China's rapid rebuilding effort has produced mountains of debris as old cities are replaced with gleaming new metropolises. Illegal dumping is coming under fire as it gets more and more difficult to conceal the evidence.
"While the problem is often concealed, with hundreds of millions of tons of waste quietly dumped on the outskirts of China’s major cities each year, the rate of growth has made it increasingly inescapable," writes Austin Ramzy. "Now, hardly a week goes by without residents of some suburban enclave or village near a major metropolis waking to discover an illegal waste dump rising near their homes."
"China’s economic growth has seen increases in all sorts of waste, as consumers buy, and throw away, much more than ever before. But while Chinese cities have extensive recycling networks, with rag-pickers pedaling three-wheeled bicycles to buy and sell all sorts of plastic, metal and paper waste, construction debris is almost completely discarded."
FULL STORY: China’s Mountains of Construction Rubble
The Cradle-to-Cradle Approach to Building
The circular economy. Cradle-to-cradle. The regenerative economy. Whatever you call it, an approach to building that eliminates waste would transform the next generation of the built environment.
The Moral Foundations of Public Support For Environmentalism and Public Transit
Why do green transportation policies attract less intense support than environmentalist policies related to waste and litter?
Designing a Better Trash Chute
Programs that make folks pay for garbage services based on how much they throw away can cut down trash in landfills. Designers are looking for ways to adapt these programs to multiunit buildings.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
Fair Housing Cannot Take a Back Seat to ‘Build, Baby, Build’
If we overlook fair housing principles in the plan to build US housing back better, we risk ending up right back where we started.
LA Metro Board Approves New 710 Freeway Plan
The newest plan for the 710 corridor claims it will not displace any residents.
Austin’s Proposed EV Charging Rules Regulate Station Locations, Size
City planners say the new rules would ensure an efficient distribution of charging infrastructure across the city and prevent an overconcentration in residential areas.
Making California State Parks More Climate-Resilient
A recently released report offers recommendations for keeping state parks healthy and robust, including acquiring additional land for conservation and recreation.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
