being involved in the project could therefore contribute to the development of the country.

The labour force could be provided by the communities affected. By employing the urban poor,  these people would be keener on being involved in the project but also capacity building would be enhanced by allowing these part of society to learn and to contribute to the construction of their own houses. Socio-economic development will also be promoted. The population being employed would contribute to the rising of the sector. This is considered to be crucial since Dominicans do actually need to have a reason to be proud of.

Therefore, a common benefit could be seen in the city of Santo Domingo. The government would be seen as accountable for addressing urban planning demands, the urban poor would be considered as an integrated part of society and the private sector would participate in the socio-economic development of the country.

Sports

The temperature as well as the sunny year-round climate makes the island ideal for practicing sports. One cannot talk about the Dominican Republic without talking about baseball. After the American league, the Dominican baseball league is the most important. Almost 500 players are members of American baseball teams. Therefore, a major baseball event held in Santo Domingo could be an excuse to develop the aforementioned urban planning scheme able to cope with the challenges of the capital city.  Jose Alberto Pujols, a famous Dominican Baseball player coming from an difficult area of Santo Domingo named Cristo Rey, could take the lead and be a push for the project by sharing his life experiences.  Seeing him as a national idol who has faced urban challenges could actually  be a motivation and a driving factor to develop this new urban plan.

 

 

Comments Off on Slumming in Paradise / 13 Dec 2013 por inescamarero
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Why Public Electric Transport in Tenerife?

 

The island of Tenerife (Spain), forms part of a group of 7 island of the Canary Archipelago, located in the    Atlantic Ocean, near to Morocco. The island is the capital of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife being  the largest island with a surface of 2,034.38 km² and a population of 898,680 inhabitants.

 

The tertiary sector (more specifically tourism) is the dominant field in the canarian economy. This sector has contributed to the change produced in the economic system during the last 50 years, becoming the engine of the Island´s economy. As we can see Tenerife has a high dependence on tourism. Being so high, that investment in this sector is a profitable acquisition.

As the renewable energy sector is boosting in the island, it could maybe be seen as beneficial source to be used for the tourism industry.

 

Urban challenges in the Island

Although it can seem surprising to many people, as the media sells the island as an idyllic destination, the reality is that it has loads of urban challenges.

The worst problem that the island currently suffers is traffic congestion, which provoked an increase of a 29% in greenhouse gases, along with the refinery, during the period of 1990 to 2010 (emissions produced by buses just reach a 3% of gas emissions). Too many cars, with a single passenger, travel to the capital each day. This is due to a high percentage of the population working or studying in the metropolitan area (Santa Cruz and San Cristobal de La Laguna).

If we had to divide the transport selection, we would find out that a 99.63% of the population would opt for the private transport while  the small remaining percentage would choose public transport.  The main reason why this choice is so small is because of its  inefficiency (too-expensive and bad organized schedules).

This crucial problem is creating a negative image of the island, causing problems in the touristic sector. So why not producing    and   investment in public transport to obtain higher profits in the tourist sector?

The ideal solution

Public transports price is one of the big reasons why citizens don´t select this option to move around the island. One of the causes of high volatility in public transport prices is due to the change in petrol costs. This insatiability of the prices provokes that people select private transport over public, as it ends up being cheaper.

 

Electric buses have already been invented, opening a window to a possible solution. An example of these buses is the BYD eBus, which have already been tested in the two main cities of Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), having an excellent outcome. One of the main characteristics to highlight from this bus is their high autonomy due to their advanced technology in electric batteries. Their best advantage is the respect towards the environment as they are 100% electric vehicles with zero gas emissions, which is a key issue towards what the public transport systems around the world should be aiming to.

A sustainable way of producing the electric energy, for theses buses, is through renewable resources. The island has already renewable energies working, but in a small scale. Although one of its neighbor islands (El Hierro) is near to managing a 100% dependency in renewable energies. Tenerife could try to incorporate this project, providing to the transport service the energy needed without affecting climate change.

The project developed in El Hierro involves the installation of a hydroelectric power plant and a wind farm interconnected.  This system is expected to achieve annual savings of 18,700 tones of CO₂ and 1.8 million euros for the 40,000 barrels of petrol that they won´t purchase anymore.

source: sky.com

If this project was introduced in Tenerife, not only public transport problems would be solved, but also most of the energy consumption of the island, which is highly dependent in the refinery.  At the beginning of introducing this energy source in the service of public transport prices might rise, but in the long-term stability on the prices could be ensured, as the renewables are an inexhaustible sources of energy, preventing volatility in prices.

On the other hand, to solve the problem of bus schedules, a similar concept as the BRT (Bus Rapid Transits), which was for the first time developed in Brazil, could be introduced in the island. It has been demonstrated that this type of systems, integrated by buses, can have functions and services similar to those provide by rail systems, as well as producing a lower impact on the environment. This kind of system with independent road networks is able to transport a high number of people per hour (e.g. TransMilienio in Bogota transports 20.000 travellers per hour). It is also important to underline that we would also be aiming to improve the travelling methods of people, targeting for an eco-movement of citizens within the island, trying to reach the goal of a reduction on car use. It is important to state that the system would have to be introduced at a much smaller scale because of the dimension of the island.

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(video: example of BRT)

Bus lanes could be created with the aim of only having this vehicles circulating on this rails, providing a fixed schedule, which buses will be able to attend avoiding the typical traffic jams. With this new system, the public transport in Tenerife will be more efficient and able to attend citizen’s demand.  The cost of creating this system would be much more cost-efficient than the project of the train that they want to introduce in the island, as well as a more sustainable.

Improved Tourist sector

All this changes that we have proposed could create a better image of the island and also it would increase its sustainability. The reduction in traffic congestion generated with a satisfactory implementation of this system would make the preference for public transport increase between the citizens, making the percentage in this type of transport increase.

The investment needed at the beginning of the project would be very high but it would stimulate the tertiary sector, having a better outcome, with higher profits from this field.

 

Comments Off on Why Public Electric Transport in Tenerife? / 13 Dec 2013 por mariagutierrez
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