Reading Place

Masdar in Abu Dhabi

I just came across an interesting piece from the blog myurbanist on "reading the evolution of place." The author articulates his message through a brief analysis of eleven pairs of images of various places throughout the world, mostly cities.

Some of his commentary is insightful and strikes at the core of what this blog is trying to accomplish: establishing a new contextually sensitive discourse, systemic and holistic in scope, about sustainability and what it means for the future of the Los Angeles region.

Barrios of Caracas, Venezuela

"Today, we are driven by a new sustainability ethic, necessarily systemic in scope. Carbon-neutrality is the rage, and location efficiency, clean energy and the return of neighborhood are the watchwords of change. Formulas and metrics, and new regulatory systems attempt results, and show the quest to measure how close we are to achieving ideal forms of location and development.

But...context is key, and adaptation to a multi-environmental sense of place, associated imagery and sensation is an essential element of building design, urban development and innovation going forward. Creating beautiful buildings that are able to work for the environment, or crafting appropriate enabling regulations, should also be considered as part of a broader, holistic effort. There is no use in having architects, urban planners, developers and lawyers thinking in isolation about a better future."

Street in Valletta, Malta

His last point about a "broader, holistic effort" is usually directed at our understanding of the environment; a point mentioned to underscore the importance of thinking of the environment in its entirety, rather than as discrete systems. However, I think he's talking about something slightly different and less obvious - that in order for place to be legible in the "sustainable city," architects, urban planners, developers and lawyers need to think and work together. Sustainability is just as much about environmental outcomes as it is about process and collaboration. Without a sustainable practice for producing the sort of urbanism our cities and environment demand, we are never going to make progress toward carbon-neutrality, water independence or any other pressing environmental issue. This is true for Los Angeles just as much as it is for any other big city.