Future modes
Because the future is closer every day Volume 3, Number 4, November 24, 2013
This revolution could be sustainable By Jo Laurie Penrose, AICP Recently I’ve been watching a post-apocalypse television show on NBC, called Revolution. It’s pretty much the same dreary, violent action you might find on the Walking Dead or Falling Skies. I know the writers are trying to be as creative as possible. Everything electrical has failed and society has collapsed. Nothing works in this world. People have starved to death. This show, though, has me thinking about the concepts of urban and transportation planning that we work on every day. If this actually happened, or we ran out of oil, could we sustain society? I think so, if we can implement our plans now and protect our infrastructure. Now, if nothing works it might be a little harder. But urban planning has a myriad of plans and implemented projects that would help us cope with such an event. Food security would be easier if local governments led instead of getting in the way. Miami Shores passed an ordinance in May to prevent gardening in front yards of residential areas. This required a family to remove a vegetable garden from their front yard. Yet, places such as Orlando, FL are making it easier via zoning and planning to create a place for urban agriculture. Also, with backyard chickens and community gardens in urban areas, people might not starve. Our idea of what constitutes food security is something to consider as part of sustainability. Co-op groceries, like we had in the ‘70s, are another way to assure that food access is sustainable.
The show’s premise states that people fled the cities so they wouldn’t starve. And where did they go? The suburbs also need some sustainable planning, right now, to assure that life as we know it can be sustainable and resilient. The city vs. suburbs standoff doesn’t work and uses too many valuable resources. Society without the horseless carriage Transportation planning is my career, so the show’s plot line that every single gasoline powered engine stops working really caught my attention. So much for the car culture!
Transportation planners spend a lot of time thinking beyond the car. Bikes and walking are options, and they’re necessary if those are the only available modes. All of the characters in these stories walk or use horse transport, of some kind. It’s like the early 1900s again, but with big guns. People who need to travel could still ride bikes (unless the rubber tires melted), or ride in
a horse drawn trolley. Also, for transport, bike cabs like those used in large European cities could be another form of transportation. Urban planners work hard to make walking and biking easier. Yet, it’s still hard to find the money and political will to install bike paths, sidewalks and greenways that people can use without getting in a car. Without cars, those short-changed modes would be the only way to go. Sustainable forms of transportation are being developed now, instead of waiting until the oil ends or the power grid fails. What have we lost to the car or forgotten over the last 100 years that we could bring back? Resilience through sustainability Now, without electricity or the gas powered engine, freight mobility and logistics would be problematic. This would mean a greatly reduced network for delivering needed goods. This would probably lead to much more local production and distribution.
The pro-local movement of producing locally grown food is another example of planning to downsize. Increasing self-reliance at the local level could allow society to cope with dislocations that may be inevitable.
We’re planning for the security and sustainability of what we need to survive, such as water and roadway infrastructure. An example is the planning that North Dakota is doing to minimize the environmental and safety impacts of fracking. The plot of this television show says all electricity is gone. Urban planners have plenty of ideas on creating alternative energy sources. Cities all over the globe are planning wind, biomass and solar energy projects. It’s doubtful these would collapse uniformly in a disaster. Resilient infrastructure would allow some of that infrastructure to survive. We need to implement plans for resilience, or continue dependence on oil sources that aren’t secure. Water, energy and infrastructure security are critical in the current political environment. Sustainable policies make planning for disaster recovery and resilience much easier. Local governments now have disaster recovery plans in place that would mitigate a Revolution-like scenario. Community means all of us Interestingly, Revolution gives us snippets of community living. People depend more on each other. Creating and sustaining human communities is part of urban planning. Transition communities are trying to plan for a different future is transition groups. These groups understand the concept of being prepared for a different future. They do it in a community setting. One of the refreshing aspects of this show is that no one is using a cell phone, texting, voice mail, e-mail or ear buds in an Ipod. Without our electronics, we return to face-to-face communication. That type of interaction creates community.
. Revolution is fictional, but it seems to have some messages for urban and transportation planners. What kind of community and society could evolve over the next 50 years? What are planners doing that would keep communities alive in a disaster? We have sustainability plans and projects that will maintain society, create community and achieve resiliency. That’s the revolution!