Race to Build an Ecocity
by Doctress Neutopia
In the article, "British to Help China Build Eco-cities," the words by
Frank
Kane penetrated my mind with such a fire that my body was delighted with
the
possibility of such a noble creation. It stated that a British engineering
firm, Arup, will sign a multi-billion dollar contract with the Chinese
government to design a self-sustaining urban center the size of a large
western capital.
The ecocity model is being embraced by the Chinese government to overcome
the problems of depletion of natural resources, the need to shelter larger
populations, and environmental pollution. According to Kane, the Chinese
government is committed to developing a new paradigm that combines
economic
development and ecological health. The ecocity is intended to be
self-sufficient not only in energy, but in water and in most food
production. Trans****tation systems will be designed for zero emissions of
greenhouse gases. These ecocities are expected to draw investments into
China's growing economy.
American architect William McDonough is also working with the Chinese
Housing Industry Association to build seven new environmentally sound
cities. China is planning on rehousing 400 million people in the next 12
years. These cities will be designed with solar energy which may
completely
revolutionize the housing industry around the world by dropping the cost
of
solar energy an order of magnitude. McDonough says, "For every job making
solar panels, there are four jobs putting them in place and maintaining
them. We could im****t these panels, and for every job the Chinese give
themselves, we get four."
McDonough and his partner Michael Braungart intend to implement their
"cradle-to-cradle" model of industry into the new Chinese ecocities that
"upcycles" materials going through the production cycle. Upcycling means
that materials get better when they are used. Since in their ecological
model, everything is recycled, in the upcycle process, materials return to
the soil as safe biological nutrients or return to industry as technical
nutrients to be used in other industrial processes.
China is well as on its way to becoming the biggest economy in the world.
America feels this change. Adopting the ecocity concept and founding
cities
on renewable energy sources, the Chinese realize that if they carried out
the American urban sprawl model, it would mean environmental death for the
world. There are simply not enough resources on the planet for everyone to
live the way Americans, 6% of the world's population, do now. How can it
be
fair or sustainable that Americans use 40% of the world's resources? The
American empire was established on the illusion that land and resources
are
limitless. But on a small planet, these are not 21st Century principles.
When asked by Newsweek if growth is good, McDonough replies, "Yes, if you
use nature as a model and mentor, if you use modern designs and chemicals
that are safe. Growth is destructive if you use energy not from the sun
and
a system of chemicals that is toxic, so it's anti-life." Sadly enough,
with
the drowning of New Orleans in toxic flood waters, it is clear to everyone
that the American lifestyle is based on unsafe growth practices that
continue to pollute the water and shortchange the poor. Evolution follows
life, and with the Chinese developing nontoxic, safe ways to live that
promote healthy urban growth, it is no wonder why Americans are feeling a
****ft in power.
Visionaries have predicted the coming of the solar age and now the Chinese
are inventing it. But will Americans seize the moment and begin building
their own innovative ecocity? The perfect time to do so is now with the
reconstruction of New Orleans and the restoration of the wetlands of the
Mississippi delta. Billions of dollars have been allotted by Congress for
reconstruction efforts, so why not create a noble civilization based on an
ecocity design approach?
We need to enter this new green paradigm with a new spirit of cooperation
with the Chinese, moving from the 20th Century nuclear arms race to the
race
to be human; a human race to build the good ecocity where justice and
freedom prevail in maintaining an ecologically healthy planet for
generations to come. The drowning of New Orleans gives us the op****tunity
to
enter this race with the Chinese. This is a wholesome competition between
people to build the best ecocity, the new model of a sustaining global
economy, and democracy grounded in human rights that will allow us all to
live in peace with the ecology.
A new partner****p with China could give us a base for positive trade
agreements that combine the best of socialism and capitalism moving us to
a
more automated 21st century industry. Liberated from being slaves to the
machine and a decrepit cor****ate system, common people finally could have
the time and resources they need to be literate and creative, time to
develop relation****ps that are based on being responsible citizens and
actualized human beings.
Presently, the United States is stuck in a development model that is
dependent on fossil fuel, nuclear power, and toxic chemicals. It is
causing
us to be sick and many of us die as a result of being exposed to dirty air
and poisonous water. Millions of people in the United States don't even
have
health insurance when illness strikes. Each year an average of 40,000
people
die and thousands more are injured from the car based trans****tation
system.
And worst of all, our anti-life lifestyle has caused us to act immorally
from stealing Native America lands to starting foreign wars for oil.
