Key Issues
Based on existing conditions and trends, the following are the key issues involving
environmental sustainability in Norfolk:
1. Protecting and improving the City’s waters, including the Chesapeake Bay.
2. Protecting Norfolk’s other natural resources.
3. Preparing for the consequences of natural hazards.
4. Incorporating sustainability into daily living.
Important Linkages
The goals, outcomes and actions outlined in this chapter are linked to goals, outcomes
and actions found in the following chapters:
o Identifying Land Use Strategies
o Creating and Maintaining Healthy and Vibrant Neighborhoods
o Providing Transportation Options
o Delivering Quality Community Services
o Enjoying Daily Life
o Fostering Responsible Regional Cooperation
Our proposed plan follows along similarly. We proposed that open and unused spaces about the city should be used to improve the quality of living by maximizing spaces and investing in water conservation projects based off of the existing buildings and lots. By incorporating gardens and water conservation into the city, we are introducing sustainability to the daily lives of the people in Norfolk.
In this picture you see how the space between the buildings has been utilized to create a positive community area. Though the area seems industrial, with the addition of this garden, the quality of this space has improved vastly; what was once probably a dark alley way, is now a great area.This urban plan also incorporates a branch of Smart Growth known as compact development.
Community gardens bring people together, giving purpose to a place that once before may have been an empty lot.
Recently the City of Norfolk opened a temporary park down by Waterside Drive. This piece of land, for the longest time, had been an overgrown, broken parking lot with rubble piles strewn about. But it is now known as The Plot. The majority of the park was created from recycled materials; the benches were made from wood obtained from a torn down concert venue known as Norfolk's The Boathouse. The planters were reclaimed from the old mall on Granby which were then filled with donated plants. The City of Norfolk is gradually utilizing the concept of Smart Growth; this small park is a great example of cleaning up older austere places in the city.
Our plan hopes to do the same by creating more spaces like this.
Also with our plan, we hope to create more green spaces with rooftop gardens like these seen in New York City:
On the issue of Economy vs. Ecology, we believe that our plan has a healthy balance between the two and the benefits outweigh the costs. We believe that in the instance that we instal water conservation systems to the buildings downtown, water costs will go down, such are the benefits of reuse and recycle plans. And with the installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftops of expansive and tall buildings, businesses benefit from powering themselves, even going as far as to sell the energy back to the power companies. Sustaining as much energy as needed for that building allows them to share energy to other places, ultimately making a profit out of being self sufficient.
With technology equity, which implies that all technologies are available to and used by all socioeconomic segments in a society, we believe that the public will have fair usage and access to utilize all of the new facilities created from our plan.The public will benefit from the improvement of the natural environment around them; cleaner air, a decline in waterway pollution, healthier food, and a reduction in electricity and water bills. Public gardens are what they are, public; everyone benefits from them, there are no restrictions. Anyone can have the access needed to contribute to the new advancements in the city, mainly by being responsible and mindful of the utilities provided for them.Though, an unintended negative consequence that could come of these wonderful gardens, is that people would take for granted what has been provided for them ignore them. The gardens would go untended and since it is a public space, essentially belonging to everyone, who then would the responsibility fall to to take care of it? Another negative outcome would be people vandalizing.
The great thing about community gardens is the multiple benefits they provide their local surroundings. Community gardens reduce the amount of runoff produced when it rains, it traps the pollutants in the soil and retains the water. A greater solution to non-point source pollutants like pesticides, fertilizers, and petroleum products ending up in the rivers and groundwater, is to install rainwater catching systems. They reduce the volume of storm water runoff, which in turn lessens erosion and decreasing water loads on the storm sewers; this would be extremely beneficial to Norfolk's flooding problems.
Water availability is also another issue, but we believe with the installation of water catchment systems, we can sanitize and redistribute the water where it is needed. The Public water supply can be be conserved, because with the effective use of rainwater collection, the water could replace the use of potable water. Potable water is the largest use of fresh water, we can reduce the amount wasted and defer to rain water for irrigation and other potable water uses.
How would you say our city plans would deal with the generation of waste? Well we have decided to implement the use of composition facilities around the city, mainly for the organic material generated. Seeing as the largest form of waste management is to use landfills, we want to eliminate this by starting with the source; the source being waste generated in the cities and residential areas around the city. To start, more recycling plants will be opened, there will be compost facilities where it can redistribute the enriched soil created, around the city.
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