CITIES: Labor and Workers’ Rights

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Building The World

**Los Angeles, with the Hollywood sign overlooking the city, is the home of many striking actors of SAG-AFTRA seeking better right**s. Image: “Hollywood Sign” by photographer Thomas Wolf. Creative Commons 3.0 Included with appreciation.

Human history may be traced in the move from field to city, from local farm to industrial agriculture, and with that – from indentured field serf to urban worker. Some sociologists say that human history is the history of cities. Cities may also be the birthplace of human, and worker, rights. An example: Wolfsburg, Germany, began as the Duchy of Magdeburg, then became the Stadt des KdF-Wagnes bei Fallersleben (“City of Strength Through Joy at Fallersleben”) as a planned town built to house workers for a factory producing the Volkswagen Beetle car. Volkswagen workers organized labor unions through collective agreements ensuring rights of more than 120,000 workers through the Volkswagen Group Global Works Council (GWC).

“**VW factory, Wolfsburg, Germany**” by photographer HasBS, 2011. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

From the days of Charlemagne and into medieval times, as workers began to move into cities, they organized crafts and trades into guilds. The word “guild” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “gild” and is related to “geld” meaning money. We still have an echo in today’s word for money in German: Das Geld. In medieval times, each guild member paid a set amount of money into a common fund to support worker training (apprentice, journeyworker, mastercraftsperson) and family benefits for the wellbeing of workers’ health and family support in the case of injury or death. Guilds morphed into trade unions when the owners of businesses changed to outside investors who were not craftpersons themselves. Labor rights were born in the city and have continued to find their growth in urban environments.

**Medieval cities were effectively run by guilds representing all the crafts and trades of the local and regional economy. Guilds set worker rights, wages, and benefits**. Image: “Coats of arms displaying the tools of the trades in a medieval town of the Czech Republic,” Photo by VitVit, 2008. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation,

Workers and Rights. Some credit present day labor rights activist Robert Owen, a manufacturer from Wales, with the concept of the eight-hour workday. In 1817, Welsh advocated 8/8/8/ (eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest). Fifty years later, workers in Chicago demanded the Illinois Legislature to pass a law limiting work to eight hours per day. Although the law passed, a loop hole remained and many factory laborers were still overworked and underpaid. On May 1, 1867, they went on strike. The movement shut down Chicago, and soon other cities across the United States and Europe joined the strike. That event in 1867 led to what is now known as May Day or International Workers’ Day.

**International Workers’ Day, May 1, 2013, Austria**. Image by photographer Johannes Zinner, 2013. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Labor. Peter McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners first voiced in 1882 the call for a holiday for “the laboring classes who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” McGuire’s message echoed that of the medieval guilds: labor and work are forms of art and should be treasured and honored by a holiday. A leader of a similar surname, Matthew Maguire, secretary of Local 344 of the International Machinists, proposed the same holiday. Their messages were heard.

**First American Labor Day parade in New York City on 5 September 1882.** Image: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper issue dated 16 September 1882. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

In the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, 10,000 city workers gathered in New York City on 5 September 1882 to rally for improvement in labor conditions. When the American government even began tracking work hours in 1890, the average factory workers clocked in 100 hours per week. Ensuing years strengthened the movement for better working hours and recognition of the major role workers play in business and economics. Oregon was the first state to recognize Labor day but Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York soon joined. In 1894, the Pullman strike in Chicago, Illinois jammed rail traffic throughout the country. During the strike and crisis, President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law, as Congress passed an act declaring a national holiday to honor labor on the first Monday in September. Finally, in 1894, Labor Day became an official national holiday. Canada also celebrates Labor Day, but most of the world honors workers on May 1.

“Fête du Travail” or “Labour Day” Parade in Toronto, Canada. on 5 September 2011. CAW Media. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Worker rights continue to be an important issue around the world. In some places, children labor. In other places, women cannot work outside the home. Factory workers are often subject to unhealthy and even lethal conditions: 1500 workers died in preventable factory disasters in the garment industry in fires one decade ago. The 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh made progress in setting new standards; a 2018 Transition Key Accord strengthened the standards to legally binding agreements between trade unions and brands; signatories include an oversight chair from the International Labour Organization (ILO)

“Garment Factory Worker in Bangladesh, 2015.” by Solidarity Center. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Women’s working rights are a special issue. Women make up 70% of the labor force in some export processing zones (EPZs) in Asia, the Americas, and Sub-Saharan Africa where some bans on unionization still exist. The ILO Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation (No. 111), and Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183) have helped protect some rights but more is needed. In 1969, the International Labour Organization (ILO) received the Nobel Peace Prize; fifty years later, the ILO issued a new vision when convening the Global Commission on the Future of Work.

