MYP 2 have become urban planners and are doing an incredible job planning cities. Over the last few weeks students have worked in teams and created 3 different urban plans.
Using Lego pieces, string and cards on a 16 x 16 inch grid, students designed cities incorporating all of the requirement components (residential housing, commercial businesses, municipalities, public transport, industry and energy).
The 3 different requests for plans were -
1. Design a city which maximizes the amount of personal space each citizen will have.
2. Design a city which maximizes the amount of public space citizens will have
3. Design a city which maximizes the positive aspects of city life, minimizing the negative aspects of city life.
The plans were really thoughtful and I think we have some potential and influential future urban planners and thinkers in our class!
Our aim is to design a sustainable city. What is a sustainable city? What are important elements of a sustainable city? Starting this week students will begin to finalize their plans and will begin to build an actual 3d model of their ideal sustainable city. We will be working with recycled materials and creating our city to scale. Students will justify all their design choices and reasoning. I'm really excited to see how this materializes! And hope that some of our students go on to challenge the way things have been done and introduce innovative ideas to improve our communities!
There are cities around the world that have taken steps and made great efforts to improve the quality of life for residents. Some are designed and implemented by the government, others through organizations. Changes include: recycling/waste management projects, increase in green space and parks, change in city layout, enhancement of public works such as schools, in addition to alternative energy and industry.
- Stockholm, Sweden: http://international.stockholm.se/Stockholm-by-theme/European-Green-Capital/
- Burlington, Vermont (USA): http://burlingtonlegacyproject.org/projects/environment/
- Curitiba, Brazil: http://www.geographypages.co.uk/curitiba.htm
- Boston, Massachusetts (USA): http://www.cityofboston.gov/environmentalandenergy/
- San Francisco, California (USA): http://www.sustainable-city.org/
- Asheville, North Carolina (USA): http://www.ashevillenc.gov/departments/administration/default.aspx?id=11040
- Los Angeles, Californa (USA): http://www.environmentla.org/
- Atlanta, Georgia (USA): http://web.atlantaga.gov/atlstat/index.shtml
- Salt Lake City, Utah (USA): http://www.slcgov.com/slcgreen/
- Tapiola, Finland: http://www.eukn.org/finland/themes/Urban_Policy/Urban_environment/Environmental_sustainability/Renewable_energy_supplies/ekoviikki_suburb_1005.html
Assign each person in your group to research a different city. In your process journals answer the questions below on that city and its projects.
- What projects have been implemented in this city to make it more sustainable? (Identify what the project is: Transportation, Green Space, Waste Management, etc.)
- What are the long-term affects that each of these changes will have on the quality of life in that city?
- What ideas can you take from these real-life examples and incorporate into your plan?
- What do you think could be improved? Do you have ideas that you think could work better?
