Blue Urbanism: Exploring Connections Between Cities and Oceans

By Timothy Beatley

What would it mean to live in cities designed to foster feelings of connectedness to the ocean? As coastal cities begin planning for climate change and rising sea levels, author Timothy Beatley sees opportunities for rethinking the relationship between urban development and the ocean. Modern society is more dependent upon ocean resources than people are commonly aware of—from oil and gas extraction to wind energy, to the vast amounts of fish harvested globally, to medicinal compounds derived from sea creatures, and more. In Blue Urbanism, Beatley argues that, given all we’ve gained from the sea, city policies, plans, and daily urban life should acknowledge and support a healthy ocean environment.

The book explores issues ranging from urban design and land use, to resource extraction and renewable energy, to educating urbanites about the wonders of marine life. Beatley looks at how emerging practices like “community supported fisheries” and aquaponics can provide a sustainable alternative to industrial fishing practices. Other chapters delve into incentives for increasing use of wind and tidal energy as renewable options to oil and gas extraction that damages ocean life, and how the shipping industry is becoming more “green.” Additionally, urban citizens, he explains, have many opportunities to interact meaningfully with the ocean, from beach cleanups to helping scientists gather data.

While no one city “has it all figured out,” Beatley finds evidence of a changing ethic in cities around the world: a marine biodiversity census in Singapore, decreasing support for shark-finning in Hong Kong, “water plazas” in Rotterdam, a new protected area along the rocky shore of Wellington, New Zealand, “bluebelt” planning in Staten Island, and more. Ultimately he explains we must create a culture of “ocean literacy” using a variety of approaches, from building design and art installations that draw inspiration from marine forms, to encouraging citizen volunteerism related to oceans, to city-sponsored research, and support for new laws that protect marine health.

Equal parts inspiration and practical advice for urban planners, ocean activists, and policymakers, Blue Urbanism offers a comprehensive look at the challenges and great potential for urban areas to integrate ocean health into their policy and planning goals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Island Press
• Release date: Jul 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781610915649

Timothy Beatley

Timothy Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia's School of Architecture and is the author of several books, including Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning.

Book preview

About Island Press

Since 1984, the nonprofit organization Island Press has been stimulating, shaping, and communicating ideas that are essential for solving environmental problems worldwide. With more than 800 titles in print and some 40 new releases each year, we are the nation’s leading publisher on environmental issues. We identify innovative thinkers and emerging trends in the environmental field. We work with world-renowned experts and authors to develop cross-disciplinary solutions to environmental challenges.

Island Press designs and executes educational campaigns in conjunction with our authors to communicate their critical messages in print, in person, and online using the latest technologies, innovative programs, and the media. Our goal is to reach targeted audiences—scientists, policymakers, environmental advocates, urban planners, the media, and concerned citizens—xwith information that can be used to create the framework for long-term ecological health and human well-being.

Island Press gratefully acknowledges major support of our work by The Agua Fund, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Betsy & Jesse Fink Foundation, The Bobolink Foundation, The Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation, Forrest C. and Frances H. Lattner Foundation, G.O. Forward Fund of the Saint Paul Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, The Overbrook Foundation, The S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The Summit Charitable Foundation, Inc., V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and other generous supporters.

The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of our supporters.

BLUE URBANISM

Blue Urbanism

Exploring Connections between

Cities and Oceans

Timothy Beatley

Washington | Covelo | London

Copyright © 2014 Timothy Beatley

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 2000 M St NW, Suite 650, Washington DC 20036

Island Press is a trademark of The Center for Resource Economics.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Beatley, Timothy, 1957–

Blue urbanism : exploring connections between cities and oceans /

Timothy Beatley.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-61091-404-8 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-61091-404-X (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN-13: 978-1-61091-405-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-61091-405-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. City planning.

2. Environmental protection—Planning. 3. Coastal zone management.

4. Sea level. 5. Urban ecology (Sociology). 6. Marine ecology. I. Title.

HT166.B39273 2014

307.1'216—dc23

2013043041

Keywords: biomass, bioremediation, carbon reduction, climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation, coastal resilience, distributed energy systems, geothermal energy, green streets, hydrogen power, infrastructural ecologies, renewable energy, siting public utilities, smart grid, solar power, stormwater management, urban resilience, waste combustion, water scarcity, waste-to-energy facilities, water treatment and storage

Dedicated to all the marine life we don’t (usually) see and the many individuals in cities who work tirelessly to understand and protect it

Contents

Preface: A New View of Cities on the Blue Planet

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: The Urban-Ocean Connection

Chapter 2: The Reach of Cities: Connecting Urban Lifestyles and Ocean Health

Chapter 3: Satisfying Urban Fish Eaters Sustainably

Chapter 4: Urban Design for a Blue Planet

Chapter 5: Reimagining Land Use and Parks in the Blue City

Chapter 6: Engaging Urban Dwellers in Marine Life around Them

Chapter 7: New Ideas for Connecting Oceans and Cities

Chapter 8: Forging a Blue Urban Future

Notes

Index

Preface: A New View of Cities on the Blue Planet

The title of this book is perhaps, at first blush, an odd one—after all, there are no cities under the sea. Partly, the title is meant to surprise, to startle, and to perhaps induce a bit of what does that mean? I hope such an effect will both spark conversation about how intimately connected our cities actually are to oceans as well as increase awareness. What does it mean that our profoundly blue planet is becoming even more profoundly urban? And, optimistically, what are the ways we might harness the political power and creativity of urban populations on behalf of ocean and marine environments?