Every era brings new challenges for labor, work, and rights. In 2023, the union of Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) declared a strike approved by 98% of the members. One concern of the striking union members is the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and the expansion of streaming services.These artists joined the 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America who are also on strike. Again, the theme of the guild – and its blend of artistry and rights – finds a place in history.

Meryl Streep is one of the active supporters of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Image: “Meryl Street at Berlin Berlinale International Film Festival 2016.” by photographer Glyn Lowe Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

If you are reading this post in Canada or in the United States, you may be enjoying a day of rest or even a traditional cook-out. But there is more to Labor Day than a long weekend. How will you celebrate and honor worker equality, justice, rights, and the fruits of our individual, and collective, labors?

Bangladesh Accord Foundation. “Accord on Fire and Building Safety,” https://bangladeshaccord.org/

. International Labor Rights Forum. “Women’s Rights and Global Labor Justice.” https://laborrights.org/issues/women’s-rights

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

International Labour Organization (ILO). “Global Commission on the Future of Work,” https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/future-of-work/WCMS_569528/lang–en/index.htm

Kaunonen, Gary and Aaron Goings. Community in Conflict. Michigan State Press, 2013.

Langley, Winston E. and Vivian C. Fox. Women’s Rights in the United States: A Documentary History. Praeger, 1994. ISBN: 978-0313287558.

Loomis, Erik. A History of America in Ten Strikes. The New Press, 2018.

Smith, Toulmin, Editor, with essay on history and development of the gilds by Lujo Brentano. “English Gilds: The Original Ordinances of more than One Hundred Early English Guilds,” Oxford University Press. Digital facsimile by University of Michigan. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/EGilds?rgn=main;view=fulltext

SAG-AFTRA. https://www.sagaftra.org

Seabrook, Jeremy, “The language of labouring reveals its tortured roots.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/14/language-labouring-reveals-tortured-roots1

Terkel, Studs. Working. Pantheon Books, 1974.

Toynbee, Arnold. Editor. Cities of Destiny. London: Thames & Hudson, 1967.

Zraick, Karen. “What is Labor Day? A History of the Workers’ Holiday.” 4 September 2023. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-labor-day.html

CITIES: HEAT – Below

Posted on August 7, 2023August 6, 2023 by Building The World

**As above, so (much more) below! Cities can be 18F/10C hotter (0r as high as 20C) below, creating underground climate change.** Image: “Morning sunrise above Suwon Gwanggyo Lake with City in Background” by photographer Matthew Schwartz, 2016. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

“As above, so below,” goes the saying. Just one look at a large city’s skyscrapers and buildings will hint at the massive infrastructure below. But did you know that climate change, experienced by the occupants of those buildings, is also lurking beneath their urban landscape? Our cities are suffering under heat domes, but it is even hotter below.

**Machinery under buildings is related to “underground climate change,” a growing urban concern.** Image: “Underfall Yard Pumps” by photographer Blythe Varney, 2017. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Problem: The technical term is subsurface heat islands, but it’s easier to think of it as underground climate change. Equipment below skyscrapers generates heat; subways and tunnels create conditions that increase warmth. Pipelines under the ground, even sewers, are sources of subsurface heat. Land around and below large structures changes when heated, triggering slight shifts in topography. Foundations begin to erode; tunnels weaken; train rails warp; retaining walls may show cracks, then collapse.

**Subway systems under major cities are one source of underground climate change.** Image: “Washington, DC – Farragut West Station, 2018” by photographer Tdorante10. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Example: A study by Professor Alessandro F. Rotta Loria of Northwestern University placed sensors under buildings and transport infrastructure in Chicago, Illinois, noting that the ground below was measurably hotter than surface land (a difference of 18F/10C). Professor Rotta Loria studies subsurface urban heat islands, warning that “underground climate change can represent a silent hazard for civil infrastructure…but also an opportunity to reutilize or minimize waste heat in the ground.” (Rotta Loria, 2023).

**Underground climate change can weaken retaining wall**s. Image: “Wallstones Breaking” drawing by Dimitry Borshch, 2008. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Difficulty: Because it is out of sight, underground climate change is difficult to recognize – until a retaining wall breaks. Think of it as similar to the gradual change in an iceberg below the water: slow, relentless, and then tragic. Or a slow earthquake: not sudden – until it is.

