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Nature calling: how can Sweden's success story help rewild London?

Matthew Ponsford

February 05, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Malmö

As London starts to implement its plan for boroughs to implement sustainable urban greening strategies, officials look to Malmö as a guide after the Swedish city used a green space factor (GSF) as a way of calculating green space requirements for new developments. The GSF system allows governments to integrate biodiversity-focused incentives into their urban planning, while allowing designers and architects to respond to local needs.

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Pakistan pins big hopes on small dams to help farmers beat drought

Imran Mukhtar

January 25, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Pakistan, Nagarparkar, Sindh

A government scheme in Pakistan involves the construction of water-harvesting dams in areas that experience droughts, which allows farmers in the region to use the irrigation water from the dams for their crops. One farmer is growing onions and wheat and because of the access to water, his income has increased more than 60 percent. There are concerns about how helpful the water from the dams will ultimately be in the arid region, but there are plans to build more dams in the next few years.

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An Algorithm Is Helping a Community Detect Lead Pipes

Sidney Fussell

January 14, 2021 |

Wired |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

BlueConduit, an analytics startup, applies statistical models to identify neighborhoods and households that might have lead pipes. The models include dozens of factors, such as the age of the home and proximity of other homes where lead has been found, to help predict likely locations of lead pipes and create a ranking by likelihood that cities can use to prioritize which pipes to examine. In Flint, MI, about 70% of the homes identified using the models had lead pipes, compared to about 15% of homes where excavations did not use the model. The company is working with organizations in dozens of other cities.

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‘Slow Streets' Disrupted City Planning. What Comes Next?

Laura Bliss

January 06, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

When city planners rushed early in the pandemic to close streets to automobile traffic in order to give residents a safe space to roam outdoors, they ended up learning lessons entirely apart from their original goals rooted in public health and traffic safety. In Durham, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Oakland, community groups pushed back at the cities' initial failures to consider the opinions of communities of color whose neighborhoods were affected by the changes. The pushback led to collaborations and modified plans that redefined the problems at issue and the ways to address them.

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Make Way for the ‘One-Minute City'

Feargus O'Sullivan

January 05, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Stockholm

The Street Moves initiative in Sweden is pushing local communities to become the designers of their own streets’ layouts and look at urban planning through the lens of the “one-minute city.” Through a public-private partnership, residents in four sites in Stockholm can help determine how much street space is used for parking, outdoor dining, and children’s play spaces. The goal is to increase participation in the community, address climate resilience, and create a more livable city.

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Hurricane Sandy battered NYC 8 years ago. Since then, how has the city shored up against future superstorms? Oyster castles.

Carmen Russo

December 22, 2020 |

The Counter |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

As a way to soften the impacts of a future storm, an artificial oyster reef was installed in New York City. This green infrastructure can absorb the shock of waves and decrease the amount of flooding, as well as build up the shore over time effectively reversing erosion. Environmentalists argue that this type of barrier is more cost-effective than traditional seawalls and will adapt to sea level changes over time.

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Disinvested: How Government and Private Industry Let the Main Street of a Black Neighborhood Crumble

Tony Briscoe Haru Coryne Mick Dumke

November 11, 2020 |

ProPublica |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

A series of government programs designed to rebuild a neighborhood badly damaged by the 1968 Chicago uprising not only failed to achieve their goal, but actually made it worse. Hundreds of businesses in the Madison Street area of Chicago's West side were destroyed in days of rioting. Programs that emphasized clearing "blight" over building anew left vacant lots where new businesses might have emerged. Overall, "efforts turned out to be too scattered, too small and too susceptible to shifting politics to make a lasting impact," while opportunistic businesses cashed in without improving conditions.

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Rogers Pass ski permit system adds to 'Holy Grail' of mitigation strategies

Tom Hallberg Bradly J. Boner

October 21, 2020 |

Jackson Hole News & Guide |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Rogers Pass, British Columbia

Terrain closures, avalanche education, and parking management are some of the topics that Canada’s ski permit system tackles. This government-regulated permit system has resulted in zero skier-triggered slides on Rogers Pass. Officials in Wyoming as looking to their northern neighbors to see if a similar system could work at Teton Pass.

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Snowsheds are just one part of Rogers Pass' extensive avalanche program

Tom Hallberg Bradly J. Boner

October 14, 2020 |

Jackson Hole News & Guide |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Rogers Pass, British Columbia

Snowsheds are just one tool in Canada’s arsenal to combat the impacts avalanches can have on their complex road systems. Snowsheds are aboveground tunnels where snow can travel over it and into the river, thereby reducing the number of road closures to cleanup the aftermath and allowing thousands of drivers to continue on their journeys. This idea is being explored by state officials in Wyoming as a way to improve their avalanche-mitigation tactics.

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A world without avalanche closures

Tom Hallberg Bradly J. Boner

October 07, 2020 |

Jackson Hole News & Guide |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Snoqualmie Pass, Washington

A failed bridge construction project in the 1960s in Wyoming to mitigate the impacts of avalanches inspired Washington state to complete a similar project fifty years later. The project included an elevated bridge that allows snow from slide paths to pass beneath the roadway, which ends up saving losses of economic activity due to road closures. While the construction can be expensive, Wyoming is looking to see if a similar solution can be applied to their own mountain passes.

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