Advancing Urban Sustainability in China and the United States Proceedings of a Workshop (2020) / Chapter Skim
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2 Current Landscape for Sustainable Urbanization Research and Practice in the United States and China
2 Current Landscape for Sustainable Urbanization Research and Practice in the United States and China
Pages 7-14
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From page 7... ...
U.S. PERSPECTIVE Deb Niemeier, the Clark Distinguished Chair in Energy and Sustain ability in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Maryland, began by noting that taking on the near-term challenge of research related to urbanization as it relates to climate change is critically important.
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From page 8... ...
What is needed, she continued, is more system flexibility, new and modern power systems, and new frameworks that can change the way that energy markets operate. FIGURE 2-1 GHGs emitted by sector in the United States and opportunities to mitigate.
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From page 9... ...
Families with the least means pay disproportionally more for their energy use, and most utilities lack data on those who are at the lower income brackets. New research on technologies must concurrently examine mechanisms for addressing current and future structural inequalities as well as ways to integrate more progressive policies around renewals.
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From page 10... ...
The urban environment is the best chance for changing the energy future of nations, but the focus must be on pathways to reduce GHGs by harnessing collective intellect and wisdom, she concluded. CHINESE PERSPECTIVE Wei-Qiang Chen, professor of resources and urban sustainability at the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, described urban sustainability challenges in China, including from his personal experience leaving the country and returning to witness the impact of significant growth in cities.
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From page 11... ...
These challenges include a dramatic increase in solid and plastic waste, higher-calorie diets, and less physical activity, among others. The country is taking steps to address these challenges, including ministries designed to address key sustainability issues and efforts to promote the circular economy.
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From page 12... ...
Another initiative funded by NSF in 2015 included convening 40 people from various organizations to identify challenges to sustainability, systems-based approaches, and fundamental principles and natural processes in the built environment. In 2016, NSF and the National Natural Science Foundation of China funded a $1 million project on integrated systems modeling of the food- energy-water nexus.
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From page 13... ...
Another participant noted that in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the authors reviewed 100 climate plans from cities, and while many were ambitious, not one had a single measure for tracking emissions.
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