**Chicago’s buildings are hotter underground by as much as 18F/10C.** Image: “Chicago Skyline” by photographer Jesse Collins. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Scale Counts: The bigger the city, the more likely underground climate change is happening. The study cited above was conducted in Chicago: population 2.6 million (2022). The study performed simulations over 100 years: from 1951 when subway tunnels were built under Chicago’s downtown “Loop” to projections until 2051. It is not unique to Chicago. Some of the world’s megacities, with populations over 10 million, could suffer significant damage. Megacities are dense, encouraging high rise construction that may exacerbate underground climate change. Cities that are growing quickly may be particularly vulnerable. For example, the most populous city of Nigeria, and its former capital before the new capital of Abuja was built in 1991, Lagos is among the world’s top ten fastest-growing cities. Another city vulnerable to underground climate change? Tokyo, Japan: population 37 million.

**Dense, populous megacities may be the most vulnerable to underground climate change.** Image: “Oloosa Market in Lagos, Nigeria,” by Omoeko Media, 2018. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Emerging Answers: There are two approaches – prevent waste heat underground, or use it. In the area of prevention: new urban building codes, especially for dense cities, will need to place more emphasis insulation and energy efficient design. But secondly, waste heat could be used as an energy resource. Geothermal innovations that capture waste heat from the subsurface can find a use for that energy. Innovations for use of waste energy will become an area of significant potential.

Above/Below: We tend to focus on mitigating climate change by addressing what we can see and feel. Noticeable effects are mainly above the ground. But there will also be great need – and opportunity for innovation – below. Is your city likely to experience underground climate change? What are some of the ways your city can measure, assess, plan to address, and even harness for beneficial use, underground climate change?

Brooke, K. Lusk. “CITIES and HEAT – Above,” 27 July 2023. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2023/07/27/cities-heat-above/

Khan, Sarah S. “Rising underground heat causes unbearable MTA commutes.” 24 July 2023. The Ticker. https://theticker.org/11622/opinions/rising-underground-heat-causes-unbearable-mta-commutes/

Prisco, Jacopo. “Underground climate change is deforming the ground beneath buildings, study finds.” 17 July 2023. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/17/world/underground-climate-change-deforming-ground-scn

Rotta Loria, Alessandro F. “The silent impact of underground climate change on civil infrastructure.” 11 July 2023. Communications Engineering 2, 44 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-023-00092-1

Zhong, Raymond with photographs by Jamie Kelter Davis. “Rising Heat Underground Is Sinking Chicago Ever So Slightly.” 11 (updated 14) July 2023. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/climate/chicago-underground-heat.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

CITIES: HEAT – Above

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Building The World

**The sun is baking Earth, especially cities.** Image: “Sun spots on surface of sun” by telescope photographer David Dayag. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

HEAT – So far, July 2023 has been the hottest on Earth in history. Sadly, that breaks the record just set in June 2023. The heat has set new records equally in Canada, United States, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and eastern Australia. If 2022 is any indication, the heat will be deadly: 11,000 people died from heat that year – every week. It was not just heat stroke; high temperatures and humidity are dangerous for people coping with heart and pulmonary conditions. The heat is coming both from the sun and from the very ground on which we stand. In this post, we’ll explore heat coming from above, as it affects cities.

**Urban heat island**. Image drawn from data of U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2008, and refined by graphic artist The New Phobia. Image is based on public information and therefore in the public domain, creative commons. Included with appreciation,

Cities are especially prone to heat retention. A study based on satellite land surface temperatures from 2002-2021 revealed cities are 29% hotter than rural locations. In the United States, over 100 million people are presently under a “heat dome.”

**How does a “heat dome” form?** It’s a phenomenon we may see more often, as the climate warms. Image: “Heat Dome during Heat Wave” from U.S. National Weather Service, 2011. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Southern Europe is suffering, and heat is now reaching central states like Germany and Poland. The metal of the Eiffel Tower expands in temperatures over 40C, growing as much as 6 inches (0.152 meter). Paris, France reached 109F (42.7C) this summer, affecting the Tower, as well as those sweltering beneath in the nearby cafes.

**The Eiffel Tower’s iron expands in high heat, causing the iconic structure to grow taller**. “Tour Eiffel” by photographer Nitot, 2005. Included with appreciation.

Asia is also affected. In April 2023, a heat wave began in Asia that caused 179 deaths and 460 hospitalizations in India. Schools were closed in Odisha; blackouts in power stations affected Lucknow. Singapore had the warmest month of May on record in 2023. China recorded a temperature of 125 degrees Fahrenheit (52.2C) recently.

“Heat Wave Sign” from Guangdong, China. Image: People’s Republic of China, 2005. Image is public domain in China and included with appreciation.

