PATHWAYS TO URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
THE ATLANTA METROPOLITAN REGION
Summary of a Workshop
Derek Vollmer, Rapporteur
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This summary report and the workshop on which it was based were supported by The Home Depot Foundation; U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Forest Service (Contract No. 10-DG-11330150-135); Interface Environmental Foundation, Inc.; Turner Foundation, Inc.; and the George & Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL APPROACHES TO URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
Denise Stephenson Hawk (Chair),
The Stephenson Group, LLC
Judy Adler,
The Turner Foundation, Inc.
Anne Keller,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4
Edward Macie,
U.S Forest Service Southern Region
Krista Mills,
U.S. Department of Housing and Development Louisville Field Office
Kevin Moody,
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
Andrea Pinabell,
The Home Depot Foundation
Dale Quattrochi,
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Catherine L. Ross,
Georgia Institute of Technology
Tom Weyandt,
formerly with Atlanta Regional Commission
STAFF
Derek Vollmer, Project Director and Program Officer,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (through December 2010)
Jennifer Saunders, Project Director and Program Officer,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (beginning January 2011)
Marina Moses, Director,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program
Pat Koshel, Senior Program Officer,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program
Kathleen McAllister, Associate Program Officer,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (through October 2010)
Dominic Brose, Associate Program Officer,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program
Emi Kameyama, Senior Program Assistant,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program
Dylan Richmond, Research Assistant,
Science and Technology for Sustainability Program
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The National Academies Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (see Appendix C) has regularly helped organize workshops to convene diverse stakeholders and to discuss the role that science and technology can play in fostering a “transition to sustainability.” It is this idea of a transition that has helped the program focus on the salient trends, actors, and approaches that are part of this “collective, adaptive, and uncertain endeavor.”1 Urbanization is one such trend that has been the subject of many sustainability discussions over the years.
In 2009, the National Academies hosted a forum to engage federal, academic, and private researchers focusing on urbanization.2 The rationale was that urbanizing regions are playing, and will continue to play, an important role in addressing climate change and many other sustainability challenges. Emerging research on urban systems—research that focuses on human–environment interactions and the interplay among energy, water, transportation, and other systems—could help decision makers address the complex challenges their cities face. One clear message that emerged from this initial forum was that, given the diverse regional economies, ecosystems, and communities throughout the United States, solutions to make urban systems more sustainable would have to be context-specific and place-based. Recognizing that many metropolitan areas in the United States have been experimenting with various approaches to sustainability, and that, despite the differences among regions, there were likely to be some core similarities and transferable knowledge, Roundtable members suggested that a series of workshops be organized to examine regional approaches to sustainability.
A committee was appointed by the National Research Council to organize an initial workshop on September 30 and October 1, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia, titled “Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Lessons from the Atlanta Metropolitan Region.” Atlanta was selected based on its
rapid growth rate; its well-documented challenges with water, land use, and transportation; and its level of engagement with federal government agencies on matters related to sustainability. The committee identified panel topics, invited speakers, and developed an agenda along cross-cutting themes that encouraged interdisciplinary discussions. Participants were encouraged to examine metropolitan Atlanta as a system or, as some later rephrased it, to start “connecting the dots.”
In addition to the planning committee’s efforts, the workshop also benefited from the work of several individuals. Kathleen McAllister, Emi Kameyama, and Marisa Escudero (National Academies) and Coleen Chima (Georgia Tech) deserve special recognition for the research and administrative support they provided. Howard Frumkin (University of Washington), Regina Gray (Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD]), Sam Lytle (HUD), Dee Merriam (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and Wayne Zipperer (U.S. Forest Service) all provided timely feedback leading up to the workshop. We would like to acknowledge Thomas Burnett, Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academies, for his contributions to earlier drafts of the report.
This summary has been prepared by the rapporteur as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop. The planning committee’s role was limited to planning and convening the workshop. The statements made in this volume do not necessarily represent positions of the workshop participants, the Roundtable, or the National Academies.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies’ Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: John Anderson, Rice University; Cyrus Bhedwar, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives; Glen Daigger, CH2M Hill, Inc.; Andrew Dannenberg, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Regina Gray, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
Malka Pattison, U.S. Department of the Interior; and Dan Reuter, Atlanta Regional Commission.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the rapporteur and the institution.
Derek Vollmer, Rapporteur