Liveable Cities

     Within a liveable city, everything you need will be available within a short distance. Restaurants and shops are right next to each other. Apartments are above these shops. Sidewalks are more prevalent than streets, to promote walking around town. The city is inviting, and feels safe. More downtown districts of towns are starting to see revivals, as a way to bring more income into the city. Buildings are being remodeled to fit the needs of new businesses. Also, these buildings are using green infrastructure. These green infrastructures "consist of vegetation and other living parts of the biosphere" (Robertson, 2014, p.216). An example of this type of infrastructure is the High line in New York City. They took an old railroad that was not being used anymore, and created a walkable garden above the city streets. This has brought more green space to the city, and another walking platform in the city. 

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     Transportation is one of the main aspects of a liveable city. A person living in a city does not want to be dependent on having to drive everywhere. It is not good for the Earth for extra emissions into the air. Also, it leads to traffic and more use of fossil fuels. Within liveable cities, there is a need for different modes of transportation. Transportation can be public or non gassed power. Non gassed powered may be bikes, skateboarding, rollerblading, running, walking, etc. This picture does a good job at showing the difference between using public transportation, and driving your own car everyday. On the left, there are many cars, that take up a lot of space on the highway, and produce a lot of emissions that are released into the air. On the right side, all of the people who were driving their own car, all fit on one bus, cutting back the emissions released. Also, "transit oriented developments appreciate fastest in up markets and hold their value better in down markets" (Robertson, 2014, p.219). 

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     Downtown Ft. Myers is an example of a liveable city. The entire city was designed for people to be able to walk everywhere, eat, shop, and live. The streets have crosswalks, and sidewalks to promote walking and biking. The parking is on one side of the city, so people have to walk past all of the businesses. There are public transportation stops throughout Downtown to also promote driving your car less. The buildings have inviting windows, that show you what type of products they are selling, and they draw you in. These buildings are also mixed used, and have apartments in the top stories. This was designed, so you can live fairly close to where you work and shop. It makes it easier for people to use the basic necessities. One thing the Downtown district did was build a community. The social structure is going to be a very important piece to save this structure in the years to come. This type of social structure shows a "resilient community that provides walkable streets, public spaces, places to sit, and the opportunity for social interaction" (Robertson, 2014, p. 217). With these things in mind, Downtown Ft. Myers is going to be able to last in the years ahead.

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Works Cited

Robertson, M. (2014). Sustainability principles and practice. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.