Cities are not only the hottest places on the planet, they are becoming the future. By 2050, 68% of the world’s population will live in cities. In 1960, there were only two mega-cities (with populations over 10 million: New York and Tokyo. In 1990, there were ten; in 2014, 28. By 2040, there will be 40 cities with over 10 million people. In our era of global warming, heat is and will continue to be an urban problem. Where can solutions be found?

**Phoenix, Arizona, USA has experienced temperatures at or above 110F (43.3C) during the entire month of July 2023.** Image: “Phoenix, Arizona skyline, facing west, 2004” by photographer Bravo1. Dedicated to the public domain by the photographer. Included with appreciation.

SOLUTIONS – Immediate

Create a Heat Risk Map for your city – Durban, South Africa; New York, USA; and Toronto, Canada have already posted heat vulnerable areas online, using Landsat data.

Install sensors to measure surface temperature and humidity – Madrid, Spain has launched a sensor network system.

Develop a Heat Action Plan for your city, working with local communities and councils. Ahmedabad, India saved over 1,000 lives since the city launched its Heat Action Plan in 2013, the first South Asian city to do so. A new version is updated yearly.

Open Cooling Centers and a finder map via an app: Washington DC, USA,; Paris, France; Athens, Greece, and Rotterdam, Netherlands have created apps that indicate the closest cooling center.

**Athens, Greece, has opened cooling centers. In July 2023, wildfires caused evacuations on the Greek island of Rhodes in heat reaching 113F/45C.** Image: “Athens at Sunset” by photographer Panos Zoulakis, 2019. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

SOLUTIONS – Longer Term

Plant trees, bushes, heat-absorbing vegetation to relieve urban heat.

Encourage green roofs and green walls in which a layer of vegetation grows upon a building’s surface to absorb sun and heat.

Upgrade building codes to specify cooling materials for construction, especially roofs.

Paint roofs with white paint, including one developed by Professor Xiulin Ruan and team from Purdue University that reflects sun and heat away from buildings, reducing heat by 98%.

Repave city streets and sidewalks – these surfaces cover 40% of a city’s land. Innovations in pavements include higher permeability to cool surfaces by evaporation.

Support research and development for new kinds of fans and air-conditioning. As the world warms, demand for air-conditioning will increase, especially in dense cities.

**Thermal map of Atlanta**, Georgia, USA based on NASA satellite data, May 11-12, 2009. Blue=cooler; red=warm; white=hot. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Summary: we are only now beginning to experience the heat of global warming. Large cities will become dangerous due to urban density, construction, and paved surfaces. But cities are also most able to respond quickly and to test innovations. What are conditions in your area? What are your ideas for responding to urban heat?

Brooke, K . Lusk. “Mega-Cities from 1960 to 2020 – growth and predictions.” Pages 110-120, Five Foundations for Building a Better World, 2018.

C40. “How to Adapt your City to Extreme Heat.” https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/How-to-adapt-your-city-to-extreme-heat?language=en_US

Cappucci, Matthew, with contributions by Jason Samenow, “Coast-to-coast heat home sends temperatures soaring, threatens all-time records.” 13 July 2023. The Washington Post.

Gallego, Mayor Kate. “Phoenix mayor on how the city is coping with heat above 110 degrees every day of July.” 25 July 2023. All Things Considered. National Public Radio interview with Juana Summers. AUDIO: https://www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1190062458/phoenix-mayor-on-how-the-city-is-coping-with-heat-above-110-degrees-every-day-of

Li, Xiangyu, et al., “Full Daytime Sub-ambient Radiative Cooling in Commercial-like Paints with High Figure of Merit.” 21 October 2020. Cell Reports Physical Science, Volume 1, Issue 10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2020.100221

Liu, Zihan, et al., “Surface warming in global cities is substantially more rapid than in rural background areas.” 29 September 2022, Communications Earth & Environment 3, 219 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00539-x

Madrid, Spain. “Sistema de Vigilancia de la Calidad del Aire del Ayuntamiento de Madrid.” https://www.mambiente.madrid.es

Purdue University. “The whitest paint is here – and it’s the coolest. Literally.” 15 April 2021. Purdue University News. https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2021/Q2/the-whitest-paint-is-here-and-its-the-coolest-literally.html

Sherriff, Lucy, “The simple ways cities can adapt to heatwaves: Satellite images reveal how green spaces, white roads, and water features are helping keep cities cool during deadly heatwaves.” 6 July 2023. BBC Future Planet. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230706-the-simple-ways-cities-can-adapt-to-heatwaves

Great appreciation to Rachael M. Rusting for sharing research.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

CITIES: Landscapes and Dreamscapes

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Building The World

“I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. on 28 August 1963. Photo shows the view from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. Image: wikimedia.

