Green Cities Rediscover Urban Rivers

Joni Mitchell worried that paradise was being turned into a parking lot but in cities such as Seoul the parking lots and roads are now being turned back into urban green paradise . These cities are rediscovering their water amenities that lie beneath paved areas. The NY Times today celebrates that the amenity gains that this "green city" approach offers. Boston's Big Dig is another famous example. The funny thing here is that in many of these cases, the major city was sited near a major water way because of its productivity advantages. As the water got dirty (middle 20th century) because of industrial production and too much sewage (the scale of the city) that was not properly treated, the water ways were viewed as gross. Think back to Cleveland's water catching on fire in the late 1960s. When the urban water was a disamenity, people did not want to "play there" and this contributed to suburbia and private pools and country club demand. Now with the rise of Green Consumer City, ambitious politicians have an economic incentive to invest to preserve their city's greeness. Local businesses recognize that the number of tourists and walking shoppers will increase if people want to hang out in the center city rather than being grossed out.

If cities near water can figure out how to adapt to coastal flood risk caused by climate change, they will be all set for attracting and retaining the skilled in the 21st centgury.