Nearly twenty students from 11.949: Sustainability in Action (Boston) students spent the semester in five groups, concentrated on a specific sector: buildings and energy, food, transportation, waste, and water

MIT is world renowned for its trailblazing work in information theory, robotics, linguistics, and genetics; however, a new endeavor, undertaken by EPP Professor Judith Layzer, may soon add ‘urban sustainability’ to that list. Over the past year, Professor Layzer has spearheaded several initiatives aimed at facilitating collaboration among the School of Architecture and Planning’s (SA+P) urban sustainability specialists, raising the profile of urban sustainability research within DUSP and SA+P, and increasing opportunities for students to envision and influence the sustainable cities of the future.

One such project is the development of a SA+P ‘sustainable cities’ website that will publicly showcase the diverse work of professors and students. Although it may not be common knowledge (yet), SA+P, and DUSP in particular, is home to some of the leading thinkers on urban sustainability issues, including green buildings, sustainable transportation, sustainable transitions in the developing world, climate adaptation, and sustainable city planning. For example, in EPP, Professor JoAnn Carmin is working with cities in Eastern Europe to plan for the impacts of climate change, while transportation professor Chris Zegras is developing indicators of sustainable transportation. In the Department of Architecture’s Building Technology group, Professor John Fernandez is developing an urban metabolism

Architecture’s Building Technology group, Professor John Fernandez is developing an urban metabolism tool that tracks the flow of resources through cities to help planners gauge the environmental impact of different urban development strategies. And Professor Layzer, for her part, is currently investigating whether and how urban sustainability planning yields genuine social and environmental benefits.

In addition to raising the public profile of this work, the website will also promote collaboration among these sustainability experts within the School’s five departments by providing up-todate information on SA+P based urban sustainability research, projects, and classes. The website is currently in development and a prototype will be available by the summer.

In addition to the website, another important piece of the sustainable cities initiative is the new course “Sustainability in Action (Boston), ” a multidisciplinary effort to translate the concept of sustainability into practice using Boston as a case. Taught for the first time this spring by Professor Layzer and HCED Professor Xav Briggs, the course mixed the collaborative and creative qualities of a graduate seminar with the hands-on, substantive experience of practicum. Nearly twenty Masters students spent the semester in five groups, concentrated on a specific sector: buildings and energy, food, transportation, waste, and water. Each team had a designated ‘equity’ member to ensure that equity concerns were integrated into the visioning process.

The final projects and recommendations include a compost program for Boston residents, a suite of projects to encourage local food consumption and availability, a plan for energy efficient retrofits in foreclosed homes, a website and information video advocating the potential benefits of work-bike transport on campuses (http://web.mit.edu/dusp/green/work-bike/ Home.html), and a plan to convert targeted impervious areas of Boston to greenspace to improve water quality and groundwater recharge and simultaneously kickstart a green jobs program for low income residents. Students presented their projects at two charrettes, one with twenty Boston and Massachusettes based experts, the other (held on May 13th) with a packed room of MIT students and faculty. All work from the semester will be available online by this summer and will serve as a resource base for future classes to enhance and build upon. For more information, contact Professor Judith Layzer: Jlayzer@mit.edu