Can cities become self-reliant in food?

Modern cities almost exclusively rely on the import of resources to meet their daily basic needs. Food and other essential materials and goods are transported from long-distances, often across continents, which results in the emission of harmful greenhouse gasses. As more people now live in cities than rural areas and all future population growth is expected to occur in cities, the potential for local self-reliance in food for a typical post-industrial North American city was determined. Given current policies and bylaws and available area, crop yields, and human intake, three distinct scenarios were developed to determine the potential level of food self-reliance for the City of Cleveland, which has been plagued with home foreclosures and resulting vacant land, lack of access to healthy food, hunger, and obesity particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Scenario I, which utilizes 80% of every vacant lot, can generate between 22% and 48% of Cleveland’s demand for fresh produce (vegetables and fruits) depending on the vegetable production practice used (conventional gardening, intensive gardening, or hydroponics), 25% of both poultry and shell eggs, and 100% of honey. Scenario II, which uses 80% of every vacant lot and 9% of every occupied residential lot, can generate between 31% and 68% of the needed fresh produce, 94% of both poultry and shell eggs, and 100% of honey. Finally, scenario III, which adds 62% of every industrial and commercial rooftop in addition to the land area used in scenario II, can meet between 46% and 100% of Cleveland’s fresh produce need, and 94% of poultry and shell eggs and 100% of honey. The three scenarios can attain overall levels of self-reliance between 4.2% and 17.7% by weight and 1.8% and 7.3% by expenditure in total food and beverage consumption, compared to the current level of 0.1% self-reliance in total food and beverage by expenditure. The analysis also reveals that the enhanced food self-reliance would result in $29 M to $115 M being retained in Cleveland annually depending upon the scenario employed. This study provides support to the hypothesis that significant levels of local self-reliance in food, the most basic need, is possible in post-industrial North American cities. It is concluded that while high levels of local self-reliance would require an active role of city governments and planners, public commitment, financial investment, and labor, the benefits to human health, the local and global environment, and the local economy and community may outweigh the cost.     

Financing utilities: How the role of the European Investment Bank shifted from regional development to making markets

In the face of continuing financial and economic crises, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has been criticized for being overly-conservative in its loans to Europe. Critics in particular have called on the EIB to vastly increase its investment in utilities as a counter-cyclical measure. To take stock and, in order to evaluate the role of the EIB in financing utilities over time, we compile and analyze an original database of all EIB utilities project loans from 1958 to 2004. We find the EIB started out by functioning as a regional development bank, prioritizing utilities finance in its members' poorer zones; however, energy crises in the 1970s marked a shift whereby the logic of EIB finance to utilities became more politically-oriented. By the 1980s, utilities projects supported by the EIB were intimately related to those required for the Single Market. The origins of the EIB's current conservative approach to utilities loans was born in the 1970s and fully consolidated by the 1990s.     

Globalization and construction industry development: research opportunities

Raftery, J., Pasadilla, B., Chiang, Y. H., Hui, E. C. M. and Tang, B. S. (1998) Construction Management and Economics, 16, 729–37 review recent developments in the construction industries in Asia. They discuss the main causes and effects of key trends in globalization and their impact on the industries. This paper considers some of the points raised by Raftery et al. It starts with an overall review of their paper. It then considers construction industry development in general, technology transfer and joint ventures, and the impact of policy reform on the industries. It suggests additional relevant issues, and highlights some areas where further research would be appropriate.     

直面制约建筑创作的深层课题 《当代中国建筑设计现状与发展研究》报告介绍

文章介绍了中国工程院咨询研究项目《当代中国建筑设计现状与发展研究》的报告,梗概性地说明了该项目的缘起和构成,着重分析和阐释了报告中五个与建筑创作关系密切的,也是建筑师关心的深层问题：从城市建设乱象看主导阶层价值观的混乱;城市建筑文化的同质化与泛西方化;权力决策代替法洽与科学;严峻的创作生态;混沌的建筑学科定位。并简要说明了报告的下篇中回应这些问题的主要思考,包括跨文化对话,文化自觉和自信及建筑师创新的基本条件的制度建设。     

从本土到全球——日本新陈代谢派的演进与传播探究

20世纪60年代日本新陈代谢派以唯一非西方前卫的现代主义建筑思潮的形式出现使其在全球瞩目,通过几十年的进展,日本新陈代谢派的思想已不仅仅局限在日本而在全球范围内都得以传播.该文试对新陈代谢派的成员在他国的建筑实践和雷姆·库哈斯对新陈代谢派的研究来探讨新陈代谢派的全球化演进.     

文化全球化背景下的家具设计走势

文化全球化具有直接性、即时性和广泛性的特点,这些特点对家具设计产生了同质化、通俗化和无文化性等方面的影响;在文化全球化这一特定语境下,家具设计要走出一条具有本国特色的发展之路,在设计过程必然要考虑文化内涵、原创性、生态性和技术创新等各种因素,并将这些因素应用于相关的设计之中。     

基于地域文化语汇的空间规划与设计研究

在全球化过程中,中国特色的目标实现需要地域化具体实施,顺延"地域文化--空间语汇--空间形态"的逻辑,描述、分析地域城市发展过程中的"泛文化"现象,澄清城市空间设计的地域文化观念问题,探讨基于空间句法的地域城市空间的规划设计方法.     

对文化转型过程中当代西安建筑发展的思考

文化转型是中国自20世纪以来的文化现象，随着全球化进程的加快，中国文化转型中的建筑文化发展更为复杂。当代西安由于独特的文化背景、经济水平以及相对封闭的区域环境，其建筑走了一条特色鲜明的创作路子。西安当代建筑在保持其传统主义创作优势的同时，应探索多元的创作形式，为其现代建形式的探索提供更多的可能性。