When Martin Luther King delivered a speech that would ring throughout history, “I Have a Dream,” he did so on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in the nation’s capital. King’s words echoed Lincoln’s, who proposed and signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and were framed by the setting of a monument dedicated to equality, freedom, and justice. The crowd assembled stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, in a public gathering space first envisioned by the country’s founders. Today’s march to urge passage of a law to protect voting rights is part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Peace Walk.

L’Enfant’s plan for Washington, D.C., facsimile, us.gov. Image: wikimedia

With the vision of capital to be both a center of government and a landscape that invited public art and public gatherings, George Washington engaged architect and engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1791 to map out a new city. The plan was inspired by the open boulevards of Paris, L’Enfant’s original home before he at the age of 22 the young engineer volunteered to serve with the Corps of Engineers of the United States Continental Army: it was then that he met Washington. However, the relationship proved volatile and Washington fired L’Enfant in 1792.

“Benjamin Banneker” from image on a U.S. postal stamp honoring the brilliant mathematician and surveyor whom many credit with preserving the design of Washington, D.C.’s design. Image: wikimedia.

Benjamin Banneker, a mathematician and astronomer with an apparently photographic memory, saved the capital. Banneker remember L’Enfant’s design and detailed blueprints exactly. He had been engaged by Major Andrew Ellicott to survey the land. Banneker particularly noted L’Enfant’s design of grand open space for monuments, public art, and common ground for gatherings, and kept the vision in the city’s plan. Others on the capital team included Latrobe and Jefferson. Benjamin Banneker and Martin Luther King, Jr. shared a vision, and some background: both shared an African-American heritage.

“Original Plan for Brasilia” by Lúcio Costa” from O Spaço Lúcio Costa, Brasilia, permanent exhibition: photograph by Uri Rosenheck. Image: wikimedia.

Cities, especially capitals, have an opportunity to be more than an urban conglomerate. In some ways, a capital is public art. When Brazil moved its capital from coastal Rio de Janeiro to the center of the country, the nation gave a new name, Brasilia, to its capital. Recognizing a new era in global perspective and transport, Brasilia was built in the shape of an airplane.

“Drivers, Processes, and Impacts of Sinking Cities” graphic by Wbliss10, 2019. Wikimedia commons.

With global warming and rising seas, we will see the rebuilding of coastal cities. It is a fact that many capitals, especially ancient ones, were ports. Indonesia plans to move its capital because the current one is sinking at a rate of 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) per year due to coastal location exacerbated by aggressive draining of groundwater under Jakarta. Bangkok, Thailand recently reviewed projections that it could be underwater by 2030, due to a combination of heavy skyscrapers built during a real estate and economic boom, and depletion of groundwater resources, despite attempts to slow the process including Thailand’s Ground Water Act of 1977. Dhaka, Bangladesh is sinking at a rate of 0.55 inches (1.4 centimeters) and sea level rise in the Bay of Bengal is higher than the global average. Nigeria moved its capital from coastal Lagos to central Abuja.

“Aerial panorama of Bremen and the river Weser – Bremen von oben” by Moinichbins, 2020. Image: wikimedia.

Sea rise may soon cause nations to rebuild and redesign some cities, especially those located near water. How can capitals be both centers of efficient governance and inspirational gatherings? If you were to design a new capital, based on the virtues and values of a nation, how would you create a city that is both a landscape and a dreamscape?

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Jakarta: first capital to move due to sea rise.” 2019 Building the World Blog. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2019/05/01/jakarta-first-capital-to-move-due-to-sea-rise/

Keene, Louis. “Benjamin Banneker.” The White House Historical Association.” https://www.whitehousehistory.org/benjamin-banneker

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I Have A Dream.” 28 August 1963. LISTEN: https://youtu.be/vP4/Y1TtS3s

Rosane, Olivia. “8 World Cities That Could Be Underwater As Oceans Rise.” 5 October 2018. EcoWatch. https://www.ecowatch.com/cities-vulnerable-sea-level-rise-2610208792.html

Thailand. “Ground Water Act of 1977.” http://www.dgr.go.th/en/about/391

Washington D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Walk. 17 January 2022. https://mlkholidaydc.org/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Un

CITIES: Iconic Pride

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Building The World

“Empire State Building in Rainbow Colors for Pride.” Photographer Anthony Quintano. 28 June 2015. Image: wikimedia commons

Cities have an opportunity to inspire and unite urban denizens in shared values. As Toynbee demonstrated in Cities of Destiny, the metropolis can create a unique cultural climate. Many urban centers possess iconic monuments, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, that may serve as cultural billboards. As the world gathered in Paris for COP21 in 2015, that landmark beamed the message: “1.5” – indicating a shared goal of limiting global warming to that level. Other issues like social justice have illuminated city monuments: San Francisco’s City Hall has often been displayed in rainbow colors.

