Civil Unrest

     In class on Tuesday we talked about civil unrest and the violent riots and events that occurred because of the frustration. One of the events on the list dealt with Rodney King. King was a black male who was viciously beaten by police...and it was all caught on camera. This act of violence and racism did not result in the severe punishment that should have been handed down to the police officers involved. Instead, the officers basically got away with it. The decision in the case led to the LA Riots. The LA Riots was mass mayhem in the streets of LA with buildings being burnt, stores robbed, people killed, and cars destroyed randomly. Right now in America we have a major case underway involving race. The case of Trayvon Martin has been all over the news for the past couple weeks. Martin was a 17-year-old African American who was shot and killed by 28-year-old Hispanic George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the community watch coordinator for his neighborhood at the time. Martin was unarmed. While the events of that fatal evening are still under investigation, the reaction of the country has been strong and there could be unrest if Zimmerman gets let off as easy as the LA police officers. Cases such as that of Casey Anthony get a lot of attention and reaction but it seems that any high publicity case involving race, especially when the murder was on an unarmed teenager, invoke strong unrest from the general public.
   
     Another area of interest in 2012 that could cause unrest is the economy of the government's handling of the situation. Regardless of party affiliation, we can all agree that prices like those on gas are way too high. The Occupy Wall Street was a small glimpse at what people might do. However, according to Info Wars, the public may react much stronger this year. Glimpsing at the article posted by Info Wars will tell you just how close some analysts think we are to have major civil unrest. If things continue to go downhill and all countries around us struggle as well will we see a breaking point this year?

-Mark H.

The Arts in Urban Environments....

This past week we had a guest speaker who enlightened us on the rise of arts in urban environments. He discussed Roanoke as an example of a city that is trying to being more focused on the arts through the creation of an arts council and local arts involvement. The most interesting aspect was his discussion of the Marginal Arts Festival. It seems that many cities are now including the minor arts in their arts movements in order to try and promote community involvement and continued support of the arts. Education of the arts is important to childhood development and although federal funding for art education has been cut by 70% in the past three years there are organizations that are stepping in to fill the gap. Studies have shown that children and young adults who are exposed to art and art education are more likely to support and go to museums, galleries, etc. when they are adults. If we want to continue to provide art museums and other art related institutions in cities it is necessary to keep art education in elementary schools alive. Promotion of the arts through local events is one way to keep the arts on the minds of communities. By providing arts cities can show citizens that their best interests are at the heart of the government and that community programs and community involvement are important to civic leaders and urban planners.

-Kate Chambers

Living Green...

When people think about sustainable living they tend to think about energy efficiency. But today there are lots of ways that people, especially people living in urban environments can help sustain the environment. In class we learned about the guidelines set out by the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). The NAHB is focused on sustained growth which includes the types of materials and placement of new homes. But if you are living in a city there are many ways to reduce your carbon footprint and be more environmentally conscious that do not have to do with building. There are loads of websites and organizations that can help you on your quest. Even in a smaller area like Blacksburg there are things you can do. One of the easiest ways to reduce your energy consumption (and your budget) is to take public transportation. Especially with the rise of Smart Cities it is becoming easier to use multiple forms of alternative transportation at a low cost and in seamless transition. Here in Blacksburg we have a phenomenal bus system that can take you almost anywhere you need to go. There are other small things you can do as well that help reduce transportation costs. Buying food at a local farmer's market not only allows you to support local farmers but it also takes away from the large amount of transportation that is required to bring items to larger grocery stores. When it is nice outside hang your clothes on the line and save the energy and heat created by your dryer. Living green may seem at times to be a chore but when you receive your energy bill you may be pleasantly surprised.

-Kate Chambers

Smart Cities... 

Smart cities are the future for urban areas across the world. The integration of digital systems into the already created fabric of systems will allow for cross-system coordination. As Professor William J. Mitchell of MIT explains, by adding a digital nervous system it will be possible to cross-coordinate systems in order to make them more energy efficient, reliable, and economically feasible. In order to figure out how to introduce these "digital nervous systems" it is imperative that every aspect of the systems in place be analyzed. By doing this design problems can be reframed and looked at in new ways. Smart cities will allow citizens to utilize everything the technology age has to offer; there is no reason why transit and governmental services should not be available via technology (computers, smart phones, tablets, etc). There are already projects springing up that are trying to incorporate smart city technology into the existing systems of cities. The Smart Cities Project was founded in 2009 and seeks to integrate E-government and E-services into cities in Europe. Through research the Smart Cities Project has created the capacity for inter-regional government service sharing. By using technology it is possible to eliminate unnecessary waste in terms of personnel, energy, and space. Smart cities will allow for the transfer of information like never before. They will allow transit, energy, communication and other systems to be linked to create seamless information flow from cities to citizens. 

-Kate Chambers