‘A little house in the suburbs’ used to have a nice ring to it. Nowadays the word is more apt to incite the feeling of horror of a quaint neighborhood as Tom Hanks depicted in the 1980′s hit ‘Burbs.  The hit series Desperate housewives has sensationalized the lives behind the perfectly tended lawns of suburban American.  At Chronos, our team has written about the subject in sociological terms. The rising the cost of transportation added to the cost of housing no longer makes suburbia attainable for middle-class Americans. (Read: The end of Desperate Housewives.)

For years warnings were ignored that suburbia was unsustainable. The lone voices were, however, silenced by companies with ulterior motives in the name of social advancement and upward mobility. In the documentary Taken for a Ride, the (once?) mighty General Motors was outed as the company responsible for systematically wiping out the rail system nation-wide.  The irony is that same company now finds itself hat-in-hand asking for a bail out from the very people to whom they sold the white-picket-fence, sprawl, car-dependence model as “the American Dream.”

Today, there is no shortage of people ready to vehemently criticize the American suburban model. Artists like Kevin Bauman of Detroit are capturing the dysfunctional landscape of abandoned houses in photographs; Civically and environmentally minded developers like Jonthan Rose promote plans to “repair the fabric of communities” through re-densifying transit rich urban centers; and out-spoken authors like James Howard Kunstler, who calls suburban sprawl “the greatest mis-allocation of resources the world has ever known” draws a clear connection between our dilapidated built environment and “places not worth caring about.”

Although, with all this seemingly forward momentum, American’s are still successfully pulling the wool over unsuspecting people around the world. A US contractor from California of Afghan decent has sold his cookie cutter gated community to the redeveloping nation of Afghanistan. It is hard to believe that what that nation needs at this time is to follow a path of proven unsustainability.

This silver lining to this problem is that the explosion of the price of oil coupled with the economic crisis have provided an opening for The End of Suburbia. “The days where we’re just building sprawl forever… those days are over. Everybody recognizes that that’s not a smart way to design communities” stated President Obama.  But if everyone realizes it was a mistake, why didn’t someone try to stop it? More importantly, what do we do now to fix it?

Solutions are vast and varied. Some seek to encourage urban renewal as in Balitmore, where debates are taking place to offer free college tuition to city dwellers. Still others seek to facilitate suburbanite’s lives by created “third places.” By renting “on-demand” and “drop-in” office spaces like a club memberships, property managers aim to cash in on the nomade generation while reducing workers’ commutes. Finally, a promising and unprecedented collaboration between the Department of Housing and the Department of Transportation aims to more cohesively establish transit rich, healthy, sustainable communities in the United States.

Originally published at: Trajectoires Fluides | Groupe Chronos

To be fair, sharing isn’t that easy after all. You have to cooperate. You don’t get what you want all the time. And you certainly can’t make any money by sharing, right? What if we were to throw those assumed truths out the window? What if, in 2009, sharing were easy? Yeah, it meant you had to cooperate (i.e. clean up after yourself, be on time, etc.) But what if, you could get what you wanted (almost) all the time? And finally, (are you listening entrepreneurs?) what if you could actually make money by sharing?

Chase’s first lot of Zipcars were eye-catchers – lime green VW beetles sporting the jazzy Z logo. She wanted to make her users feel they were in the know; that they were the ones who had figured it out. Sharing was cool and owning a car was “stupid.” Mark Levine from the New York Times described this transformational sociological shift where, “Sharing is clean, crisp, urbane, postmodern; owning is dull, selfish, timid, backward.”

The way we share, what we share, and who we share things with is undergoing a transformational revolution thanks to advances in recent technology. The social networking internet based tools used in sites such as Twitter and Facebook have broken ground for innovating new ideas such as GoLoco and Connect by Hertz. Companies outside the mobility sector are marketing closed-loop products, such as Tandus, who has found a way to use old carpets to make new ones. Sharing? Maybe not exactly, but the fact that company’s interests are now more closely aligned with the consumer’s means: better quality, cooperation, providing services consumers want, and revenues which allow for company success.

Originally published at: Tragectoires Fluids | Groupe Chronos

Community
By housing the majority of town offices under one roof, the city will reduce unnecessary trips and theoretically open the lines of communication between governmental offices. This construction project, however, is more than just a new town hall; it is in fact an entire neighborhood. For Urbanist and Architecht Jean Nouvel, “The notion of a togetherness – public spaces, commerce, and housing,” is the most striking attribute of the project. The vast 6,000 m2 public square will be lined by retail stores and 250 new housing units, 50 of which dedicated to low-income residents.

Sustainability
Montpellier has every interest to use its greatest resource – solar energy. With 1,300 m2 of photovoltaic pergolas, the future town hall is estimated to produce approximately 20% of its electricity needs while blocking the direct sun rays in the summer months. Due to a heavy dependence on natural lighting and natural ventilation, the building has the prospect of creating an excellent quality work environment. “The city’s commitment to building a High Qualified Environmental town hall demonstrates an exciting change in politics towards sustainable cities. Home owners can follow the city’s lead by taking advantage of large subsidies from ADEME and the Hérault region, before sustainability requirements are imposed.” says Mathieu Moliner, co-founder of Smalt Energie.

Accessibility
Montpellier seems to understand that Sustainable transportation is critical to good real estate development. With a booming increase in demographics (9.86% annually, which is 4.88% higher than the national French average), Montpellier needed to take into account the increased use of the city’s infrastructure. They are therefore simultaneously breaking ground on a third tramline to service the East-West demands. Trams, however, won’t be the only way to access the new municipal hub. They will compliment the city’s bike-sharing (VéloMagg’) and car-sharing (Modulauto) services. Work is underway to expand bike paths and a four-level underground parking lot large enough for 737 cars, encouraging citizens to park and ride.

