Subtropical Cities

Declaration of Principles for Subtropical Urbanism

Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA March 2011

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Introduction

Introduction¶

Sub-tropical urban design is a timely and important issue for the challenges facing the cities and regions of this climate area. This Declaration of Principles provides a summary statement as to what the attendees of this Sub-Tropical Cities 2011 conference hold as a consensus on the urban design of the sub-tropics. The plan is to carry on the work of writing the DOP after the conference; to make it a living document that many cities will take up from around the Sub-Tropic climate regions to contribute to thinking about sustainable urban design in general and to make guidelines that can be tested and be appropriate for contexts.

The DOP seeks to communicate specific key ideas for design to frame the issue(s), encourage ongoing discourse, promote interdisciplinary learning, interpretation, networking, and the implementation of these ideas. Second, we are seeking to provide a scholarly level of discernment about what are the right issues to take up in this DOP, and what are the answers to these issues for Sub-Tropical cities. Finally, this DOP is seen as a starting point for a local implementation project in Fort Lauderdale, USA. == Preamble to the Declaration of Principles on Sustainable Sub-Tropical Urban Design==

1. Beauty is important. Beauty in one place or region is diminished by the lack of beauty in another place or region.
   
2. Declare peace with nature
3. The act of design is a project unlike scientific or artistic acts that view the world as object. Design sets processes in motion beyond the observable physical realm. (Carmona and Punter, 1998)
   
4. Communities should be designed so that the sense of community is inherent in the design while maintaining the values of home and homecoming. (Benjamin, 1996). Cities should thus afford choice based on individual and community values embedded in a harmonious relationship with nature. Here, home being that institution that allows the family to reproduce the culture in their children.
   
5. The city is a collective social act reflecting a community's ambitions about itself.
   
6. The act of homecoming and the places that engender homecoming, are often key to many in the sub-tropical regions. Narratives should be developed, appropriate to place and occasion, to rejuvenate and reclaim the home and reject homelessness and solastalgia.(Albrecht and Satorie 2007, Benjamin, 1996; see also resources)
   
7. Phronesis, the knowledge an ability to act in accordance with what is prudent, and the development of this knowledge in the mind, is vital to gaining a sense of appropriateness, scale, and timing in cities. (Flyvbjerg, 1992, and see resources)
   
8. Science seeks truth while Engineering/Architecture seek the safe and the appropriate. Both endeavours, together with public participation, are necessary complements for the development and critical evaluation of sustainable cities. (Ravetz and Funtowicz, 1992)
   
9. Continuous training and education of professionals and the lay public about cities and urban design is vitally important. (Carmona and Punter, 1998)
   
10. The development of an ongoing dialogue concerning ethics for urban design is important to all the issues in the DOP. This involves attention to the ethics of the conduct of the design work and attention to specific values.(Moore and Nelson, 2010; Garvey, 2008; Healey, 2010; Williamson, et al., 2003, especially chapters 3, 4, and 7; See GECHS and IHDP in resources)
    
11. Cities provide to humans the functions of storage, organization, unpredictability and exchange.
    
12. Sustainable urban design for the sub-tropics will build on the Four Orders of Ecological Design, (Todd and Benjamin, 2009):
    • First Order guiding natural systems and ecological processes to desired outcomes
    • Second Order connecting ecological processes to industrial/municipal processes for desired outcomes
    • Third Order connecting these same ecological and industrial/municipal processes together over large expanses of space and time
    • Fourth Order culture as the system integrating framework to interpret and design the connections between ecological and industrial/municipal processes
13. "Buildings, transport, infrastructure and urban design must all be simultaneously climate-resistant, energy efficient and low-carbon." (Stern, 2009; See also UNEP Cities and UNEP Buildings reports, the economics of climate change and the Metropolis conference in resources section of this wiki).
    Cities in complex free-market and high service economies already produce less Greenhouse Gas emissions per capita than rural areas in the same country and this characteristic of cities should be translated in a culturally and socio-ecomically relevant way to developing nations and emerging nations, such as the BRIC countries. See the resources section on the World Bank GHG data for cities.
14. Cities and regional jurisdictions should set standards and develop integrated design policy for urban design from a holistic viewpoint, which includes infrastructure and transport, to adapt to and mitigate Global Climate Change. (Stern, 2009; See also UN reports and the UNEP Cities and UNEP Buildings reports and the link to the BMW Guggenheim urban lab, in the resources section of this wiki).
    
15. Cities and regions should develop networks for and engage in innovation systems beyond economic growth and market penetration to seek sustainable development pathways and adapt to and mitigate Global Climate Change through urban design solutions, including technology, design methods, policy development, and participation. (Weber and Hemmelskamp, 2010, see also Mckinsey report and interactive map, Copenhagen Malmø cities innovation coop, the BMW Guggenheim urban lab link, and the economics of climate change, in the resources section, the UN report Are we building competitive and liveable cities? in the resources section, and the EU Joint Industry Initiative Programme for city innovation in resources).
    
16. All urban design for the sub-tropic climate should design for the challenges and opportunities presented by these climates, which range from the dry and hot deserts of North Africa to the humid and cooler southern U.S., to the mixed climates of Spain, Brazil, and Chile, the variety of climate sub classes of Australia, the dryer and cooler highlands of Asia, and the warm humid climates of S.E. Asia. Refer to the sub tropic climate map at wikipedia at the link and see the resources section of this wiki, for example the ASHRAE climate zone map of the U.S. Please post climate zone maps for other regions and countries on this wiki.
    
17. Oikos is normally defined as the house, household or family, although native female speakers claim the original definition as the management of the household or kitchen. The emphasis on praxis rather than object is instructive for ecologically sensitive urban design (Anousa Røe, personal communication 1992)
    
18. There is a need to build the social capital of cities and their regions, where urban design is but one tool among many that should be used. The diversity of social and economic forms in cities and regions should be taken into account in design acts
    
19. Design acts should be bold and brave while rejecting mediocrity
    
20. The youth of cities and regions should be actively engaged in urban design processes
    
    oikos wikipedia definition
    
    subtropic clm map
    
    world interactive map
    
    

Principles for Sub-Tropical Urban Design¶

1. Recognise sub-regions and neighborhoods; recognise and reflect diverse climatic, landscape, cultural and habitat sub-regions when applying design principles
   
2. Respect the past and existing topography by understanding the environmental, social, and built history of the place
   
3. Diversify the built environment
   
4. Consider local character and design
   
5. Integrate with nature
   
6. Acknowledge informality
   
7. Use vegetation for improved outdoor thermal conditions, air-quality, and food production
   
8. Ensure open space diversity
   
9. Respect the water of the urban region and allow access to the waterways of the city
   
10. Design for the locally anticipated effects of sea-level-rise and extreme weather
    
11. Utilize technology to strengthen and reinforce community in the city
    
12. Incorporate access to open space
    
13. Public transit, bicycling, and walking should be the three modes of transport of first choice for urban design and management, where appropriate public transit is seen as one key to unlocking the potential for a sustainable future for cities and their regions
    
14. Design analysis and design acts for the city see the lifeways, transport, modes of communication, energy and resource flows in a holistic way, also between the city and its region
    
15. Prioritize the provision of shade, rain protection and the connectivity of open urban space, especially with regards to the pedestrian
    
16. Cities and megaregions should be designed and managed to allow for the integration of new sustainable technologies and design strategies
    
17. All design acts for the city should stive to include the potential of replicability in order to enlarge it positive impact on the planet
    
18. Visioning and stakeholder participation processes should be utilized for urban design and stakeholders should be identified, invited, and informed