Future. City. Life!

Sustainable Habitat by Prof. Dr. Daniel Lang, 7th October 2013

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Prof. Dr. Daniel Lang Leuphana University Faculty Sustainability

Sustainable Habitat

GRAND CHALLENGES FOR CITIES – PRESERVING AND CREATING SUSTAINABLE

HABITATS

Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Prof. Paul J. Crutzen Source: Teemu Rajala

LIVING IN THE ANTHROPOCENE

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - CO-EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Cities – Critical „Places“ in the Antrhopocene

Sources: LSECities / School of Economics and UNDESA Revision 2005

Urban Population by city size

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Urbanization trends: 2050 70% living in cities 70% of global CO2 Emissions 75% of global economic output

Global Urbanisation: Urban vs Rural

BASIC FUNCTIONS OF CITIES

To work

To reside To

nourish

To commu-nicate

To trans-port

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

EXEMPLARY CHALLENGES - ENERGY AND CLIMATE

Urban Characteristics ● Urban Heat Island Effects ● Altered wind climate

+ effects from global climate change Heat waves, Heavy precipitation events, Sea level rise

Source: LSE Cities/ School of Economics

IEA Report 2008 Source: NASA

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Density and Energy Demand – City Comparison

Energy Demand/ per capita in the EU/cities

The ecological footprint of Londoners ●is 293 times the size of London ●6.63 gha per capita = 3.5 „worlds“

Exemplary Challenges – Urban Metabolism / Urban Footprint

Sources: Best Foot Forward

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Source: Duvigneaud and Denaeyer-De Smet 1977

EXEMPLARY CHALLENGES - SOCIAL JUSTICE / EQUITY / HEALTH

Equity: e.g. access to public and social services

Source: Christian Nadeau

Health: e.g. food deserts and

obesity

Social justice: e.g. gentrification

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Source: Anna Lusty Source: Renate Hildebrandt

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SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES

Source: Tom Chance Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Zero carbon emissions

Zero waste

Sustainable transport

Sustainable material

Local and sustainable food

Sustainable water

Land use and wildlife

Culture and heritage

Equity and local economy

Health and happyness

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang Source: MasdarCity

RESILIENCE AND ADAPTABILITY

Masdar City

Detroit

Source: GlobalClassroom

Source: Rick Smith

Arcosanti

No one can predict the future, but we can invent and make the future because we know how to do so and we have done so consistently through our

history as a species. Inventing and making however mean thinking clearly about where we wish to go and then creating and devising the

means to get there (Brewer 2007)

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang

Source: Rockström et al. 2009, p. 472

…

Determine how to anticipate, avoid, and manage disruptive global environmental change.

Determine institutional, economic, and behavioral changes to enable effective steps toward global sustainability.

Encourage innovation (and mechanisms for evaluation) in technological, policy, and social responses to achieve global sustainability.

(Reid et al. 2010)

GRAND CHALLENGES FOR GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY

Grand Challenges for Cities - Leuphana Startwoche 2013 – Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Lang