Originally Published at: Trajectoire Fluides | Groupe Chronos

Here’s a talking point in the green jobs debate: The wind industry now employs more people than coal mining in the United States.

France’s membership in the European Union obliges the country to respect emissions standards and remain within the accepted EU norms. France’s capital, Paris is charged with the responsibility of providing accessible, rapid, reliable, and affordable transportation for its citizens and for the millions of tourists who visit the city annually. Degradation of the aesthetic beauty of the city, as well as an overall concern for the heath of its constituents, have served as a catalyst for Paris to make a conscious effort to limit GHG emissions caused by excessive automobile usage. This past summer, the media and billboard marketing firm JCDecaux seized the business opportunity and plunged into the wave of environmental consciousness that has been sweeping over Europe by funding and perfecting a bike-sharing scheme. Vélib’ is what can be considered “individual public transportation” – a concept coined by sociologist Bruno Marzloff. By increasing the efficiency of mobility, Paris’ environmentally conscious transportation solutions have the potential to create a better balance between the city’s inhabitants and their environment.

Approach: Through descriptive research (interviews) and data analysis (traffic data, media coverage – articles, blogs, etc.), this graduate project will address the following: why is there a need for sustainable urban transport programs; the environmental and public health impact of remaining at the status quo; estimates on reductions in GHG’s and other pollutants and improvement of air quality; an overview of other sustainable transportation initiatives (Okigo – France’s car sharing concept run by Avis and VinciPark); a comprehensive exploration into how Vélib’ functions – how it works, how it got started, the history and improvement of other bike-sharing programs, how it was financed; the overall cost and benefits for the city and for the citizens; effectiveness as reliable transport. Finally this graduate project will address the interest and potential for adoption of similar programs in other places like Chicago, NYC and Boston.

Preliminary Sources:

Bruno Marzloff is the founder and CEO of MediaMundi / Groupe Chronos. He is a sociologist who specializes in market analysis of transportation and has previously completed research for such companies as SNCF – France’s national train system. He drafted for the Vélib’ business plan through extensive interviews and trend analysis.

NB: All primary sources (interviews, news articles, etc.) that are in French will be translated by the researcher herself. Extensive proofreading will be asked of other bilingual individuals.

The region benefited from ‘Les Trentes Glorieuses,’ a major thirty-year economic boom where Bretons prospered. As Brittany basked in its new economic wealth, little to no regard was given to the impact this rapid augmentation of agricultural production was having on the environment.

Throughout the second half of the last century, pork producers unknowingly allowed their lands to become saturated with the nutrient-rich excretions produced by their pork. At that time, pork farmers did not have an understanding of the harm their actions were causing to the environment in which they lived.

Despite the fact that both nitrogen and phosphorus are chemicals found naturally in the environment, the over abundance was too great for the land to breakdown and the ground water eventually became polluted. This polluted water flowed through the rivers and into the bays where a foul smelling and abundant “algues vertes” (ulvea: green algae) thrived on the increased nutrients. This overproduction of nutrients, which helped the algae flourish, created a dire unbalance in the marine ecosystem of the bays.

In 1993, after consistently high levels of pollution in the region’s drinking water, the six communities that make up the “Communauté de Communes” of the Penthièvre coast: La Bouillie, Planguenoual, Pléneuf-Val-André, Plurien, St-Alban and Erquy, were forced to close their Islet River drinking water facility. One year later, the Flora River drinking water facility was also taken off line.

The proverbial finger was pointed at the region’s farmers.

My study aimed to investigate the justification of that accusation, the response made by the agricultural producers, and the changes initiated by both the farmers and municipal entities. Additionally, this study explored other causes of water pollution along the Penthièvre coast, as well as the potential contamination of the shellfish stock, and the effect water pollution has had on coastal wildlife. Finally, this study proposes a perspective on the interaction between tourism and secondary residences and water quality.

Brittany is home to thriving wildlife and biodiversity. Butterflies, insects, woodland birds, reptiles, and amphibians share their habitats with seabirds such as the Black-backed gull, the Herring gull, the Lesser black-backed gull, the Greater black-backed gull, the Kittiwake, the Fulmar, the Shag, the Guillemot, the Razorbill, the Eurasian Oystercatcher, Plover, Common Shelduck, Black-winged stilts, Redshanks, Common Terns, Egrets, Fan-tailed warblers & Yellow wagtails.

Migratory birds have cleverly chosen nesting grounds at Cap Fréhel over Cap d’Erquy – less than five miles away. Their reason is not arbitrary yet based entirely on the geological slant of the rocks – geological changes that took place an estimated 465 million years ago. At the Cape of Erquy, the light rose multicolored sandstone rock is layered and slanted – making nesting precarious. At the Cape of Fréhel, the deep red uni-colored sandstone is layered horizontally providing secure ledges for nesting.

The soil along the Cap Fréhel coastline is extremely acidic due to this sandstone. The vegetation which flourishes is therefore one that thrives on this acidity: gorse and heather.
To better appreciate the environment of this region, it is important to not only understand its wildlife, landscape, and geology but also its geography. The six villages that make up the “Communauté de Communes” are described as forming a v-shaped basin, and as a result “every drop of rain water which falls in the “Commune” eventually exits into the Bay.” This detail is critically important for individuals, farmers, and policy makers alike as they work to find a solution to their environmental problems.