Greening Columbia City for the Better Good - Essay Example

Greening the Institute’s Introduction This report is written regarding the research in Tyndall Centre for Climate Change suggests that we need a 10 % increase in green space in our cities to fight and survive change in climate. This report if for the authority of a city or town, where we will be making the case for greening the city. This report shall explain to the city authority why it is important to develop urban green spaces and to propose ways of greening the city or town. The city that I have chosen for the report is Columbia City. The term Greening the city means creating parks, gardens and other places where plants are grown. This means that the city must have more gardens and parks. This will not only help the city combat with further climatic disasters but will also help the city to produce their own vegetables and fruits which will generate jobs and revenue, both. Thus, no matter how we see it, creating urban green spaces will be a benefit. It will not only benefit the environment, but will also benefit the people living in the city and will improve economic conditions. Why Cities Need to Work on Sustainability The city that we will work on today is Columbia City. There are a lot of green spaces in Columbia already but having more green spaces never hurts. Rather, it becomes a gift for the people. Columbia City is a small, friendly community located in Northeast Indiana. It has both a long, rich heritage and a bright promising future. It is a community sharing a commitment to continuous growth and quality of life-style. Columbia City and its surrounding areas are home to some of Indianas fastest growing manufacturing, technological and service-based businesses as well as expanding and new residential developments. (Columbia City, 2011) Nowadays there is a lot of hue and cry about sustainability which is very important. Companies and governments are working towards the better good of the people by creating green spaces. Nowadays a company that is environmental friendly and is a socially and environmentally responsible citizen is considered better and is favored by the people. There is also a worry about the future that if companies and governments do not take corrective measures now there will be a massive threat to the people and the world. The Past Formerly, when technology started rolling in, no one thought how there will be negative impacts of this technology on the earth. Which is why, no one took corrective measures and because this carelessness global warming started. It started out as a small ball of snow that was on the top mountain and it kept rolling down towards the ground with a heavy momentum, gathering even more snow on the way and becoming a gigantic sphere mass. We cannot stop this ball from rolling now because it has set out to crash to the ground. However, what we can do now is to take measures that will slow down the ball and its speed. Hence, what we are really doing here is that, we are trying to slow down the pace of global warming so that it does not affect our immediate generations as it would have if we had not started taking care of it. The Present Presently, there is a lot of work going on regarding Global Warming and to reduce its effect on earth. The work is impressive and people are devoted to save the earth. However, more needs to be done in order to ensure the safety of our children and grand children and great grand children. As of now the earth is facing a lot of climatic changes and there are a lot of things going on that are puzzling. Still, what we need to do is to take care of earth in our individual capacities and as societies as a whole. Nowadays companies are working towards reducing their carbon footprints and are working on Life Cycle Assessment which is about a company’s sustainability. At this time, this is exactly what Columbia needs to do- Life Cycle Assessment of Columbia. There are already a lot of urban green spaces in Columbia, but still generating more will only contribute in helping the city fight against climatic changes. Dealing with change in climate becomes hard, not only for the residents of a city but also for the government or the city authority. In order to work that out Columbia needs to work on its future. The Future What the future holds is a mystery but we can mould our future to our wills sometimes. This can be done by working hard in the present. In order to ensure a safe future for its residents and for itself, Columbia needs to be improved. As mentioned earlier, Columbia should work on its Life Cycle Assessment. Moreover, Columbia’s authorities should plan on creating more green spaces. This can be done by seeking help from different organizations and from donations made by residents as well. Life Cycle Assessment Nowadays, a company that does Life Cycle Assessment is considered to be better than a company that does not do so. This is because; a company that does life cycle assessment is working towards sustainability. Columbia City should work on reducing Carbon Footprint. This means that there should be measures taken to support city reduce the use of energy. Also, in order to save water, water footprint should also be reduced and in order to save raw material from deteriorating, inventory analysis should also be done. Impacts of Greening the City There are positive and negative impacts of greening the city. If the authorities work on greening the city, the impacts of greening the city will be as follows: Advantages There are a lot of advantages of greening the city. Some of them are as follows: It will make people more active if they are involved in the development of the green city It will help in making the city more attractive It will create job opportunities for people. It will reduce flood risks It will also reduce crime rate because of more job opportunities It will bring the people of Columbia closer to each other It will help in preserving animals and wildlife It will give families and students a place to refresh themselves, this will help in improving health of the residents and will reduce cost of hospital expenses. It will benefit children because they will have more opportunities to play and refresh themselves It will also help the authorities because the small tickets that people will play when they enter will help in generating revenue Also, it will help the authorities in having spaces where different events like carnivals etc can be organized. This will also help in generation of revenue in this way. Disadvantages The most probable disadvantage is that the authorities will have to spend a good deal of money to make Columbia City better but this should be considered as investment because it will help in generating revenues and cost saving in the future. Role of City Authority in Greening Columbia City The city authority needs to play a role in greening Columbia city because the companies work on a limited budget and they are not actually liable. They only do this in order to give back to the society. The city authority needs to do this because it will not only help the city combat with future disasters and catastrophes, it will also help the city in learning to adapt to climatic changes. It will help in making the residents stay healthy which will in return save hospital expenses paid by the authorities and governments later on. Moreover, it will help the authorities in dealing with crime rates because due to job creation, there will be reduction in crime rate. Residents of Columbia city will become more social and this might even help people in increasing literacy rate. In order to save Columbia city from future disasters, the city authority needs to start creating urban green spaces. Proposal The main features of the proposal According to Green Roof Consultancy quoted on p. 146 of Block 6 could be; Urban Parks There are a lot of parks in Columbia City already, what needs to be done is that more parks need to be generated and those that are already there need to be maintained. Urban Gardens Urban Gardens mean that there should be gardens that will help in production of local healthy food. This will help the residents eat fresh and healthy food and the rest can be sent to other cities, this will help in generation of revenue. Green corridor These spaces give the animals a path where they can move about and be comfortable with it. This will help in preserving wildlife. Green Roofs Green roofs are important because they help in providing insulation in winters. They can also provide animals with shelter that they seek. Green roofs can help in reducing the immense water that becomes stagnant because the roofs will also absorb water. Green Walls/Vertical Gardens This idea is amazing because it takes up less space and helps in generating revenue from the fruits and vegetable those are generated there. How the Proposal Will be Carried Out? The proposal gives the authority of Columbia city about what they can do to create urban green spaces. Moreover, this proposal can be carried out by first holding a meeting of all the heads of the city’s authority. They should discuss on how to allocate resources on each of the thigns mentioned above. Plus, they should prioritize which ones to go for first. I would recommend using the same sequence mentioned above. After all this what needs to be done is that, people need to be hired in order to start working on the things mentioned above. There should be heads for each section mentioned above. After every one month or to weeks a meeting should be held by the council in order to review the progress. The city’s authority can also ask residents to volunteer because this will gain their interest. They might also be willing to donate money to the city’s authority. Also, since they are the residents they should also have a say in what is going to happen to the city. The city’s authority should ask for help from the organizations working in the city. This will lower the monetary burden for the city’s authority. As an individual I would help the city authority in planting trees and with management work as well if required of me, because as a citizen/resident I should own the city and should work to make it better. Conclusion This report gives an insight on how a city’s authority can work on making the city sustainable and become able to combat with the climatic changes and disasters that follow the disasters. Moreover, it gives a proposal on how authority of Columbia city can green the city. This can be done by creating more green spaces. The report also reflects how this will make the city become better in environmental and economic aspects and shows how the changes made today can help in making a better future. Word Count 1,895 Read More