The Food Justice Community Kitchen in the BIG ONE

EUROPE

Sweden

- BO01: City of Tomorrow, Malmö: The result of Sweden's first international housing exhibition, BO01 opened in 2001 with 1000 residents and now houses 3500. BO01 showcases provocatively imaginative visions of future living, where strong demands on aesthetics, ecology and high technology are combined with placing humanity in the center of these concerns. It will eventually grow to 30,000 inhabitants. (http://home.att.net/~amcnet/bo01.html)

© 2006 Bo01 City of Tomorrow

Denmark

- Vesterbro, Kopenhagen: In the general Urban Plan for The Municipality of Copenhagen, Inner Vesterbro has been pointed out as an urban renewal area. At the start of the renovation it had 450 inhabitants, 303 dwellings and 37 shops/workshops/industries. The renovation program started in 1996 and the construction work was completed in the beginning of 2002. The overall aim of the demonstration project was to create balance in consumption of resources and production of waste, to inspire the residents to change their consumption behavior, to preserve common resources, and to enrich the environment by use and re-use of materials with care.

Finland

- Viikki, Helsinki: The environment-friendly district of Viikki project started in 1994 when the Municipality of Helsinki, together with the Group for Sustainable Cities Development, launched a competition for its planning. In 2000, the first phase of the project ended with the construction of accommodations for 2000 people and the creation of 2000 jobs. As well, in the Viikki area an even more experimental development of green architecture, Ekoviikki, has been constructed.

Norway

- Pilestredet Park, Oslo: 'Greening' of the site with continuous green belts, in addition to bicycle and pedestrian paths will increase the ecological quality of the area, and prevent destruction of its natural elements. One site is planned to contain approximately 230 apartments, all of which will contain various ecological features. The most advanced feature of the project is the integrated ecological and energy design strategy. As a result most of the energy-saving measures will be architecturally integrated elements. (www.pilestredetpark.no)

Germany

- Rieselfeld, Freiburg: Environmentally oriented, the district of Rieselfeld with exemplary local planning and management has been growing in the west of Freiburg since 1994. The idea was to develop an active environment with both an attractive urban residential quality and mixed-use shop/houses for trade and services. Approximately 4,500 flats for 10,000-12,000 people with low energy standard (65 kWh/m), 1,000 new jobs, and a good public and private infrastructure are to be created on city-owned land. The rest of the area is to be a nature reserve. www.rieselfeld.freiburg.de

- Quarter Vauban, Frieburg: Planning was begun in 1993 for a new district of the city of Freiburg, to be developed on the former grounds of a military base, which now encompasses a population of 5,000 citizens. The main goal of the project is to implement a city district in a cooperative, participatory way that meets ecological, social, economic and cultural requirements. (www.vauban.de/info/abstract.html)

Netherlands

- Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht: Utrecht's Leidsche Rijn is the largest housing and industrial development in the Netherlands. By 2015 in this new district of Utrecht 30,000 houses will have been built. Construction companies, residents, and the municipality are all giving shape to this new and as yet uncompleted city district. Leidsche Rijn is being built in accordance with the principles of sustainable construction, with large investments being made in environmental protection and energy management, such as a twin water supply system and a rainwater collection system. The low-energy street lighting and the low-energy demand of the houses will result in savings for both the city and the residents. (/www.utrecht.nl/smartsite...)

- Nieuwland, Amersfoort: The City of Amersfoort decided that in its new district of Nieuwland, which comprises about 5,000 homes and about 70 hectares for industrial purposes, the buildings should serve as an experiment for both new environmental techniques and ownership structures, in order to achieve a high grade of sustainable living. The planning for this new development started in 1995 and was finished in 2002. In Nieuwland, five different projects using solar energy have been undertaken: three low-energy primary schools, the so-called MV photovoltaics project, solar energy on fifty rented dwellings, nineteen owner occupied homes with solar power and two semi-detached "balanced energy houses". www.amersfoort.nl/smartsite.shtml?id=165295

Austria

- Pichling, Linz: The idea to implement low energy construction methods in the field of public housing arose in 1990. In 1994, the City of Linz, together with four of the most important non- profit residential construction organizations in Linz confirmed their willingness to finance the planning and development of a model estate of 630 low energy construction homes in the district of Pichling. The City of Linz succeeded in enlisting the enthusiasm and obtaining the support of world-class architects under the name of the READ group (Renewable Energies in Architecture and Design), whose aim is to promote the breakthrough of low-energy construction methods at the international level. www.linz.at/english/solarcity/

Scotland

– Findhorn Ecovillage: The Findhorn Community, which began in 1962 in northeast Scotland, is known internationally for its experiments with new models of holistic and sustainable living, and since 1981 has been developing its ecovillage. Findhorn conducts programs for over 4,500 residential visitors a year from over 50 countries. (www.ecovillagefindhorn.org)

England

- Millennium Village, London: The Greenwich Millenium Village will have nearly 1,400 new homes, served by modern transport links, and it will act as a standard-bearer not only in its architecture and design but also in its vision of how to create a new, more intelligent way of living using the latest environmentally friendly technologies (i.e., combined heat and power facility, improvement to insulation, water efficient devices). The Greenwich Millennium Village has set itself highly ambitious targets: massive reductions in primary and embodied energy consumption, construction waste, water use and construction costs and time. Social sustainability, too, is to the fore, with secure play areas, a mix of tenures and households, pedestrian friendly streets, flexible "lifetime homes", an extensive IT infrastructure, and live/work units to reduce car dependency. (www.greenwich-village.co.uk)