“City Hall, San Francisco, California, USA.” Photographer Torrenegra. Image: wikimedia

London, England, has many landmarks including the fabled London Bridge and the recent addition to the cityscape: the London Eye. This month, the “Eye,” formally termed the Millennium Wheel when it opened in 2000, displayed rainbow colors to honor Pride, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall turning point for LGBT+ rights.

White House with LGBT+ Rainbow Colors. Image: wikimedia commons.

In June of 2015 when the United States Supreme Court ruled (Obergefell v. Hodges) two people of same sex have the right to marry, the White House celebrated by illuminating the iconic Washington D.C. building in the colors of the rainbow. As we strive to build an equal and sustainable future – environmentally and socially – how can cities Troop the Color?

“Malloy, Allie and Karl de Vries. “White House shines rainbow colors to hail same-sex marriage ruling.” 30 June 2014. CNN. VIDEO https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/26/politics/white-house-rainbow-marriage/index.html

Public Broadcasting System (PBS). “The American Experience: Stonewall.” VIDEO https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/stonewall/

Toynbee, Arnold. Editor. Cities of Destiny. London: Thames and Hudson, 1967.

Wingate, Sophie. “London landmarks light up in rainbow colours to celebrate Pride Month” 2 June 2021. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/london-landmarks-light-up-in-rainbow-colours-for-pride-month-vd05b2fba.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp

CITIES: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Posted on January 21, 2021January 29, 2021 by Building The World

“Presidential Inauguration 1905.” Library of Congress, image.

Washington, D.C., setting of two distinctly disparate 2021 events on 6 January and 20 January, was designed for public gatherings in wide open spaces. Major Pierre L’Enfant, born in France but an ardent supporter of the American Revolutionary War who volunteered to serve in the Corps of Engineering of the Continental Army, met George Washington and proposed himself as the designer of the country’s new capital. In L’Enfant’s vision, wide avenues would radiate from the house of Congress and the house of the President. L’Enfant sketched 15 open spaces for gatherings and monuments: L’Enfant stated that open spaces were as important as buildings.

Washington Mall, site of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech of 1963, and of 200,000 flags heralding the Biden-Harris Inauguration of 2021. Image: “National Mall, Washington, D.C.” wikimedia.

L’Enfant may have been influenced by the design of a renovated Paris, France, by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, who enlarged the boulevards for two reasons: better air circulation to lessen the spread of viral disease, and large public gathering spaces. Paris still benefits from these two reasons, as does Washington.

“L’Enfant’s Plan of Washington, D.C., 1887.” National Register of Historic Places: 97000332. Image: Library of Congress.

L’Enfant ‘s grand vision was almost lost. Apparently there was a dispute, and L’Enfant fled the city with the detailed plans. Enter Benjamin Banneker. Bannekar, who had attended a one-room school while studying independently with his grandmother, was known for mathematical brilliance when he came to work with Major Andrew Ellicott as a surveyor to establish the District of Columbia’s official capital borders.

Benjamin Banneker, from Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum. Wikimedia.

Among Banneker’s considerable talents was a photo-perfect memory. L’Enfant’s design was imprinted on the surveyor’s mind and, according to some reports, soon reproduced for completion by Benjamin Banneker.

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture site, in Washington, D.C., is within an area now named Benjamin Banneker Park. Banneker also wrote an almanac, with an inaugural publication entitled: Benjamin Banneker’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris, for the Year of Our Lord 1792. Banneker corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, and published abolitionist material advocating a vision in part realized, in the capital he helped design, with the inauguration of Barack Obama on 20 January 2009, and 20 January 2021, the inauguration day of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Washington, D.C., joins a small group of designed cities in history. Baghdad was created from a drawing of three concentric circles etched by sword in the sand. Abuja, Nigeria’s new capital, was influenced by Haussman’s Paris, as well as Washington, D.C., and Brasília was the first city designed to be seen from the air, and shaped like an airplane when seen from that vantage point. Capital cities are an iconic kind of urban center, embodying ideals of government and national values. In The New Science of Cities (2013), Michael Batty proposed that we see cities as systems of networks and flows. Arnold Toynbee, in Cities of Destiny, stated that cities, led with vision, may become incubators of art, culture, and science.

