By the Charts: Cities are Greener
Dan Bertolet, 18 Mar 09
All of the above charts courtesy of Jonathan Rose Companies. The original source of the GHG data is: Journal of Urban Planning and Development © ASCE / March 2006.
This piece originally appeared on Dan Bertolet's blog, HugeAssCity
Very nice trend. By the way, the right half of the charts are blocked by advertisements I can't seem to click away. What's up with that?
Posted by: Rojelio on 18 Mar 09
There seems to be something missing here...
Do these graphs take into account the transportation/energy costs associated with the production and distribution of food? The denser the city, the less it is able to grow its own food and therefore the more it relies on rural areas for this production.
If we were to follow as a nation what these graphs seem to suggest and all move to the city, there would be no one left to grow the crops, to generate the electricity. In other words, we cannot blindly assert that urban is superior to rural.
Assuming that the underlying data behind these graphs is somewhat comprehensive, I think the deeper question is this: Are cities greener by virtue of being cities or is there something else at work? (Some possibilities might be sympathetic green building policies, money and investment in green infrastructure and architecture, awareness of and education on green elements, support from elected officials, and the relative newness of so many urban components in terms of their age.)
If there is in fact something else at work, wouldn't it make sense to work to replicate and spread these elements to all areas, whether they be urban or rural?
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Posted by: crutle on 10 Apr 09
Fix the layout; it is broken in both Firefox 3.0.10 and Safari 3.2.1.
Users can see the whole figures by right-clicking or control-clicking (Apple) and selecting "open image in new window".
Great info though. Thanks.
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