Spain

- Sociópolis, Valencia: Sociópolis was presented at the Valencia Biennial in 2003, as a project in which 13 international architecture firms took part. The project put forward a model of new urban development in which housing and multifunctional amenities were integrated in an agricultural environment, a continuation and updating of the model constituted by the Mediterranean hortulus. Following the presentation of the project it was decided to construct a first neighborhood of 2,800 homes in the La Torre district to the south of the city of Valencia, on a 350,000 m2 site on the banks of the new course of the diverted River Turia; the same principles would be followed, but on a larger scale. (http://www.sociopolis.net/web/socio polis.php?lang=en)

France

- Solar Habitat, Lyon: This demonstration project will implement different technologies to create a catalogue of innovative approaches to be applied in the social housing sector. The Lyon project consists of 305 dwellings in 7 different sites of the greater Lyon which all achieve varying levels of energy efficiency and environmental performance. Innovative energy saving features include improved insulation standards, passive solar design, solar water heating and demand side energy management. Once this pilot project research is complete, it is expected that each year 20% of social housing will be built with these technologies. The construction phase started in 1997.

ASIA

China

- Dongtan Ecocity, Shanghai: The Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation has commissioned the world's first purpose-built ecocity—Dongtan. It will be built on Chongming Island in the Yangtze River Delta on an area the size of Manhattan—86 square km. By 2010 it will be a city of 25,000 people, by 2030 it will reach some 500,000 people. It is designed to be a beautiful and truly sustainable city with a minimal ecological footprint. (http://www.dongtan.biz/english /gywm/)

- Huangbaiyu Village, Benxi: The development of the new community of Huangbaiyu Village will serve as a national prototype for the design of a sustainable village, an effort focused on creating a template for improving the quality of life for 800 million rural Chinese. This project is being overseen by one of the leading green architects of the world, William McDonough, publisher of the renowned book Cradle to Cradle. (http://www.mcdonoughpartners.com/projects/huang baiyu/)

- Guantang Chuangye Sustainable Development Demon-stration Project, Liuzhou: The plan represents a departure from much of contemporary Chinese city planning by seeking to establish a walkable, transit-oriented mixed-use community. The plan also pays considerable attention to "social infrastructure". Every workplace and residence will be within a five-minute walk of a transportation hub and primary school and within 500 meters of an interlinked network of habitats. (http://www.mcdonoughpartners.com/projects/liuzhou/default.asp?ProjID =liuzhou)

- Jinan, Shandong Province: This concept plan outlines a sustaining vision for a new administrative and cultural center for the government of the Licheng District in rapidly growing Eastern Industrial Zone east of Jinan. Working under the guidance and support of the China Housing Industry Association and the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development, the design team has developed plans for a new urban district that will be home to 180,000 people and embodies the principles of Cradle to Cradle Design. (http://www.mcdonough partners.com /projects/tangye/default.asp?projID=tangye)

- Liuzhou: Next to Liuzhou, a city in the south of China, on the edge of this exceptionally beautiful natural Karst mountain range, a World Heritage protected site, a limestone mine is situated. In this mine, five of these beautiful mountains are dramatically cut into half. By ‘cladding' the escarpments with the houses, the potential continuation of the park can be arranged. It restores the beauty and creates a continuation with the surrounding landscape, can protect the eroded mountains from further erosion, and would create houses with a view and ventilation. The irregularity causes houses with differentiated terraces. They allow for communal views over the valley. (http://www.mvrdv.nl/_v2/projects/270_liuzhou/index.html)

Japan

- Kobunaki Urban Ecovillage, Omihachiman-City: In 2000, with the aim to realize an Ecovillage in Japan, the Ecomura Networking (NPO) was established. With the collaboration of businesses, government, universities and public citizens the Kobunaki project began. In 2002 a 15 ha piece of land in Kobunaki, Omihachiman-City, Shiga was chosen as the site for the first Ecovillage in Japan. In 2003 the company "G-project" was formed to manage the project and our project was chosen as a model for an environmentally friendly city plan by the national government. (http://www.g-project.net/kobunaki/ en/mission/index.html)

India

- Auroville, Pondicherry: Auroville is a universal township in the making designed for a population of up to 50,000 people from around the world. It was founded in 1968 and has grown to a population of 3,000 residents today. UNESCO has passed a unanimous resolution commending it as a project of importance to the future of humanity, thereby giving their full encouragement. (http://www.auroville.org/)

United Arab Emirates

- Al Salam City, Dubai: Al Salam City will be a masterpiece of urban planning and become the home and busy workplace to over 300,000 people. (http://www.alsalamcity.net)

NORTH AMERICA

Arizona

– Arcosanti, near Phoenix: In 1970, the Cosanti Foundation began building Arcosanti, an experimental ecological town. When complete, Arcosanti will house 5000 people, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions and lessen our destructive impact on the earth. Its large, compact structures and large-scale solar greenhouses will occupy only 25 acres of a 4060 acre land preserve, keeping the natural countryside in close proximity to urban dwellers. (http://www.arcosanti.org/)

British Columbia

– Dockside Green, Victoria: Situated in the heart of the City of Victoria, Dockside Green is being developed on fifteen acres of former industrial land. With a planned total of 1.3 million square feet of mixed residential, office, retail and industrial space, Dockside Green represents the biggest development of city land in Victoria's history.Dockside Green is being developed by Vancity and Windmill Developments, who are thoroughly committed to a triple bottom line (TBL) approach to development. (http://dockside green.ca/)

For more info

Green Community Network - http://greencenturyinstitute.org/network.htm
Global Ecovillage Network - http://gen.ecovillage.org
Sibart (list of European eco-developments) - http://www.sibart.org/page_3.html
Sustainable Community Design Case Studies: http://www.arch.umanitoba.ca/vanvliet/sustainable/casestud.htm
European Green Cities Network: http://www.europeangreencities.com
Green Map System - http://www.greenmap.com