Sustainable and Resilient Urban Systems in NYC

The objective of the course is to develop a qualitative and quantitative understanding of sustainability and resilience for major urban areas. The first part of the quarter will focus on sustainability and the second on resilience. n nThe course will commence with an overview of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as defined by the United Nations and how New York City is working towards these goals. The components and pillars that lead to a sustainable urban environment will be defined and corresponding metrics will be used to quantify sustainability utilizing simple data analytics tools. Challenges to meeting these goals will be an important part of reading and project assignments. Examples of sustainability efforts within New York City (NYC) include the development of new parks or renewal of industrial areas for recreational use, design of green buildings, rooftop farms and gardens, and the renovation of transportation facilities as focal points. Field trips will include visits to the Highline, the Hudson Yard and the Bank of America building. n nResilience of urban systems will be the focus of the second half of the class. Issues of resilience will be discussed in relation to major disasters including floods, extreme storms and climate change. The 7 global resilience targets will be identified according to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The major components of resilience will be reviewed in class followed by a visit to or by a representative from the 100 Resilient City Initiative supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. The Superstorm Sandy in 2012 will be used as a case study to identify the disaster impact to the urban environment in NYC. We will discuss the emergency response of the City after Sandy and assess the performance of the NYC resilience plan. We will explore how New York City is preparing to respond and recover from future major disasters as part of the 100 Resilient Cities Initiative supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. n nNovel technologies will be discussed in terms of their implications for disaster resilience and sustainability. We will delve into a case study showing how modern and decentralized power systems with rooftop solar panels and microgrids can make NYC more resilient and sustainable.