Introduction
Olmstead Brothers Park and Parkway Plan
(Source: www.washington.edu/.../ Lessons/16/16.html)
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Seattle is the 25th largest city in the United States with a population of 571,000. While the city is the northern-most large city in the country, it has mild temperatures and lush vegetation. The city is known as the "Emerald City" because of its parks, gardens, greenbelts and street plantings. In 1903, the Olmsted Brothers firm created a park and parkway plan for the city, and since that time the city has placed high value on open spaces and greening the city. In recent years, the Seattle has been a leader on environmental issues.
The current Mayor, Greg Nickels, initiated a challenge to Mayor's across the country to abide by the Kyoto Protocol in their own cities since the United States was not one of the 141 countries that signed the agreement. To date over 464 cities have signed on.
Cities that have signed the climate agreement.
(Source:http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/about.htm)
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Mayor Nickels also formed an Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE) in 2000. This office collaborates with city agencies, business groups, and nonprofit organizations to protect and enhance Seattle's environmental quality and livability.
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Like many urban areas, Seattle faces challenges in terms of environmental quality and sustainability. They have seen a reduction in their urban forest from 40% to 18% canopy coverage over the past 30 years. As a result, the city is undergoing a major urban forest intitiative. The city is also a gateway for wild chinook salmon, an endangered species that is threatened by pollution in Seattle 's urban waterways. Seattle is trying to make the city more salmon friendly, and the approaches to improve salmon habitat also have wider benefits for ecosystem health and humans.
Seattle's sustainability initiatives are multifaceted, and the city is certainly a leader in the United States in this area. Two of the areas in which Seattle has implemented innovative approaches are in the area of sustainable street design and sustainable policy initiatives.
The Importance of Streets
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(Source:http://www.seattle.gov/
environment/building_holland.pdf) |
Streets are an important area to consider in terms of sustainability, because in many cities they make up the largest portion of city-owned land and are the greatest source of non-point pollution. The role of streets is also changing as we move through the 21 st century. Contributing forces on the role of streets range from increased population and density to a greater need for stormwater management. Overall, it is clear that streets need to be multi-functional in order to meet the needs of the future. |
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