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Ideas
Building (and Protecting) the Core From the Outside
Suburban sprawl has been undermining core urban health across North America for decades and the Greater Toronto Area has been no exception. This has been relatively accepted in the mainstream. What has not received equal attention, or the concern it deserves, is the idea of ‘peak oil.’ Peak oil “is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil)
Sprawl exacts a heavy toll on our society. It means significantly higher infrastructure costs, longer commutes, higher health costs and stretching, if not tearing, our social fabric. These are just some of the ways in which suburban development wastes resources and drains wealth from our urban core. These are also clear present costs without the context of ‘peak oil.’
On Thinking Big
TED talks recently featured an inspiring presentation by Shai Agassi titled “A bold plan for the mass adoption of electric cars.” He argues that to succeed, electric cars need to be better, more convenient and more cost-effective than any gasoline-powered car on the market today.
This in itself is hardly revolutionary. What sets his plan aside is the fact that he’s developed a straightforward, actionable plan to turn this vision into a reality and have over 10 million electric cars on the world’s roads by 2016. Australia, Denmark, Israel, Hawaii, and the San Francisco bay area have already signed up with many more sure to follow suit.
About OpenCity
We are creative problem solvers and city builders using strategic design to make places, products and communications more meaningful experiences for people.
What's Happening
Icebreakers Exhibit - Creating Common Ground by Design
In partnership with the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) and Luminato, Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity, OpenCity Projects' 2009 creative lab explores communication in urban spaces and ways to help people connect. Results of the creative lab will be showcased at the Icebreakers exhibit.