A couple of years ago, I watched a documentary about
Portland. Its vibrantly sustainable transportation was very impressive. For
many years, people keep talking sustainability and Portland online. Ryan Miga
reckoned “Talking about sustainability and Portland, Oregon, is like talking
about Eskimos and snow. It’s hard to separate them.” As so on, I choose
Portland as my first digital journey of sustainable development & Urban
Environment.
Eco Transportation
Let’s start with Portland’s famous cycle paths. The city is
covered by over 315 miles (around 463 kilometres) well developed cycle paths. In
2010, Portland had highest percentage of bike commuters in the country. Cyclists rank Portland as their second bike-friendliest
city in the US. Designated bike lanes are along with many roads and a
blocked-off box is as designated for bike to stop in front of cars at traffic
lights. As addition, Portland drivers respect to this bike-friendly culture.
They will slow down and huddle behind cyclists.
Also the city has a comprehensive public transportation
network of buses, streetcars, aerial tram and light rail. The network covers not only the
city itself but also suburbs. Transit is convenient, buses run frequently and
timetable is provided by different medias.
The ticket price is also very affordable – a $2.00 ticket for 1-2 zones
can be used up for three hours for buses and light rail.
Beyond the traditional sustainable transportation models,
timing traffic lights to reduce fuel consumption - another eco-transportation
model was adopted by the City of Portland. Traffic-signal optimization studies
traffic patterns and re-calibrates signals to minimize the time cars spend on
idling and accelerating. The model is calculated to have cut more than
15,00-ton co2 emissions.
Green Buildings
In 2010, Portland was ranking as second place of a city has
most Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) – certified buildings. A Portland’s flagship project for green
building, Oregon Sustainability Centre (OSC) was surposed to open in 2013. The centre was
labeled as “the greenest high-rise ever built”.
The building is carbon-neutral, produces as much energy as it uses and
recycles wastewater onsite. The Oregon University System uses the building as a
laboratory for testing sustainable design ideas.
Sustainable
Development Policy
In 2008, the Bureau of Planning and the Office of
Sustainable Development were merged to The Bureau of Planning and
Sustainability. The bureau coordinates urban growth and sustainable development
in the city together. Even since the
70s, Portland has legislation that limited urban growth and strict land-use
laws.
Portland has a high goal to become a “20 Minute City” which
means residents spend 20 or less minutes commuting anywhere in the city. To
achieve the goal, one of the remarkable projects is “The EcoDistricts Initiative”. The project
focuses on a smaller-scale sustainable development – neighbourhood, people,
infrastructure and buildings.
Sustainability is about attitude
The public and government are highly aware of sustainability
issues. Portlanders hope to increase the recycling rate to 75% in 2015 by
providing affection recycling facilities and encouraging the public to recycle
more, comparing to the national recycling rate was only 32% in 2008.
Locavorism is popular in Portland. Grocery stores and
restaurants offer huge range of options for local foods from meat and
vegetables to cheese and beer. A dozen
of weekend farmers markets are open until winter. Some manufactories commit to
only using locally sourced ingredients. Hopworks Brewery uses not only local
ingredients but also compost. They buy 100% wind energy and use recycled
materials on their building.
Portland State University plays a key role in sustainability.
The university integrates research, learning and practice together. The funding was granted to the university to support
the academic laboratory for developing sustainable processes and developing
connection with business, government, organizations and communities.
Portlanders work hard on sustainable development that allows
they approach to meet the needs of the present without constraining the ability
of future generations. At the meantime, they have been successful to improve
quality of their life.
http://www.pdx.edu/sustainability/home-1
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