Wk 6 - Individual-ism in Sustainable Living

Urban Sustainable Living, a lecture by Patti Moreno

This short lecture I stumble upon is about a new yorker who is a writer and television host that changed how her community perceived in urban sustainable living within her neighbourhood. By designing an edible landscape and other sustainable living practices, not only she was able to address the composting and food availability on a city plot as well as reducing the overall carbon footprint of the area.  Personally, the key issue that we could take back in her lecture today was that she has proven to us that urban sustainable living is plausible, even at an individual scale, not as an architect nor an urban planner but as a responsible being towards the environment and community. 

Being practically lived and confined within a bustling urban context of New York her whole life with little to no reference to nature or how food is produced, in fact, the only place to connect with trees is in central park. It is till she moved into the suburbs with an abandon empty lot opposite her house, that she started the initiative to take responsibility to maintain and cultivate the land to improve the city and neighbourhood. 

Source : http://www.gardengirltv.com/gallery-pages/patti_moreno-main_garden.html

Evidently from the photo of the garden, it doesn't take a genius or some advanced technology to help contribute towards a sustainable environment by providing fresh air, it transformed a vacant lot into an environmentally friendly space that is "contagious".  The creator suggested that upon establishing the advantages of the garden, people around the area started to follow the trend and invested in the process that makes an impact towards the streetscape. This, however, would perpetuate the development of ecosystem services and enhancement of community cultural amenities that continuously build both social and ecological resilience through a virtuous cycle. ( McPhearson, 2013)

As part of developing more sustainable cities, I think this short lecture shows us that the human element is worthy of recognition as well into the equation. Sustainability is not merely confined to greenery, efficient construction systems or to innovation, it will necessarily also involve an understanding  of human relationships and experience within the urban neighbourhood. As an individual within a community, I believe that generating a successful neighbourhood within an urban fabric should mean creating an ecologically respectful built environment as well as a unique and delightful experience for the inhabitants and users are as important as urban planners.  

Resources : 

http://www.gardengirltv.com/
http://www.archdaily.com/51994/urban-sustainable-living-a-lecture-by-patti-moreno
McPhearson, Timon, Peleg Kremer, and Zoé Hamstead. “Mapping Ecosystem Services in New York City: Applying a Social-Ecological Approach in Urban Vacant Land.” Ecosystem Services (2013):11-26