How are designers addressing the challenges of climate change for a more sustainable future?
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How are designers addressing the challenges of climate change for a more sustainable future?

How are designers addressing the challenges of climate change for a more sustainable future?
By Editorial Staff -

We are presenting some interesting ideas from The Plan Journal’s section on Sustainability.

In the first article “Food Hubs and Rebuilding Missing Middle Market Structure in Agriculture: The Social in Supply Chain Development,” the author Stephen Luoni explains that “the design challenge [of the food hub] involves deriving a civic architectural expression from a building construction system lacking architectural and place-making pedigrees.”  In the article “Waving the Magic Wand: An Argument for Reorganizing the Aridlands around Watersheds,” the author Danika Cooper “proposes that revisiting John Wesley Powell’s 1893 proposal for aridland development in the context of today’s ecological conditions catalyzes an alternative response to today’s predictions of changing climates, and can provide the basis of an approach to the aridlands which builds from the enmeshed relationship between social and environmental systems.” In the article “Disaster Planning Across Scales: Lessons from Post-Earthquake Rubble Management in Oaxaca, Mexico,” the authors Dení López and Michael Hooper explain that rubble management is “an important but often neglected component of disaster response and a powerful example of the frequent disconnect between national plans and local action.”

Finally, we learn from Reimagining Sustainable Cities.

>>We encourage you to browse The Plan Journal and explore for yourself. 

 

Sustainability

In the article “Food Hubs and Rebuilding Missing Middle Market Structure in Agriculture: The Social in Supply Chain Development,” the author Stephen Luoni considers a:

“…base yard kit-of-parts and assembly protocols [that have the potential of] assist[ing] remote farmers in becoming compliant, adaptable, and profitable through scalable food processing functions, including expansion into profitable value-added enterprises like ecotourism.”

 Stephen Luoni, prototypical base yard post-harvest processing center for farms without access to commercial processing facilities. Images © University of Arkansas Community Design Center.Stephen Luoni, prototypical base yard post-harvest processing center for farms without access to commercial processing facilities. Images © University of Arkansas Community Design Center.

Luoni continues: 

“Farmers may tailor their packaging and processing options to crop type and scale, off-grid capabilities, and changing levels of service over time.”

>> The article is available in THE PLAN Journal vol. 6/2021, no. 1 (in English)

In the article “Waving the Magic Wand: An Argument for Reorganizing the Aridlands around Watersheds,” the author Danika Cooper explains that “Powell spent many years” of study and investigation starting with “his excursions through the western United States and later as Director (1881-1894) of the United States Geological Survey (USGS).”

 Danika Cooper, members of the Powell expedition preparing to leave from the Green River Station in the Wyoming territory. It was during Powell’s excursions through the aridlands of the western United States that inspired many of the ideas that he proposed for the region as the Director (1881-1894) of the United States Geological Survey. Image retrieved from John K. Hillers, Green River Station, Wyoming, 1871  (U.S. National Archives) - https://catalog.archives.gov/id/517806(link is external).Danika Cooper, members of the Powell expedition preparing to leave from the Green River Station in the Wyoming territory. It was during Powell’s excursions through the aridlands of the western United States that inspired many of the ideas that he proposed for the region as the Director (1881-1894) of the United States Geological Survey. Image retrieved from John K. Hillers, Green River Station, Wyoming, 1871 (U.S. National Archives) - https://catalog.archives.gov/id/517806(link is external).

Cooper continues:

“In 1878, nearly fifteen years before Noble’s proclamation of a ‘magic wand,’ Powell published his “Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah” in which he documented observations of his travels and suggestions for the management of the aridlands. Undergirding his descriptions of the physical characteristics of the region, Powell issued an urgent warning to Congress that national expansion would be severely limited by the ecological realities of aridity.”

>> The article is available in THE PLAN Journal vol. 5/2020, no. 1 (in English)

In the article “Disaster Planning Across Scales: Lessons from Post-Earthquake Rubble Management in Oaxaca, Mexico,” the authors Dení López and Michael Hooper study places that “suffer from very frequent floods caused by sewage infrastructure deficiencies.” 

 Dení López and Michael Hooper, flooding in Juchitan de Zaragoza, caused by deficient sewage infrastructure. The green building on the left side of the image is an active kindergarten, which, according to the president of the Los Perros River Basin Committee has had a hepatitis outbreaks during past rainy seasons.  Photo by © Dení López, licensed under CC BY 4.0.Dení López and Michael Hooper, flooding in Juchitan de Zaragoza, caused by deficient sewage infrastructure. The green building on the left side of the image is an active kindergarten, which, according to the president of the Los Perros River Basin Committee has had a hepatitis outbreaks during past rainy seasons.  Photo by © Dení López, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

López and Hooper continue to explain the findings of their study:

“… a failure to recognize the interconnectedness of vulnerabilities can result in narrow-sighted plans that perpetuate and prioritize a reactive approach to disaster response. Such failure can also lead to local actions that, in their efforts to address one problem, such as rubble, create others, such as pollution or flooding.”

>> The article is available in THE PLAN Journal vol. 5/2020, no. 1 (in English)

 

Reimagining Sustainable Cities

In Reimagining Sustainable Cities (2021) the authors Stephen M. Wheeler and Christina D. Rosan ask “How do we get to carbon neutrality? How do we adapt to a climate-changed world? How can we create affordable, inclusive, and equitable cities?”.

 Reimagining Sustainable Cities

Pages: 344
ISBN: 9780520381216
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 12 b/w illustrations, 13 tables

To learn more, check out: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520381216/reimagining-sustainable-cities

 

Why support + read TPJ?

The Plan Journal is intended to disseminate and promote innovative, thought-provoking, and relevant research, studies, and criticism related to architecture and urbanism. The journal grew out of an awareness that academia is all too often engaged in research that’s disconnected from the real-world challenges that face different professions, and that research is only possible for a small number of professional organizations, and, even then, with limited platforms for its dissemination. The overarching aim of TPJ is therefore to enrich the dialogue between researchers and professionals so as to foster both pertinent new knowledge and intellectually driven modes of practice.

 

How does it work + why does it matter?

Prospective contributors are encouraged to submit proposals or complete manuscripts to the Editor-in-Chief. Subject to positive feedback, proposals can then be developed into complete manuscripts and submitted for review, using the dedicated portal on the TPJ website. 

After preliminary approval, manuscripts will be forwarded to suitably qualified people for commenting. TPJ is committed to following a rigorous double-blind peer review process using at least two reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief may also occasionally invite recognized academics, critics, or professionals (including members of the editorial board) to contribute to the journal without going through the peer review process, if warranted by the author’s reputation.

 

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