A vision for tomorrow's cities
Today the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a new report on how local and state governments can stimulate potentially billions of dollars of private investment, to offset the costs of repairing the US' broken stormwater infrastructure. This is targted at policymakers, investors, and anyone concerned with how municipalities and wastewater utilities will pay for much-needed water infrastructure investments.
As NRDC detailed in previous publications, cities across the US are using green infrastructure - like green roofs, street trees, and porous pavement that soak up urban runoff - to tackle these problems. These smarter water solutions work to clean up local waterways while creating healthier cities.
The report, titled Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond, uses the City of Brotherly Love as a test case to explore how innovative financing mechanisms, currently being used for energy efficiency retrofits, can be adapted to the stormwater management context. The key is that Philadelphia, like many communities around the country, has a stormwater utility fee structure that calculates charges based on a parcel's impervious area and provides 'credit' - literally, up to a nearly 100% reduction in the fee - for property owners who retrofit to reduce runoff into city sewers, using green infrastructure and related techniques.
With the growing need of smartly adapting our cities so that they are fit for the future generations, RICS has launched today an essay competition for RICS student members as part of Vision for Cities, a global research programme that examines key thinking on the delivery of sustainable cities for 2030 and beyond. Through this competition, RICS aims to promote and showcase innovative thinking by future leaders of the profession.
Questions to answer in the competition include discussing the quotes 'Transforming the use of buildings and behavioural processes are more relevant than technological innovation when aiming to create sustainable built environments.' or 'The positive impacts of globalisation on local economic development are outweighed by their negative effects on income disparity and social exclusion in the modern city.'