Tag Archives: Urban Planning

Silent Earth Review

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“Silent Earth” has received a five-star “must read🏆” review on Reedsy. Blending scientific depth and practical foresight, this book is both a wake-up call and a guide for navigating environmental collapse.

Synopsis

Silent Earth is a technical reference for civil engineers, land-use and urban planners, and city administrators. It covers a broad range of topics and should serve as a springboard for specialists wishing to learn more about adapting to climate change and biosphere decline.

As the Earth’s living systems deteriorate at an unprecedented rate, human societies face the urgent challenge of adapting to an increasingly unstable environment. Physical Geographer Garry Rogers offers a clear-eyed examination of our options, arguing that while complete restoration of the biosphere is no longer feasible, strategic adaptation remains possible. Drawing on extensive research, Rogers outlines practical approaches for communities to maintain essential functions as ecosystem services decline. While large-scale adaptation efforts face significant barriers, this groundbreaking work shows how planners and administrators can implement effective strategies to enhance resilience in a transforming world. Essential reading for navigating our environmental future. Ideal for policymakers, scholars, environmentalists, and engaged citizens, Silent Earth challenges readers to envision a future where, even amidst biosphere decline, adaptation and innovation can pave the way for survival.

Garry Rogers’ Silent Earth: Adaptations for Life in a Devastated Biosphere explores the escalating degradation of Earth’s biosphere, offering strategies for human adaptation. It points to the realistic inevitability of this need to adjust, as humanity is facing the consequences of irreversible damage already done. Rogers goes beyond the simple dialogue of climate change, expanding and examining the interconnected impact of the entire biosphere, from current impacts such loss of biodiversity to coral reef bleaching.

In Section IV, Rogers draws upon research to emphasize that as soon as 2030 we are on the brink, and that we urgently need to act not only to prevent further destruction, but also to prepare for survival:

The cumulative and synergistic effects of human impacts are pushing ecosystems closer to tipping points. Feedback loops and shifting ecosystem boundaries are accelerating environmental change, while these effects interact in complex ways, amplifying their individual impacts. As we approach 2030, addressing these interconnected challenges will require an integrated approach to conservation and climate action to mitigate the far-reaching impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

The strength of Silent Earth lies in Section V, which presents a blueprint for adaptation. Rogers proposes various strategies from water management to cultural and governance reforms. His emphasis on grassroots action and local resilience is both pragmatic and empowering, especially given his acknowledgment of the political and societal inertia that is likely to hinder adaptation on a wider scale.

Silent Earth is thoroughly researched, intellectually stimulating, and well-cited. Rogers excels in synthesizing vast amounts of ecological, social, and technological data into a cohesive narrative.

Silent Earth is a valuable resource for those interested in interdisciplinary approaches to global challenges. It’s an important and thought-provoking read for anyone seeking to understand and address the complex realities of ecological decline.

Reviewed by: Brittney Banning

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Urban population growth and demand for food could spark global unrest, study shows

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A population explosion in urban center around the world is expected to fuel an unprecedented demand for food that – if not met — could trigger economic. . . . (From: www.latimes.com).

GR:  Joe Bish of the Population Media Center commented on the LA Times article:
“The following article was published by the L.A. Times late last week, and reports out on a new report titled “Growing Food for Growing Cities: Transforming Food Systems in an Urbanizing World.” This lengthy study was issued by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and weighs in at around 100 pages. The report continually cites population growth as a major factor in pressuring food supply chains. For example: “Explosive population growth, both rural and urban, will require 50 to 60 percent increases in global food production by 2050 in order to meet projected demand,” says the introduction. Overall, the word population is mentioned 67 times. Unsurprisingly, but nonetheless regrettably, the report fails to offer a shred of advice to policy makers regarding family planning information and services or universal, unrestricted access to modern contraception. The report’s priority recommendation is for the US government to “Pass legislation committing the United States to a long-term global food and nutrition security strategy.” This would have been a perfect spot to share and emphasize best-practice interventions on family planning. The key question about the failure to do so may be whether it was a failure of the report’s author — or the failure of population advocates and communicators to effectively and widely engage professional experts outside our silo?”

Urban Nature: How to Foster Biodiversity in World’s Cities

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by Richard Conniff: Yale Environment 360. As the world becomes more urbanized, researchers and city managers from Baltimore to Britain are recognizing the importance of providing urban habitat that can support biodiversity. It just may be the start of an urban wildlife movement. Source: e360.yale.edu

What’s a “biophilic city”? Let Timothy Beatley explain | Citiscope

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By Christopher Swope, Cityscope:  “This week’s Citiscope innovation feature story looks at the ways Singapore fosters connections to nature in a dense urban environment. This is a subject Timothy Beatley knows a lot about. Beatley is the founder of the Biophilic Cities Network, a global group of cities that each in its own way is working at making nature a bigger part of the urban experience.

“Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He’s also written or co-authored more than 15 books on cities and sustainability including Biophilic Cities. His most recent book came out last July. It’s called Blue Urbanism, and it explores the connections between cities and the sea.”

Source: citiscope.org

How Singapore makes biodiversity an important part of urban life | Citiscope

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Inside a city that works hard at keeping the jungle in “urban jungle.”

by  Grace Chua:  Cityscope

“SINGAPORE — When it comes to discovering plant and animal species, this densely packed  metropolis of more than 5 million people is full of surprises.

“A year ago, a slender woody tree known as Alangium ridleyi, which was believed to have been lost to development, was discovered hiding in plain sight in the middle of Singapore’s heavily visited Botanic Gardens. (A dry spell triggered the tree to put out its small and delicate yellow flowers.)

“Then in May, researchers found a species of shrub brand-new to science called Hanguana neglecta, a shin-high spray of blade-like leaves. It was spotted right beside a footpath in a nature reserve.”  Source: citiscope.org

Singapore’s commitment to biodiversity is outstanding.

 

Is there an optimal urbanization strategy?

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Urban Sprawl in Mexico City

Urban Sprawl in Mexico City

GR: Those 1960’s suggestions that we cluster humans in tall buildings have never been truly encouraged.  In many places, urban growth has not been planned.  But even where it is, the land is not safe.  U. S. residential developers favor the cheapest and quickest method for building houses.  They preserve bits of nature only when forced. Thus, construction, the most nature-destructive human activity of all continues without improvement.

University of Washington Conservation Magazine:  With more than half the world now living in urban areas, and that percentage growing steadily, that means the concrete and steel will have to stretch out into areas that are currently forest and farm and grass.

A study published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning simulated the urbanization process in the Piedmont region of North Carolina out to 2032. The question the authors posed was, essentially, what land will suffer in favor of the ever-growing city?

Under a “status quo” scenario where no new land use policies are implemented, developed area would increase by 229 percent from 1996 through 2032. Such a growth in city area would mean a 21 percent loss of farmland and a 14 percent loss of forest. They did find that with other policies that prioritize certain types of land and resources above others, “priority resources” could be spared while still allowing for the growth of urban areas likely to be needed” (read more.)