A Smarter City: San Diego
The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) reviewed cities across the nation and named 15 “Smarter Cities” in small, medium, and large city categories. They looked at the following criteria:
- air quality
- green building
- standard of living
- environmental standards and participation
- transportation
- recycling
- green space
- energy production and conservation
- water quality
The mission in creating this list was to “foster a little friendly competition … as well as provide a forum for exploring the progress American cities are making in environmental stewardship and sustainable growth.”The cities were then given scores based on a specific set of criteria.
San Diego was listed at #11. San Diego scored low on air quality, energy production and conservation, and standard of living beating New York City listed at #12.
Below is an excerpt on how San Diego is attempting in turning itself a Smarter City:
A major component of the city’s smart growth strategy is the redevelopment of downtown San Diego, which is served extensively by transit and since 1975 has seen nearly $438 million of new public infrastructure and 14,800 new homes (2,650 of which are price-restricted). In 2008, the city incorporated the City of Villages smart-growth strategy into its updated General Plan to increase density near transit centers and to preserve open spaces. Although the Pilot Village program—an attempt to create sustainable communities linked by transit within the city—has been met with funding and organizational challenges, the program is continuing and has shown two successful examples of infill development: the Village Center at Euclid and Market, which is at the intersection of four neighborhoods and on a trolley and transit station, and the North Park Pilot Village, a revival of a historic section of downtown with high-frequency bus transit.
While the Village Center at Euclid and Market is accessible by public transit, it is located on an island of its own. There isn’t much mixed use development between the Village Center and the downtown Gaslamp district. The housing development located near the center is incomplete giving the entire area a somewhat desolate appearance. The focal point at the Center is the automobile with much space devoted to a gigantic parking lot.
Rather than using smart growth strategies to create urban oases that aren’t well connected, perhaps the city could create these oases more organically, encouraging mixed use development in all corridors that connect these smart growth centers. Perhaps our officials need a copy of Jane Jacobs’ The Life and Death of Great American Cities in order to undersand and appreciate what exactly makes a city really smart.