Transforming low income housing areas: SUSTAINABLE, INCLUSIVE, PROFITABLE by terrautopia

Hello terrautopia-Team, 

Your proposal sounds thrilling. Two things that come to mind are:

1. Transition Town Totnes
2. ReGen Villages (talk by James Ehrlich)

Best of luck for the progress of your proposal and the talks in Cambridge,

Ralf 

Hi Ralf, 

Thank you for your feedback and for the links.

I really appreciate it.

Should a project like the one I am proposing become reality, I would like to have organizations such as the ones you sent the links for to be involved in accomplishing the optimal design.

Thanks again,

Emil

Hi Aadhithya, Hi Ralf,

I wanted to add another element that would make this model attractive as a way to create demand for sustainable buildings.

Addressing Obesity: Another feature for creating an optimal model for high density communities with high quality of living is the idea of walkability - not only in terms of making it easy to walk to stores, cafes etc. which are all within the site, but also to for leisure  walks. In the typical either suburban home or apartment building complex there is rarely an environment that encourages walking in terms of vicinity as well as sense of community and attractive natural elements such as trees, grass, flowers, combined with benches and pathways. The essential element here is the sense of community. There is an innate propensity to seeing and to be seen by familiar people. This attracts the occupants to walk to the extent that it would lower obesity rates relative to suburban or urban areas where such environment is not available and the tendency is greater towards watching TV then going out for a walk.

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The image below is an overview capturing the power of the "Electric Village" impact on reducing emissions and increasing the quality of life:

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Hi Emil,

Very interesting ideas. Building upon your point about addressing obesity - what are your thoughts on including some kind of a community garden?

Low-income areas tend to harbor food deserts, and the green space you've laid out so beautifully here could be a good place to cultivate homegrown food (and use fertilizer from the goats and sheep in your last image).

Cheers,

Drew

Hi Emil, 

Thanks a lot for your updated ideas and visualizations. 

Thinking of a role-model from where to gain some insights, and eventually, personal connections is the initiative Wiener Wohnen (though in German) that is running the low-income housing projects in Vienna, for now, a century. 

At the moment there is an exhibition here in Dresden about it, and I would be glad to help in making some relevant connections. 

Let me know.

Best, Ralf 

Hi Ralf,

Thank you for thinking of me.

Yes, I would appreciate getting in touch with anyone interested in the topic - Transforming low income housing areas: SUSTAINABLE, INCLUSIVE, PROFITABLE

There are many aspects of human health, including psychological health that can be impacted with improved design; and also "economic design" to improve the motivation for ownership (at a lower cost) for the occupants

And in the process developing a blueprint for a model that best meets a variety of criteria, including sustainability.

Much appreciated,

Emil

Thank you Caloline,

I am adding the following material that explains more clearly the impact on emissions of my proposal.

Sincerely,

Emil

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I believe a more appropriate title for the proposal is HOLISTIC COMMUNITY DESIGN (HCD) - which I plan to update if the proposal makes it to Finalist.

The HCM provides a model for habitation with

High density – approx. 40k people per Sq. mile. – each community fits about 10k per ONE FOURTH of a square mile

High quality of life  - via features listed 1-8

Fossil-fuel-free habitation  - via features listed in A, B and C; and parts of features 1-8

Given the superior quality of life offered by the HCD model there is reason to believe that the model will become attractive and eventually become a significant segment in the future of housing markets. In the image below is an example in Cambridge, MA of a land area currently underused by its extensive allocation as parking lots and single floor shopping plaza.

Cities have an abundant number of such malls and parking lots that can be converted to HCD models. The image below shows a start with additional HCD complexes in a city such as Cambridge, MA.

In about two decades the HCM model can proliferate to become the dominant model. In an optimistic scenario a metro area  such as Boston there may be as many as 100 HCMs. With each community having about 10,000 people this would result in sustainable habitation for over one million people as well as a dramatic  drop in urban sprawl which further helps the ecosystem. Urban sprawl is known to be a great factor impacting emissions.

Given the above scenario the HCM model can be one of the most efficient ways to have an impact on greenhouse gas emission. Over two decades even if it was to attract only 10 percent of the US population to such housing it would have a domino effect on moving away from habitation using fossil fuels and extensive commutes and urban sprawl.