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The Planetizen News Brief - 4/23/09

23 April 2009 - 5:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Full Transcript

The bust of the condo market has been a drag for New York City, but officials there are trying to find a bright side to the bummer. State legislators recently announced plans to take stalled or abandoned luxury condo projects and finish them off as affordable housing. City Hall News reports that policymakers are working with housing advocates to find ways to convert hundreds of empty luxury units. Developers are pleased with the plan, because they are having a hard time selling or even renting these units, and many are in danger of bankruptcy. Legislators are hoping to work with financiers and property owners to reduce losses and help out the community with much-needed affordable housing.

Meanwhile in Florida, here’s another idea for dealing with abandoned and stalled housing developments. Officials at the Trust for Public Land have been scouting a 160-acre site near Tampa, where optimistic housing developments have either stalled, fallen flat or simply been abandoned. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, The Trust wants to un-develop this land and return it to nature using state conservation funds. They hope to restore the native waterfront ecosystem near Tampa Bay by bringing back the palm trees and mangroves that once made this area a vibrant home for birds and animals. But first they’ll have to buy it from Bank of America, which took over ownership when developers planning to redevelop the site fell into bankruptcy. Much of the decision lies with the bank, but the Trust for Public Land is hopeful that they will agree to split up the land and allow county taxpayers to make the purchase and un-develop themselves a new waterfront park.

And in other news, officials at the Vatican recently announced plans to build the largest solar power plant in Europe. The Vatican’s solar array would fully power the Roman Catholic city-state within Rome, according to Bloomberg News. The plant is set to be complete and operational by 2014, and will produce so much energy it will be able to sell the excess back to Italy. With a capability of more than 100 megawatts, the power plant will be able to supply power for about 40,000 Italian households. Vatican officials say the move is part of the Church’s efforts to bring environmental concerns into the mainstream ideologies of the Catholic Church. And with Pope Benedict the Sixteenth gathering press for his stance on environmental issues, Vatican officials say this may be the first of many green moves.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

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Instead of demeaning so-called "third world cities", we would do well to observe, understand, and adapt such approach on a much more widescale basis.
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