Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
Phasing out fossil fuels can't just come with expectations that nothing will change in our lives as we deal with the encroaching global crisis of climate change. Yes, electric vehicles and renewables may have some marginal effect on helping us maintain our current way of life, but we will really have to fundamentally rethink how we live, build, and work in our cities.
We need to have serious conversations about densifying not only our urban cores, but our suburbs, and how to implement public, mass-transit solutions into each and every neighbourhood. The day of long drives alone to our giant house in the suburb are not sustainable as we move into an increasingly uncertain future.
|
Everything needs to change about sustainability, and I agree, cars are just one part of this. Cities particularly need to focus on making better use of existing and vertical space, providing non-personal vehicle transportation options, improving waste and recycling management, planning and allowing sustainable architecture and developments, and providing far better support for mental health and vulnerable people.
And this isn't just for better cities, it's for maintaining a more sustainable tax base and rate of taxes. Technology, densification, and liberal approaches to private sector market responses all play into this.
The current state of the world - on the precipice of AI and IoT technology, changing work and lifestyle cultures, and being at the mercy of a global pandemic - would suggest that we have a golden opportunity to do a "course correction" on conventional urban behavior. The challenge will be getting motivated people to lead the way, letting them lead, and getting a critical mass of buy-in from the general populous.
Maybe I'm a pragmatist, but I tend to think most reasonable people would see that things need to change.