Unable
to embrace life, we have trapped ourselves in a deadly paradigm,
developing
nuclear weapons in Outer Space, all the while telling other countries that
they can't have them.
America was caught totally off guard when the Soviets successfully
launched
Sputnik, the first satellite into Outer Space in 1957. It changed our
priorities and began the space race. Seeing the im****tance of developing a
space program in 1961 President Kennedy challenged the Soviets to a race
to
the moon. Kennedy said, "Now is the time...for this nation to take a
clearly
leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to
our future on Earth." Will China's ecocity be another Sputnik?
Now, decades after the space race began, we know that finding a way to
live
with our precious global ecology in a renewable way is our greatest
challenge. Now is the time... for this nation to take a clearly leading
role
in ecocity achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future
of
Earth. Not only are ecocities that rely on closed-looped nutrient cycles,
critical to finding the way to live successfully for extended periods in
Outer Space, but is critical to finding a way to live in peace with nature
here on Earth.
The obligation is in front of us to rebuild New Orleans in a way that
releases some of us from endemic urban poverty, revolutionizes industry,
and
restores the ecology. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has devised a plan
that combines both socialism and capitalism in that country in order to
enact his "Bolivarian revolution" to eliminate poverty. With money
collected
from nationally owned oil companies in Venezuela, he has put 3.7 billion
dollars into building new social programs. Now millions, who had never
seen
a doctor before, receive medical care; 1.3 million have learned to read.
Even though the new constitution protects private property, the government
operates supermarkets in which 35-40% of people shop.
Recently, the Venezuelan government has begun what many are suggesting
should take place in the US, by redeploying part of its military to do
public works such as building new subways systems. Redeploying our
military
from its war footing and assigning them the task of building America's
first
ecocity would do more for national security than anything else we could do
to win world peace. Such a city doesn't exist in the United States, but
it's
in the zeitgeist. Beginning to plan such a noble civilization would mean
we
are finally entering the race with China to build the world's first
ecocity.
In a New York Times article "Are U.S. Innovators Losing Their Competitive
Edge?" Timothy L. O'Brien re****ts that United States is losing it
inventiveness to countries like China and India. The article quotes from a
re****t sponsored by the Lemelson-M.I.T Program saying "openness, tolerance
is essential in an inventive modern society. Creative people, whether
artists or inventive engineers, are often nonconformists and rebels.
Indeed,
invention itself can be perceived as an act of rebellion against the
status
quo." The article cites inventor and Johns Hopkins professor, Ilene
Busch-Vishniac, "For an inventor to be successful they have to think
outside
of the box and propose things that are wildly different." Creative
thinkers
look for solutions to problems outside the box, but in cor****ate America
the
confines of the box are becoming our coffin.
To build an ecocity is a national quest to find a new creative identity
for
the 21st century. We need to have a project so splendid that it inspires
innovation that has been stifled for decades in square boxes that have
developed the ungodly urban sprawl and the flight to suburbia that has
made
us a car dependent economy. Constructing an ecocity is tantamount to
thinking outside the coffin. Without an ecocity vision to strive towards,
our nation could collapse as oil prices continue to rise.
If China adopts the now-dominant intellectual property regime that
enforces
hoarding scientific knowledge rather than sharing scientific knowledge,
they
will own patents to ecocity designs if we don't develop our own. The best
scenario would be for both governments--all governments-- to adopt a
policy
of sharing knowledge so that the world's best minds are free to join ideas
from around the world in order to make sustainable cities work.
In the Nuclear Age, the free market functions by idea-hoarding motivated
by
the desire to compete ruthlessly at any cost to maximize profit, but in
the
good internationally networked world to come, sharing ideas by building an
anti-rival economy with the purpose of constructing an ecological city,
could well lead to species survival. Some things are better left to the
private sector and cor****ations for improvement, but bold leader****p in
restructuring cities and integrating them into healthy environments is not
one of them.
The vision of what we must do is clear. America, can we begin to think
outside the coffin in order to save ourselves? With this vision the soul
of
America may be liberated as our creativity and ingenuity is used for the
good, the true, and the beautiful. This nation was formed by
revolutionaries. Now the time has come to remember our revolutionary
spirit
and build an ecocity for our global common wealth. Only then will we
become
wise leaders for the world to prototype.
Doctress Neutopia aka Libby Hubbard has a doctorate in future studies from
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is available for guiding
public dialgue about this topic. Other writings about Arcology New Orleans
can be read at: www.lovolutionvillage.org
www.lovolution.net
|