This book is an argument for heightened awareness and partnership among city governments, planners, designers, scientists, and urbanites to become part of a more complementary, mutually sustainable relationship between city and ocean. There are many positive stories, initiatives, and examples of the ways in which the urban and ocean can intersect, but we need more—and are capable of much more meaningful—engagement with ocean life.

We live on an amazing marine planet, and the oceans influence our lives in more ways than we often realize: weather systems, food sources, even our modern, complex power and transportation systems rely heavily on ocean resources. And yet, we have virtually ignored oceans and marine environments in modern planning, policy, and design of cities. Even in the most progressive cities, planning is mainly focused on the beginning phases of climate-change sea level rise, and little more. But, as this book explores, our city planning can and should undertake protection of marine life and ecosystems, just as we have put protections in place for terrestrial systems. Although 70 percent of our planet is covered by oceans, a mere 1 percent of this area is protected from exploitation in marine preserves or protected areas.

In recent years, oceanographers and marine scientists, such as Sylvia Earle, Daniel Pauly, Nancy Knowlton, and Jeremy Jackson, have done much to raise awareness about the profound ways in which we are connected to oceans and the current dire plight of much of the marine realm. Because it is so difficult for us to explore and spend time in the ocean, we tend to undervalue and underappreciate the marine environment, yet our survival as a species is inextricably connected to its ecology and environmental health.¹

Consensus is growing within the marine science community about the multitude of threats to our oceans, which are experiencing a combination of industrial overfishing, excessive pollution and waste, and the severe impacts of climate change. David Attenborough has produced a telling documentary titled The Death of the Oceans, while coral reef expert Jeremy Jackson refers to the coming Ocean Apocalypse, assembling a bleak picture of future oceans that have lost their abundance and complexity.²

Now, while some opportunity still exists for amending our over-exploitative relationship with oceans, it is time for cities and their citizens to rise to the occasion and harness their political power, growing economic wealth, creativity, and ingenuity to promote better ocean stewardship.

My conviction that cities and urbanites can and will, under the right circumstances, take on ocean conservation arose during a six-month stay in Western Australia in 2005. Many residents in the greater Perth area were aware of, and sensitive to, issues concerning marine and coastal environments. In particular, there were heated debates over whether to allow resort development to take place along the highly biodiverse Ningaloo Reef. What was proposed—a massive hotel complex—would have been located on the shore’s edge in precisely the worst location for preserving marine biodiversity.

I was startled to see so many SAVE NINGALOO bumper stickers; it seemed they were everywhere in Perth. I was amazed at the sense of outrage and concern for a marine environment that was more than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) away from Perth’s city limits. Citizens held rallies and wrote letters expressing their concern that the development would negatively impact the reef. In the face of these protests, the state’s premier (the equivalent to an American governor) eventually responded to public opinion and vetoed the project. This story has stayed with me as a remarkable example of how urbanites, even those hundreds of kilometers away, can care for and advocate on behalf of the ocean world.

Figure 0-1: Wellington, New Zealand, has close ties, both geographically and culturally, with the Pacific Ocean. (Credit: Tim Beatley)

But the new threats to ocean health and marine life are so dire that protecting oceans for the future will require the work of cities and urban populations in unprecedented ways, today and in the years ahead. These combined, new efforts must represent a shift toward embracing an ethic I call blue urbanism, a variation of the more commonly used phrase which reflects much of my previous work and writing, green urbanism.

Green urbanism argues that we can and must integrate ecological designs, practices, and technologies into dense urban environments. It holds that the efficiency of scale produced by humans living together in cities results in lifestyles that are generally more resource efficient, with reduced consumption and shorter supply lines (e.g., promoting local food sources and building materials) as well as a shift toward a circular metabolism, which relies on renewable energy produced by and integrated into built environments. Increasingly, we recognize that living in compact, dense, mixed-use cities is one of the most important ways we can move toward sustainability.

As this book argues, however, this green urban agenda often ignores oceans and marine environments (as a mea culpa, I managed to write a leading book about green urbanism in 2000 without mentioning oceans!).³ Rarely is there an acknowledgment of the ultimate blue home and context in which cities and urban populations exist, or of the need to take into account protection and health of marine environments as an explicit urban agenda. It’s time to address this all too common oversight.

