Draft #3 Summary Reader Response: “Developing Sustainable Infrastructure in New Cities”

In the article "Developing sustainable infrastructure in new cities", Cho (2014) expressed the importance of sustainable infrastructure in a metropolitan setting and identified key areas in determining how infrastructure can add value to the community. It stated that, the economic driven-developments in new cities are affected by metropolitan challenges, thus enhancing in functionality and durability of infrastructure are necessary. As an impact King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) Fellow, Cho intended to use the Envision sustainability rating system as an impartial guideline to evaluate sophisticated infrastructure development. Cho used the Neuvo Nexcaxa- Avila Camacho Highway in Mexico as fitting reference to how the rating system would tackle these economic, social and environmental effects. To a notable degree, Cho has elaborated on the Envision sustainability rating system created to improve on the infrastructure development to enhance the quality of life in the developing areas as the guidelines would be the main backbone in improving the social, economic and environmental existing conditions. 

Firstly, the use of Envision sustainability rating system to evaluate infrastructure development will lead to improvements in existing social conditions. Contreras, C. & Gloria, T. (2017) stated that it would open paths to “local employment in the area, promotion of growth and development, improvement of mobility, or preservation of cultural assets in the community. With the developments coming up in time to come, it will help rural areas to sustain independently as it creates openings in the communities. Currently the demand for sustainable infrastructure is relatively high. Private sectors and the government are working closely together to pave way by integrating the rating system during the infrastructure development. Being able to follow the guidelines given, this will help project developers to aim for a higher score and produce a better sustainable infrastructure design. In the article, it stated that “Infrastructure should account for enhancing the quality of life of communities”. Thus, they are heading towards the right direction to identify ways to integrate sustainability.

Secondly, the importance of rating the infrastructure will help project developers improve sustainable infrastructure. From the article, Clevenger, C. M., Ozbek, M. E., & Simpson, S. (2013) stated that “Envision is the only system applicable to many different types of infrastructure projects”. The system is designed for industries to improve their status quo by identifying ways to further improve on the infrastructure, which has a point system. Points will be given if there are improvements made and it will be converted to monetary value. Not only will they earn incentives, by satisfying the overall guidelines, they will stand a chance to have their building awarded with the highest tier sustainability award. With the rating system, it will benefit the present and the future as industries will constantly find ways to chase incentives by tackling problems to improve the existing economic conditions.

Lastly, the importance of materials used in sustainable infrastructure will be key to reducing waste management. From the article Clevenger, C. M., Ozbek, M. E., & Simpson, S. (2013) it stated that “Resource Allocation applies to the sustainable use materials, water and energy in the project.” Project developers will have to make do with the resources that they are given. There is a criterion in the rating system which encourages the government and private sectors to use recycled or reusable materials. It will cut down on costs by a huge margin. Points will be awarded if the criteria have been met. By reusing waste materials and incorporating it into the construction development, it shows that how much is taken into consideration to boost the environmental conditions. This is a good way to integrate with the environment as it helps to reduce waste management by heavily reusing and recycling materials.

In conclusion, by following the proper guidelines and ensuring constant improvements towards developing the infrastructure, it will greatly benefit people around the community and help to incorporate economic development with environmental sustainability. Hence, the rating system will be the foundation towards building a sustainable infrastructure. 

Source:

Cho, H. (2014, December). Developing sustainable infrastructure in new cities. Retrieved from https://newcities.org/evaluating-sustainable-infrastructure-development-new-cities/

Contreras, C., & Gloria, T. (2017, October). An Envision rating system approach to sustainable infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean. In International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure 2017.Retrieved from https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/9780784478745.066

Shealy, T., & Klotz, L. (2014). Envision as choice architecture: can smarter defaults lead to more sustainable designs? In ICSI 2014: Creating Infrastructure for a Sustainable World .Retrieved from https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/9780784481196.003

Clevenger, C. M., Ozbek, M. E., & Simpson, S. (2013, April). Review of sustainability rating systems used for infrastructure projects. In 49th ASC Annual International Conference Proceedings. Associated Schools for Construction.Retrieved from http://ascpro0.ascweb.org/archives/cd/2013/paper/CPRT88002013.pdf