As Washington, D.C., takes on a new character in 2021, encouraged by inaugural address values of respect and unity, and led by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, how might L’Enfant’s and Banneker’s design give what Lawrence Durrell called the “spirit of place” to a new spirit of nation?

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Vice President Kamala D. Harris. inaugurated in Washington, D.C., on 20 January 2021.

Batty, Michael. The New Science of Cities. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780262019521

Bedini, Silvio A. The Life of Benjamin Banneker. Rancho Cordova, CA: Landmark Enterprises, 1984.

Durrell, Lawrence. Spirit of Place: Letters and Essays on Travel. edited by Alan G. Thomas. Open Road: Integrated Media.

Keene, Louis. “Benjamin Banneker: The Black Tobacco Farmer Who Presidents Couldn’t Ignore.” White House Historical Association.

National Museum of African American History & Culture. “The NMAAHC Museum Site,” https://nmaahc.si.edu/nmaahc-museum-site.

Reston, Maeve. “Biden: ‘Democracy has prevailed.'” 20 January 2021. CNN.com. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/joe-biden-presidential-inauguration/index.html

Tan, Shelly, Youjin Shin, and Danielle Rinder. “How one of American’s ugliest days unraveled inside and outside the Capitol.” 9 January 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/capitol-insurrection-visual-timeline/

Toynbee, Arnold. editor. Cities of Destiny. London: Thames & Hudson, 1967.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp

Jakarta: first capital to move due to sea rise

Posted on May 1, 2019May 4, 2019 by Building The World

Rivers and canals of Jakarta, Indonesia. Image: wikimedia.

MOVING THE CAPITAL DUE TO SEA RISE: Jakarta, Indonesia is the fastest sinking city on earth. Sea rise threatens the city, located on land intersected by 13 rivers. A busy port, Jakarta is congested and dense; heavy port buildings weigh down the terrain. As the capital, Jakarta also supports government, industry, and a burgeoning population. Residential and industrial water needs result in considerable pumping from the rivers, further draining the land mass. Another burden of density: traffic – Jakarta’s is among the world’s worst. And then there’s the residential buildings: 10 million people call Jakarta home, making it one of the world’s megacities. Skyscrapers dot the skyline, adding weight. Jakarta has sunk eight feet in the past decade, and the subsidence continues. Half of the city is below sea level.

Baghdad, surrounded by the Tigris River. Image: wikimedia.

NEW CAPITAL, NEW VISION: Changing the capital of a country is not unique in history. Baghdad was founded with a new vision, drawn as three concentric circles with a stroke of the Caliph’s sword marking the new capital. As Baghdad rebuilds, will Frank Lloyd Wright‘s plans and drawings bring Al Mansur’s vision to life as Madinat as-Salam, “City of Peace?” Other times, capitals moved inland from ports: Lagos, a port city, begat Abuja, moving Nigeria’s capital to a central location designed with vision and values including Haussmann’s Paris and L’Enfant’s and Banneker’s Washington, D.C. Rio de Janeiro ceded its position as capital to Brasilia, in part because the city of Ipanema beach became too dense; coastal location also meant vulnerability. The new capital, Brasilia, was central to the diverse country, representing a wider vision. Lucio Costa designed the new capital to be built in the shape of an airplane; Brasilia was the first city built to be seen from the air.

Costa’s Plan for Brasilia, in the shape of an airplane. Image: Library of Congress.

NEW BALANCE OF POWER: Just as Brazil chose an inland location, and Nigeria selected Abuja to relate to the center of the country, so Indonesia’s possible choice of an area of Borneo might represent a wider view. Palangka Raya is in consideration, in part due to a previous proposal by first president (1945-1967) Sukarno.

FUTURE OF COASTAL LOCATIONS IN CLIMATE CHANGE: Jakarta is a case example of the future. Rising seas may inundate some of the greatest cities in the world, many built as ports. As Indonesia begins to move its capital away from Jakarta, it will rebuild the coastal metropolis to defend from sea rise: “By 2050, about 95% of North Jakarta may be submerged,” according to Heri Andreas, Bandung Institute of Technology. Can innovations such as those proposed by Lempérière and Deroo to use canals, and rivers, to combat rising seas, help Jakarta and other port cities build a safer, better future? Will the Belt and Road Initiative build very different kinds of ports, using rivers, canals, and urban harbors to address sea rise?

Afra Sapiie, Marguerite. “Jokowi wants to move capital out of Java.” 29 April 2019. The Jakarta Post. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/04/29/jokowi-wants-to-move-capital-of-java.html/.

BBC. “Indonesia’s planning minister announces capital city move,” 29 April 2019.

