1.24.2011

A Physicist solves the City—or Does he? A Response to West’s “New Urban Science”

As long as social scientists have been attempting to understand complex human systems, they’ve looked to the laws of natural science for explanation. Physicist Geoffrey West is no exception. He is attempting to unravel the complexities of dense human settlement patterns, i.e. cities, allometrically; in other words, he is exploring the relationship between the size and pattern of a city’s infrastructure (surface roads, density) and the energy it consumes and generates (gas purchases, human interaction). His theory of urban metabolism (as highlighted in this controversial 12.19.2010 New York Times Magazine article) argues that, like elephants, cities grow in accordance with economies of scale; unlike elephants, however, cities get faster and more productive as they grow, with urban output increasing at “superlinear scales,” meaning the bigger the city, the more intense its growth--in all aspects from creative production to energy consumption to levels of crime.

Photo Illustration by Hubert Blanz

1.20.2011

You think it's Wet in Portland? Queensland, Australia Devastated by Flooding

This fall, First Stop Portland hosted a delegation of planners and developers from Queensland, Australia's rapidly developing Gold Coast. One of the delegation members, an urban planner, recently contacted us to let us know that the state is experiencing its worst flooding in decades. (Here are some interesting pictures online, via Time.)

Source: HeroldSun.com.au

1.17.2011

We’re not Blown Away, Portland: You’ve Got Some Work to Do

Or such was the sentiment expressed by a recent delegation of civic leaders from Finland who visited Portland to exchange ideas about sustainable community development. They observed that when it comes to scale, Portland (and the U.S. in general) doesn’t seem to appreciate that to achieve significant energy efficiency, scaling up from the building to the district level is essential.


1.03.2011

Let's Talk! First Stop Portland and International Dialogues in Planning

Prof. Carl Abbott, PSU
One of the first delegations First Stop Portland hosted back in the summer of 2009 was a group of eighteen planning practitioners and students from Australia who came stateside to explore examples of best practices in urban planning, design and sustainability in a number of cities across North America, Europe and Asia. In addition to the formal meetings, roundtable discussions, presentations, and site visits they engaged in during their visit to Portland, the delegation, led by Professor Trevor Budge, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, at La Trobe University Bendigo Campus, worked on a documentary film of key sites and projects to used for teaching purposes upon their return to Australia. This short interview with Professor Carl Abbott, frequent First Stop Portland presenter and senior historian in PSU's Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, is a result of that project.