Part One: Why LEED-ND should exist, some background. Cities are efficient structures in organizing the life of human beings.If you do have 10 minutes to spare, I urge you to watch the video in which Professor Mark Pagel credits cities as being catalysts of innovation and prosperity of human civilization. He lauds their energy and material efficiency: "if you abandon London into...towns with equal population, it could contribute considerably more pollution...cities ccc green centers of humanity."
However, this efficiency of theirs is not really enough. The subsequent infographic indicates, according to City Limits - a London resource use report, London's ecological footprint - in blue - versus its actual size - that tiny pink dot in the middle. The yellow shows its projected increase with current population influx trends. London's ecological footprint is 293 times its size - nearing the size of Spain.
In addition to this, what some may call absurd, resource use, other detriments include, what Pagel calls social collapse. The London riots over summer are a good example. It is when city conditions result in a breakdown of social structure resulting from its inhabitants up-to-date with unhealthy city environments; when neighbourhoods get "bad". Cities, being innovation centres, have historically tackled physical issue such as walls for defence against invaders and municipal sewer systems to reduce the propogation of water-borne diseases. However in our age, issues have moved away from a physical to a more social nature.
The issue of our age in urbanism may seem like one of creating an acceptable living space: not only physically but also psychologically and socially. In making "good" neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods that not only sustainably manage resources, but create a livable, and happy, space for its inhabitants and users. The protocol of LEED-Neighbourhood Development (LEED-ND) exemplifies this, and works to create a model for "healthy" neighbourhood development.
(To Be Continued) Part Two: Where LEED-ND got its roots - New Urbanism - and its basic parameters
However, this efficiency of theirs is not really enough. The subsequent infographic indicates, according to City Limits - a London resource use report, London's ecological footprint - in blue - versus its actual size - that tiny pink dot in the middle. The yellow shows its projected increase with current population influx trends. London's ecological footprint is 293 times its size - nearing the size of Spain.
In addition to this, what some may call absurd, resource use, other detriments include, what Pagel calls social collapse. The London riots over summer are a good example. It is when city conditions result in a breakdown of social structure resulting from its inhabitants up-to-date with unhealthy city environments; when neighbourhoods get "bad". Cities, being innovation centres, have historically tackled physical issue such as walls for defence against invaders and municipal sewer systems to reduce the propogation of water-borne diseases. However in our age, issues have moved away from a physical to a more social nature.
The issue of our age in urbanism may seem like one of creating an acceptable living space: not only physically but also psychologically and socially. In making "good" neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods that not only sustainably manage resources, but create a livable, and happy, space for its inhabitants and users. The protocol of LEED-Neighbourhood Development (LEED-ND) exemplifies this, and works to create a model for "healthy" neighbourhood development.
(To Be Continued) Part Two: Where LEED-ND got its roots - New Urbanism - and its basic parameters
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