Lemer, Andrew C. “Foreseeing the Problems of Developing Nigeria’s New Federal Capital.” In Macro-engineering and the Future: A Management Perspective. edited by Frank P. Davidson and C. Lawrence Meador. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1982.

Lempérière, François and Luc Deroo. “Peut on éviter les inondations à Paris?” January 2018. Symposium du DCBR : comité français des barrages et réservoirs. http://www.barrages-cfbr.eu/IMG/pdf/symposium2018_10_deroo_lemperiere_peut-on_eviter_les_inondations_a_paris.pdf

Litwin, Evan T. “The Climate Diaspora: Indo-Pacific Emigration from Small Island Developing States.” 2011. University of Massachusetts Boston. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers/cfm?abstract?id=1912859.

Kennedy, Merrit. “Indonesia plans to move its capital out of Jakarta, a city that’s sinking.” 29 April 2019. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/04/29/718234878/indonesia-plans-to-move-its-capital-out-of-jakarta-a-city-thats-sinking.

Toppa, Sabrina. “These cities have the worst traffic in the world, says a new index.” 4 February 2016. Jakarta, Istanbul, Mexico City, Surabaya, and St. Petersburg top the world’s cities among 78 surveyed. Time Magazine. http://time.com/3695068/worst-cities-traffic-jams/

Appreciation and recognition: David Edwards-May, Inland Waterways International, Andrew C. Lemer, Evan Litwin, and Cherie Potts for contributions to this post.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licen

Capital Idea: New Nafta

Posted on October 14, 2017October 14, 2017 by Building The World

Seeing earth from space, individual countries fade in the reality that regions may be the true nations. Image: wikimedia.

NAFTA is in the news, but it may soon be history. Now is the time for developing visions for a better, stronger, more sustainable, and kinder, regional alliance. One look from space shows not a troika of nations but a connected region. One aspect that should be added to current negotiations among Canada, Mexico, and the United States: water. The precedent of the Colorado River Compact may help address current considerations of shared water, especially transboundary aquifers? Another eau de vie, education: might scholarly and cultural exchange mingle the waters?

A new capital could signal the vision. It is timely. Recent earthquakes affecting Mexico City reopened conversation about the current capital built on a lakebed, not far from volcanoes. Should Mexico consider moving the DF? A federal district, such as Mexico’s capital or Washington, DC, is by definition its own moveable feast. If Mexico were to move the DF, could the new capital symbolize a regional vision embracing Canada, Mexico and the United States, in honor of shared resources? What architects should design the new city?

What’s in a name? Could TLCAN-ALENA-NAFTA become TAN? Image: wikimedia.

Finally, if Nafta emerges from current talks, it is time to unite nomenclature. How can there be a common vision when, at present, there are three acronyms for the same entity:

TLCAN – Tratado de libre comercia de america del norte https://www.sec-tlcan-mex.org/

ALENA – Accord de libre-échange nord américain http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/N-23.8.pdf

NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement http://www.worldtradelaw.net/fta/agreements/nafta.pdf

The new name might honor a letter from each treaty, resulting in a shared word with meaning in all three languages – TAN. Or initial the countries: cam or mac. But perhaps the alliance that really matters is bigger, representing the land as seen from space. Will these and other issues be debated at the XVII Congressional NAFTA & Border Issues Conference at the Library of Congress in Washington on 26 October 2017?

For more:

Eckstein, Gabriel. “Buried Treasure or Buried Hope? The Status of Mexico-U.S. Transboundary Aquifers under International Law.” International Community Law Review 13 (2011), Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

McHugh, James T., editor. Toward a North American Legal System. (2012), Palgrave Macmillan.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Nobel Surprise

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Building The World

Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate. Image: wikimedia commons.

Bob Dylan (who changed his birth name to honor the poet Dylan Thomas) won the Nobel Prize for Literature today. It is the first time the prize has been awarded to a songwriter; although many would argue that Bob Dylan is a poet, like fellow laureates T. S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats, whose work is deepened with music. Among Dylan’s anthems, “Blowin’ in the Wind” was performed at the Washington Mall just before Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Bono, citing Keats, stated that Bob Dylan “juggled beauty and truth.” What is the role of the poet in political change and world issues?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Strong Cities: Boston

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 by Building The World

April 15 marks the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, and the power of a city to rise in response. Turning tragedy into actions of peace, Boston inaugurates a new tradition: One Boston Day, honored by acts of what Mayor Walsh termed “resilience and goodness.” Do cities possess inherent power through the good will of citizens? Washington DC was built with open spaces to promote democratic gatherings. Boston may inspire the way to peace: a city strong, through kindness.

http://www.onebostonday.org/

http://runforkrystle.com/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.