16. Wet More frequent and intense droughts More frequent and intense storms Source: American Rivers Dry Normal Range
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24. In the Wake of the Half Moon: The City Today Robert Pirani Regional Plan Association November 16, 2009
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Editor's Notes
My role in some ways is as the pivot point in this morning session From the Hudson’s arrival at Manahatta of yore to the plans for tomorrow by talking about the city today
Of course the City we see today is a reflection of how we have responded to the challenges of the past –
Cities are adaptive organizational structures. Just as individual species reflect the successful adaptations to past challenges, the city we see today reflects our success (or failure) of adapting to the challenges).
So to the City is a mosaic of improvements that reflects technology, public policy, and private decisions.
Which in turn help dictate our ecological relationships and sense of place – from eating oysters from the harbor to jogging on the waterfront
Landscape ecologists describe the process of change as ecological succession, how ecosystems move through a variety of stages toward a steady state - until physical or ecological disturbances starts the process over again. The hurricane that blows down and od tree stand in the forest and lets sunlight to the forest floor being just one example. Its an imperfect metaphor of course, but perhaps we can think of our urban landscape and its ecological and economic relationships as evolving slowly in complexity until technology or economics or environmental crises force a shift.
Take for example the ideal of the garden city espoused by Ebenezer Howard’s– his ans wer for the urban congestion and rural abandonment of the 19 th century.
Being interpreted as plans and investments – and amplified by the advent of the automobile.
And setting the template for the private decisions that follow
Another example - New York grew from the village to great port
The advent of containerization and deindustrialization
Combined with cleaner water
Turned abandoned land on the waterfront – here the west side rail yards New Yorks’ crumbling piers and bulkheads have created new habitat – and a permitting nightmare for waterfront landowners – including park and other public agencies. Current permitting is driven as much by bureaucratic caution as it is by the best science or the public interest in creating parks and public spaces along the water’s edge.
Recycled as riverside south Nearly 700 acres in 50 projects – a 20% increase in waterfront parks. Parks that add value to adjacent real estate 10 -20% in the case of hudson river park
As well as
So the question is How can our adaptations be more successful One thing to consider is that the world we live in today is changing faster than the one of the past: technology, globalization, and of course changes in climate. What was once considered normal range will no longer be so We know that in nature, frequently disturbed environments tend to favor species that are more generalized, that can adapt more readily or more quickly to changing conditions, We need to be building such resiliency and flexibility into our infrastructure Thinking about green and integrated infrastructure that takes advantage of ecosystem services and generates co-benefits – as opposed to single purpose investments
Living with the water Water as a resource, not waste Water as a part of the cityscape, not backdrop Water as integrated with planning
Anther example – our relationship to the waterfront As we have seen we have lost about 85 percent of the original wetlands and near shore habitat from the harbor
Temperatures will rise, mean high tide levels within the New York Harbor will rise, and precipitation will likely increase - according to projections documented in “Climate Risk Information,” by the New York City Panel on Climate Change. Conservative estimates indicate a sea level rise of 2 – 5 inches by the 2020s, 7 – 12 inches by the 2050s, and 12 – 23 inches by the 2080s,
My role in some ways is as the pivot point in this morning session From the Hudson’s arrival at Manahatta of yore to the plans for tomorrow by talking about the city today
