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Ecocities

These groups look at transportation and urban design as a whole. Most focus strongly on preserving the natural environment, and some tend to be utopian. This page lists:

National and International Groups

  • Urban Ecology: Publishes an excellent quarterly journal, The Urban Ecologist. This group also publishes the Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area, does Community Design work, sharing its expertise with local citizen's groups, and lobbies governments in the San Francisco Bay Area. to implement its vision.
  • Ecocity Builders: This group works publishes books and reports and works on practical projects, building pieces of the Ecocity. Run by Richard Register, one of the founders of the Ecocity movement.
  • Eco-Village Information Service: Sponsored by the Global Eco-Village Network (GEN); hundreds of eco-villages (and counting) from Russia to Australia and Scotland sharing the same WEB site. A great wealth of eco-village related information and news. The GEN also has many non-Internet related activities.
  • Sustainable Communities Network: Information on sustainable economies, protecting natural resources, living sustainably, creating community, and on land-use and transportation planning to promote what they call "$mart growth" -- growth without suburban sprawl.
  • Priorities Institute: Promotes regional planning of new ecocities surrounded by green belts, interconnected by rail, with cars parked on the outskirts. Plans include renewable energy, computers in every residence, and recycling pantries.

Local and Regional Groups

  • Northwest Environment Watch: Seattle, Washington. Founded by citizens of the northwestern states and researchers from the Worldwatch Institute to foster a sustainable economy and way of life in the Pacific Northwest. Publishes books and studies on reconciling economy and environment, ending environmental degradation, creating safe streets and neighborhoods, stopping suburban sprawl.
  • Sustainable London Trust: A group organizing citizen's forums in London. It began by calling for Parliament to establish a directly elected governmental authority for Greater London, but one of the strongest needs expressed at its meetings for an independent newsletter on Agenda 21 issues in London following the collapse of the London Ecology Centre.
  • Los Angeles Eco-Village: Works to create small cooperative and ecological communities. CRSP purchased a 40 unit courtyard style building, built in 1922, in May, 1996 and plans to convert it to permanently affordable cooperative housing within 2 years, and eco-retrofit it within 10 years. Plans to acquire two other residential buildings are slated for acquisition by 1998.

Other Resources

  • Car-Free Cities: This site in the Netherlands contains plans for a city of one million people, where high-density pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods alternate with open space, the most detailed and most interesting urban design we have found on the web. It also offers free subscriptions to Car-Free Times e-mail magazine and information about the book Car-Free Cities by J. Crawford.
  • Waitakere, New Zealand, that country's sixth largest city, has declared itself New Zealand's first eco-city. This government site has information about their programs, and also has a listing of Eco-city Links.
  • Arcosanti: An experimental town in Arizona built according to the principles of Paolo Solieri. Soleri's idea of " arcology " helped inspire the ecocity movement during the 1960's, but it has more to do with the architectural modernism that was popular at the time than with traditional neighborhood design.

Spread the Word

Please let us know about other groups working on these issues. Send e-mail to webpages@preservenet.com.

  
The Natural Environment: The Social Environment