Blue urbanism is also related in important ways to E. O. Wilson’s concept of biophilia—the innate attraction and emotional sustenance that humans (especially those who live in urban environments) feel for nature.⁴ The effort at advancing green cities has often focused on designing places and spaces that conserve energy, reduce waste, minimize water consumption, and so on. These are all essential steps, often facilitated by creative design and technology, but the agenda of green cities often forgets the actual or literal green: the nature—trees, birds, parks, and greenspace elements—that we need to be healthy and happy. When we scan the oceanscape for a glimpse of a breaching whale, or watch pelicans flying in formation, or engage the ocean world through snorkeling or beachcombing, we are responding to a deep need to see, touch, feel, and experience other wondrous lives found in ocean and marine environments.

What would it mean to live in cities designed to foster feelings of connectedness to the ocean? How and in what ways can we take the benefits we receive from oceans into account in our city plans, practices, and policies? Many local governments have taken initial steps, such as imposing bans on plastic bags and on destructive practices such as shark finning. These actions, which have yielded impressive results, reflect how urban populations can create effective positive change for ocean health.

The case of shark finning—the gruesome practice of cutting off the fins of sharks and discarding the bodies, largely to supply the Asian shark-fin soup market—is an interesting way to begin to see the potential political power of cities and urban populations. More than 70 million sharks are harvested annually, and the practice is beginning to have alarming impacts on shark populations.

Bans on the sale of shark fins have been adopted in a number of American cities, and now four US states have enacted a ban, including Illinois, a state that is hundreds of miles away from the nearest wild shark. Even in cities like Hong Kong, which sees much economic benefit from the shark-fin trade, there are changing opinions and debate. It is not always easy or quick, but change is possible. For seven consecutive years, an elite Hong Kong runners group has run the city’s Standard Chartered Marathon in full-body shark costumes.⁵ The image is humorous, to see the smiling faces of each runner beaming through an open shark mouth. The matter is serious to the runners, however, with the marathon a highly visible way to raise awareness about shark finning. Combined with other efforts in the city to change attitudes, the acceptance of shark finning seems to be waning. In fall 2012, Hong Kong–based airlines Cathay Pacific decided to stop allowing cargo containing shark products on its flights. Like the protection of Ningaloo Reef, or like San Francisco and its banning of destructive, polluting shopping bags, Hong Kong may become a poster city for changing attitudes to prioritize the health of the ocean and marine creatures.

Local city governments have many options to influence policy and behavioral changes that reduce harm to oceans. City policy can support new projects and initiatives that educate and connect urbanites to the ocean resources around them. Governments can set standards for building design that both restores habitat and offers unusual windows to the aquatic world, and can award municipal building contracts to architecture firms and developers who embrace a blue urbanism approach. They can fund programs through the local aquarium or push for more sustainable fisheries and support the production of local seafood through techniques such as aquaponics. And they can nurture new awareness of the wonders found within the deep waters of our oceans, and the threats to healthy aquatic life, through a host of actions from establishing ocean sister cities to city-sponsored ocean expeditions and more.

Figure 0-2: Shark fins in a storefront in Bangkok. (Credit: oldandsolo via Flickr)

Other approaches for government action include applying older, conventional tools in more unusual and innovative ways, such as extending the powers of land zoning, a common practice and tool at the local level, to ocean and marine environments. Cities perched on the edge of the sea can create new designation and protection of bluebelts, an equivalent or parallel of the greenbelts we have established in more terrestrial settings.

Figure 0-3: Orange Anthias in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. (Credit: NOAA/Mr. Mohammed Al Momany, Aqaba, Jordan)

In some ways, blue urbanism is a natural extension of the ways our modern environmental sensibilities have already been aiming. But it emphasizes more strategically integrating the consideration of ocean issues into our personal choices, urban planning, and government priorities. A blue urbanism approach to planning and activism is guided by the principal understanding that we are all connected on the blue planet and that human choices concerning the consumption of materials, energy, and food will impact marine organisms and ecosystems and ultimately return to influence our own health and well-being. Blue urban cities consciously acknowledge that their ecological footprints extend beyond their immediate communities, and that there is a hinterland that supports and sustains them. As such, policies are carefully considered regarding their impact on oceans.

Ultimately, the challenge will be to grow a new urban culture that is profoundly aware of its ocean and marine context. We need a Homo aqua urbanis. I believe it is possible to quickly cultivate a new urban sensibility that not only recognizes oceans but makes them the central organizing framework and narrative to our lives on this indisputably blue planet. The chapters that follow tell many stories of individuals and cities making progress, and the many positive ways these new ocean sensibilities can manifest. Blue urbanism challenges us to imagine how we, as terrestrial urbanites, can understand our role as citizens of the sea and understand the ocean’s role as part of our urban environments. Appreciating that we are inhabitants of the blue world, we must begin to develop a more robust system of stewardship over this mysterious and beautiful, yet easily overlooked, realm of Earth.

Acknowledgments

This book grew directly from an